Is it a bad idea to purchase an older puppy with an undescended testicle ? Is it possible evidence of other problems ? I know he will need castration and it could be an expensive op. Would you therefore expect a reduction in price for such a dog? He is being offered as a pet not show dog so there are no issues re. showing him or breeding from him.

You are correct that this pup will need castrateing.
He will have no other problems after this.
The price of the pup may not be reduced as he has still had the same
care and money spent on him as the rest of the litter and it is your choice to buy him.
On saying that I would perhaps pay for the op if it where one of my
line just so he is not breed from.
Talk it over with the breeder.

You should be able to get the op done easily and there should be no other problems as it is a stand-alone condition. As for price - I would expect a reduction as the amount it has cost the breeder is irrelevant - imho. You will still have to pay for surgery to correct a fault to reduce the risk of future serious health problems. Some breeders will offer to pay for the surgery. You should not expect to get him for free though. Just pay a fair price.

Have a word with your vet for an idea as to how much the op will cost. The fact he is being offered as a pet dog with no issues re showing -breeding again imho is a red-herring. He has a fault that only surgery can correct and that surgery will mean he cannot be bred from and that he is unlikely to be accepted into the show-ring. So you do not have the choices open to you if you were buying a normally intact male dog. Again - suggests to me that you should get him for a reduced price.

All that said - it's not a bad idea as long as you know exactly what you are getting and are fully aware of the implications - ie must have surgery etc. If everything else is right about him then go for it - but would you be prepared to pay full-whack for say a car that you knew had to have some repair work done in it? I know this is a pup we're talking about - but we are also talking about parting with money and you do have to be hard.

hth

Pam n co

Hi Pam,
I was reading several medical articles and an undescended testical is usually sterile. ..but if not removed is highly likely to cause problems in the distant future. Apparently, this is an inherited condition that can be passed along, so it's important to neuter the dog & not let it use its one good gonad.

An undescended testicle should be removed or it will turn cancerous.
How old is the pup? As sometimes it can take 6 months for a testicle
to come down. If you can manipultate
the testicle down with your finger, then it could come down. With
daily help.
If it can not be manipultated then it wont come down.
All this means is one is still retained in the abdomen. It is on a
shorter string than the other. Usually the retained one is small.
The other testicle will still be functional, but should not be allowed
to produce as it is hereditary. Many different breeds suffer from this
problem. There are herbal pills available for this condition, but if they
work is another matter.
As to the matter of money of the puppy. I would expect to still pay
full price. If you had no intention of breeding from your dog, or showing,
then you would of had it castrated anyway. The dog is still going to live
a long healthy life. I would sugest if you were not happy then dont
buy this puppy. Someone else would always buy it. If it was me breeding
a litter and had this problem, then I would of found out how much the
vet would charge for the op, and reduced it by this amount. I think the
breeder did you well by telling you what was wrong with the pup as
not everyone is that honest.

Hi guest
Having looked at what everone has said I feel I must chip my twopenth in.
Quote: An undescended testicle should be removed or it WILL turn cancerous.
This is not necessarily the case. My first whippet had an udesended tesicle which could not be manipulated down and he lived to be 15 with no problems what-so-ever.
However I do agree that the dog should not be bred from, however the male pups he could sire may not have the problem it may appear further down the line ie. grand or great grand children.
As for the price you pay if he is not show quality (which if he has this little problem then he is not) he should be offered at a lower price than the other show quality pups that were sold from the litter.

Absolutes are difficult to maintain --- that's why I said "highly likely" ;)

Anyone see the article by Steve Dean in Dog World about undescended testicles & surgery risks etc? Quite an interesting read as it refers to an article in the Veterinary Record which suggests that the risk of a dog developing cancer in an undescended testicle is around the same as the risk involved in the dog going through surgery to have the undescended testicle removed. I have come across a number of unilateral cryptorchids which were not operated on but went on to live normal, uneventful lives, so whilst the risk of cancer is there it's not probably as great as some vets imply.

Castration is also not essential - if the dog has the undescended testicle removed, the descended one can be left intact which will avoid the problems with coat changes/obesity that affect some breeds after neutering. Of course, such a dog should not be bred from but castration isn't necessary to ensure this - just a responsible owner :-)

In my breed (Cockers), unilateral cryptorchidism is fairly common & many of the famous show-winning lines carry the gene(s) for this defect dating back from the time when such dogs were actually bred from - the father of a prolific sire of the 80's had only one descended testicle & there are other examples from the 60's & 70's I could quote. Today's breeders have to deal with the legacy of these dogs being bred from, though having said that, there are more serious problems which crop up which I consider more important than the odd unilateral cryptorchid - it's a question of priorities I guess.

Jane

PS I have known an undescended testicle to "drop" as late as 18 months in a Cocker so the decision to operate shouldn't be rushed into!

As for Longdog who said that the dog was fine and
it is not true that the retained testicle will turn cancerous.
I am glad to hear that your whippet was in good health.
I was talking from my own experience.
When I was younger we owned a dog and he only had
one testicle. The other was retained. On taking him to the
vets he told us that we should have it removed or it would
turn cancerous. We got a second opionon and the same
answer was given, so the dog was castrated.
I knew the other year a lady with a labrador and he had a
retained testicle that had gone cancerous. So I think the
conclusion is the best thing to do is to castrate, it MAY or
may not turn cancerous. As obviously in Longdogs case their
dog was absolutely fine. Maybe some one else will have a
good case that they can talk about, to give a wider picture.

Well said Jane, couldn't agree more with what you have said.
I had this occur in one of my first litters and it took months for the testicle to descend. Gladly I havent had this problem since but I agree with you re: priorities and am glad to say the same bitch was mated twice more again to the same dog and every other male puppy had normal testicles that descended quite early. Just goes to show, usually best to wait and see before rushing into castration.

Just MHO

Louise