My Mother in laws GSD has a undesended testicle (sp). He is a lovely dog but has always been "picky" at eating and recently in the last 16 weeks has had 2 urine infections.
parents in law have done the usual care trips to vet etc, and were talking to his breeder when she asked if the vet had checked to see if the testicle is causing any discomfort and or the rrot of the infections?
so my questions :
Could the testicle be causing his eating habits ?
Could it be causing infections etc ?
Should he still have an undesended testicle at 2 years of age ?
Would you remove it ?
curious more than anything as i have never known a dog that still has one at this age and it got me thinking when a vet colleague said they are usually removed long before now !!
thanks
Donna

If your dog is aged two and he has a retained testicle it should be removed to avoid the risk of possible cancer.

The presence of a retained testicle per se will not cause an eating problem, however if he has an infection or any other complication arising from it then of course his appetite may well be affected.

Retained testicles are usually removed well before this age.

Thats what i thought
But my mother in law is adamant that her breeder and vet are very knowledgeable and she trusts them so the testicle has been left to save putting him through an unnecessary op.
I would have thought it was a safer bet to have it taken out ?

When I had a dog with an undescended testicle my vet said it should be removed before he was 4 but that he's never known of a problem to occur younger than that.

Both my litter brothers second testicals did'nt drop, Sam had his removed at the age of 4, and Scampi still has'nt at the age of 13 and no problems there at all.  The vet did say that if the other one is moving around ok in the stomach and the shape did'nt change there was no need to operate, but if it did'nt move freely then that was the time to have a closer look as to why.

>if the other one is moving around ok in the stomach and the shape did'nt change

How could you know that without regular scans of surgery?

The vet can feel it in his stomach.

Blimey how did it get in the stomach, did he swallow his ball????????????????????????

Well, round that area any way.

Don't you mean in the lower abdomen   If in the general area and in a position where it can be felt it is less of a risk than one which is totally untraceable or scanned to show being high up in the body cavity.

Teri

Correct.

Bruce has a undesended testicle which will be delt with once he reaches around 2 years of age.
My vet does not want to operate to early as he told me he would like Bruce to grow into the dog he should be. He told me that by doing castration at a young age interfers with the growth of the dog and that they retain their puppy attitude for a longer period. I've no idea if he is correct but I will follow his advice on this.
If I remember correctly the increase chance of cancer is due to the increase in temperature where his testicle is situated.

regards
Stu

Good for your vet to not want to castrate a puppy! Were you planning to have him castrated even if he hadn't had a retained testicle? If not, there's no need for him to have the descended one removed when he has surgery for the retained one. The normal one can remain in situ and he'll develop into a normal adult male.

Hi Jeangenie

I was planning to have him done as I'm not going to stud him following the advice given to me by the breeder who owns his father.
Again I don't know if I'm doing right but I have noticed he is hard work once he sniffs a bitch in season ( already decided to leg it from me once after a young lady ) and I hope by having the operation it will cut this type of behaviour down.
I just want him to develop into the dog he should be first.

Do you think I'm doing the right thing?

Regards
Stu

I think you're very sensible, Stu! My mother had a golden who had a retained testicle removed at 1 year, but the other one stayed in place for the rest of the dog's life - he died earlier this year (crippled due to his appalling hips) at the age of 14. He was never studded (quite rightly) but was controllable even by my elderly mother (now in her 80s). It's quite possible your boy will grow out of 'bitching' when his hormones settle down, but if he doesn't and you get him castrated you'll at least have a dog who looks like a 'proper' dog - presumably one of the reasons why you wanted a male in the first place! You know him (and you) best!

To cut a long ramble short, yes, I do think you're doing the right thing! :)

Thanks Jeangenie and Em for the advice.

I'll keep my eye on him to see how it all goes. Thankfully it was just that once but a 10 stone pup roaming my local fields tends to scare a few apart from those who know Bruce.
Thankfully a young lady who knows Bruce stopped him and walked him back to me on a lead
so no harm done but I did worry when he just walked away in true Newfie style :)
Have to say he is very good but I'm a strict daddy so he does not get away with anything as I've eyes of an eagle and you need them too :)

Many thanks
Stu

Dont bet on castration stopping his desire to run after bitches, mount and even mate them..... my castrated dog will, he even ties!

My latest pup isnt going to be castrated unless a damn good reason to do so arises.

He is now 8 months old, and still not leg cocking, or humping, showing a little 'practice' dominance over the elder boy, which quickly gets smacked down which he accepts. He has a nervy streak in him, and is totally NOT a mature dog.

I shudder to think what hed be like had he been done at 6months as some people advise, i can hazard a guess as i followed that advice wtih the last pup, who at 3 yaers old is STILL  a pup now!

Ignore the balls, concentrate on training and hope that people are not dumb enough to be walking in season bitches in busy places/at busy times.

IF he becomes a problem, ie testicular cancer, prostate problems, or hugely oversexed, then reconsider.

And YAY for not being pushed into doing it earlier!

Em

My ES boy has only one too.  Up until about 1 month ago there was absolutely nothing - no-one could feel a thing.  Our vet has too said he wouldn't consider removing anything until at least two years of age.  He will scan in 6 months (when Charlie will be 15 months) to try and locate the potentially missing testicle!  Which we may need to remove due to potential cancer risks.  This advice seemed very sensible and when I talked to other breeders they were in much agreement.

We recently changed vets but our previous vets were suggesting removal between 6-12 months!  I'm so glad I changed vets.

So in 6 months we will have the scan done and go from there.

He is currently a lovely cuddley boy very much loved with one or two or at one point no balls!

Rachel

Hi,
The testicle would not affect his eating habits. It is widley debated about removal or
not. In baby boys, the testical is brought down. It is not proven it causes cancer.
The testicle if left, shrivels up and dies very few go into cysts and grow, these can
then be removed if they do. They find it easier in the canine varieties just to remove
them. Stomack cancer in dogs can happen with or without an undesending testicle.
It is an easy added income to vet just to remove them. Like any surgery it is up to yourself.
Regards
Denese

>Stomack cancer in dogs can happen with or without an undesending testicle

It's not stomach cancer that's the problem, denese, it's the fact that the retained testicle itself can become cancerous (not shrivel up and die as you say) because it's being kept too hot within the body.

Hi,
Go on to MONORCHISM read "thesoundingburrows/monorchism"
My Grandparents lost a dog with stomack cancer, but! he
didn't have undesending testicles.
I think the vets cause unnecessary panik in people with puppys with
this problem. The operation it's self can be life threatening.
Regards
Denese

As JG says, stomach cancer has no relationship with testicular cancer.  They do perform orchidectomies on little boys if the testicle cannot be lowered.

Hi Isabel,
They did not do this to my father, and he had his family,
my son is fine so is my nephews and grandsons.
Regards
Denese

It will not turn cancerous in 100% of cases but the risk is high enough to make it worthwhile, maybe not years ago when anaesthetic risks were greater but I do not believe any boy's would be left these days.  As long as there is one testicle he should be able to produce children without difficulty.

You may find these articles interesting, denese.

Hi Jeangenie,
My Father had this problem, his testicle did not turn cancerous.
It does die and not produce, it can go into a cyst, and grow and have
to be removed. The dog itself could have cancerous genes in it,
they are inherited.
Regards
Denese

If it has inherited cancerous genes all the more reason to have the organ removed.

I didn't know the Dam or dog had had cancer! I thought the
Dog had just got one undecending testicle?
If the parents are cancer suffering dogs, then a risk of cancer is a
lot greater. I have done lots of reseach on this subject for over twenty years.
It is still a much debated subject.
Regards
Denese

Denese, you were the one to suggest that the dog might have inherited genes predisposing it to cancer! It was you who said:

>The dog itself could have cancerous genes in it, they are inherited.

Denese, please do not post that cancerous cells are inherited.

There is no known PROOF of this, what DOES exist is a familial tendency to certain types of cancer.

Your post could frighten somebody to death.  Just because a parent or even both have died of cancer is no reason to assume that one will do so oneself.

As people age the likelihood of them developing cancer increases and/or it becomes apparent because they have not succumbed to other things previously.

Also there are environmental triggers for cancer.

A lot of people could be extremely worried by your ill advised post which they may interpret as fact, rather than ill informed opinion.

I find it incredible that you have slated vets for causing unecessary panic, when that is exactly what you may do with your posts!

Stomach cancer is completely unrelated to testicular cancer in ANY animal.

Neither Monorchidism nor Cryptorchidism is NECESSARILY hereditary in any animal but in order to minimise risks affected animals should not be bred from and the breeder of the affected animal should be informed.

Tohme,
What on earth are you going on about!!! We were, I thought talking
about undecending testicles???? People saying that undecending testicles
go cancerous!!! That is not always so! fact!! The dogs that have cancer of the testicle
could also carry a cancerous gene fact!!
No wonder people do not respond to threads on here so much anymore,
With the kind of attitude some of you have,  Fact!!
Denese

Denese, did you read the links I posted about undescended testicles and their higher-than-average cancer risks? People are pointing out that the risk of cancer is much higher in an undescended testicle than a descended one, even in the same individual. This, as you put it, is Fact!!!!!!!

Also you were the one who started on about stomach cancer which has nothing to do with testicles, descended or otherwise.

JG, judging my her responses Denese does not even read her OWN posts :rolleyes:

ROFL! :D