I have 2 yorkshire terriers(both male)the eldest one is about 7yrs old and has only one testicle that has droppped,the other dog is a healthy 3yr old,i would like to know if it would be worth putting them both through this opperation ? , they both go to the vets every year for jabs & a check-up & have been advised to keep an eye on the older one with only one dropped testicle as the other might go cancerious.
The other thing i would like to know is how can i stop them from trying to have sex with each other ! would nuetering stop them from behaving like that or not?

Hi,

why did you wait so long with the kryptorchid? I would suggest to any owner of such an animal, be it cat, horse or dog, to have him neutered straight away. And yes, it will stop them and it will also reduce the stress level.

Taylor

There is new research which suggests there is no need to rush into neutering a unilateral cryptorchid as there is no real benefit to be gained from preventative castration as opposed to waiting to see if a problem arises & then taking action (the risk of retained testicles turning cancerous not being as great as had once been thought) This research has been published in the veterinary press & was commented on recently by a well-known vet (Bruce Fogle) in a radio feature. He now recommends monitoring the situation & only neutering if symptoms arise suggesting the operation is necessary in later life.

Isn't Bruce Fogle the vet who wants to breed with a bitch which had numerous womb infections? :D
Wouldn't put too much weight on his opinion. I have had a number of kryptorchids (1 horse and 6 dogs) over the years. I prefer to be safe than sorry.

Taylor

I think Steve Dean also mentioned this some time ago in one of his columns. If I remember correctly then it is thought that dogs don't live long enough for the retained testicle to become a problem

Christine

Well Christine, then obviously my dogs didn't realize that they don't live long enough to develop problems. They just went right ahead and did. *last post*

Taylor

I am finding this post interesting. My 8 month old boxer has this problem, absolutely no sign of the undescended testicle even in the groin area. I have been trying to get as much info as I can before I decide what to do. The vet wanted to neuter him at 6 months. I want him to be as fully mature as possible if I have to neuter. I want to do the best by my dog, I have no other reason to neuter him (as yet) other than the retained testicle. Cancer is quite a common problem in Boxers and I am really struggling with the right course of action to take.
If I leave him as he is, how would I know if the retained testicle was causing a problem? Could it become cancerous and show no signs until it was too late? If I neuter what are the risks of him having a major surgical procedure as it will not be a simple neuter? Any more info on this subject would be gratefully received by me, as I really need to weigh up the pros and cons
Joanne

Have also read that castration is not now though neccessary but I would not agree that castration will stop mock mating activite, it wont, particulaly in a 7 year old, it is a learned behaviour, to castrate for this reason alone would be a waste of cash. Jackie

My mother has a Golden who had a retained testicle. He had this removed at 8 months of age, although not the other, and has remained perfectly healthy, and is now 11 years old and fit and well.

I have a boston terrier that retained one testy and no sign of it. Had the op done and he came out perfectly fine. We had him done at 5 months and he is now over a year. 1 dropped and then would go back up, it eventually would of came down but no sign of the other.
ttfn :)

That's fine Taylor - if it was just the opinion of one vet then dismissing the advice would be understandable but the research is based on a large study & cannot be dismissed quite so easily in my opinion. Other vets are now rethinking their views -my own included. I am a groomer & have trimmed a number of unilateral cryptorchids over the years - of the ones that remained entire, none have developed cancer. That's not to say the risk doesn't exist, just that it is nowhere near as great as was once thought.

Personally I wouldn't be inclined to *wait and see if a problem arises* due to the fact that by the time a problem presents itself it would probably be too late to do anything about it.
I speak from experience as a veterinary nurse having seen for myself one case in particular where a dog with a retained testicle was operated on as soon as he started to show signs of a problem. On opening him up it was discovered the tumour was already the size of a grapefruit. The tumour was removed and he underwent months of chemotherapy, which in itself made him extremely ill at times with vomiting and diarrhoea. He then underwent a second operation.
Unfortunately the vets efforts were not successful.

This isn't the only case I've seen unfortunately. The latest was just a few days before christmas :( We had to put a dog to sleep due to testicular cancer which was only noticed once the cancer had spread from his retained one to the descended one.

I'd agree there's no need to rush into the removal of a retained testicle, and certainly no need to neuter/fully castrate a dog for this reason alone, but I would definitely recommend having the retained testicle removed when the dog is around two years old.

Jacquie (Myatuk Malamutes).

My male BSd was a unilateral cryptorchid, and I chose the operation at a year old on the firm advice of his breeder. This was mid 1980's.

The vet unfortunately wasn't able to complete the operation because the retained testicle was up near the stomach, and he had to bring my dog round quickly due to problems (in those days BSDs had trouble with anaesthetics for various reasons.)

So he retained the testicle.

Sadly he only lived to ten and a half, and was put to sleep due to various problems including kidney problems, but he was also startign a slight breathing problem which, although an endoscopy was done, wasn't really traceable to a source. I was so shocked and upset i never really understood exactly what was wrong, but I have wondered if somewhere along the line the testicle had become cancerous and was causing problems inside him. I have no sure way of knowing but I feel that this may have been the case.

Lindsay