Undescended Testicle....

[ariel]

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Hi, I have posted a few questions here and have found the replies really helpful, so I wondered if anyone had any advice on this...My 8 month old male whippet has one undescended testicle, which the vet has advised leaving until he's about a year and then castrating, as they have a high risk of going cancerous. I have no reason to castrate him apart from this and am worried it will 'quieten him down' or change his personality in some way. Obviously, for his health, I will follow the vets advice, but I have heard you can just remove the undescended testicle and leave the other intact. Has anyone any experience of this?

 

[Painted Lady]

Hi I had exactly the same with Blue and I had him castrated when he was 8 months and they removed both.There has been no change in his behaviour at all,he is still a big booby! :thumbsup:

 

[Vicky]

I know when i spoke with my vet last about Jude's "one ball" he said he'd take out the undescended and leave the other well alone if he had any problems. I haven't had him operated on though, probably doubtful that i will now as it was thought it could affect his racing but it obviously isn't, he's just turned 2.

 

[alfyn]

IMO,if you wouldn't have had him castrated,other than for this reason,i would leave well alone.

Vets just love this excuse to chop bits off dogs & make a nice wee earner,but it is highly unlikely that it would cause cancer later on in life.

There is new evidence which is showing that castrating can actually cause more problems later on in life than leaving well alone.

This is well worth a read :thumbsup:

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHea...euterInDogs.pdf

 

[~elizabeth~]

but it is highly unlikely that it would cause cancer later on in life.

Well, that's not what my vet said when I asked him about this; he said in his clinical experience (of removing them) there is a 75% increase in risk of cancer in testicles retained in the body cavity and they should definitely be removed, and that they could cause discomfort to the dog, depending where they were situated; he thought the risk with inguinal ones was less, but still significant. And this is a greyhound specialist, one who certainly doesn't believe in unnecessary interventions.

 

[BeeJay]

I have heard of some vets refusing to just remove the undescended testicle ie they will only castrate.

The report that Debs has mentioned makes very interesting reading IMO. Health reasons for NOT to castrating a male dog.

 

[jok]

The figure is around 12.5% increase in risk of testicular cancer, not quite the 75% quoted by the vet :wacko:

 

[Vicky]

but it is highly unlikely that it would cause cancer later on in life.

Well, that's not what my vet said when I asked him about this; he said in his clinical experience (of removing them) there is a 75% increase in risk of cancer in testicles retained in the body cavity and they should definitely be removed, and that they could cause discomfort to the dog, depending where they were situated; he thought the risk with inguinal ones was less, but still significant. And this is a greyhound specialist, one who certainly doesn't believe in unnecessary interventions.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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That's interesting as my vet is also a very experienced irish greyhound vet and like i said advised to steer clear unless it was causing him problems and then he would only take out the undescended one. It isn't uncommon in non ped racing and there have been many who have lived to a ripe old age. Not everyone's choice but i have chose to take that risk.

 

[Trish]

ive been in lengthy talks with our vets in the last few months over this subject and i think you have to listen to whats been said and what you think is best too.

personally we have decided to leave our dogs for now and we will check them every so often as we are aware what to look out for.

our dogs well being will always come first over anything else and not the vets bank balance.

 

[Ian of Beetelian]

This is something I feel very strongly about Vets are all to quick to castrate for undescended testicles behaviour problems ETC ETC :rant: .

Even to the point where a young male Whippet puppy was attempted to be castrated before six months by a familys vet friend and unfortunatly died under anesthesia!!

Castration has no proven effect on behaviour!!

I personally wouldnt get it done.

I totally agree with Alfyn.

Ian

 

[Windsdream]

This is something I feel very strongly about Vets are all to quick to castrate for undescended testicles behaviour problems ETC ETC :rant: .Even to the point where a young male Whippet puppy was attempted to be castrated before six months by a familys vet friend and unfortunatly died under anesthesia!!

Castration has no proven effect on behaviour!!

I personally wouldnt get it done.

I totally agree with Alfyn.

Ian

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Well put Ian :thumbsup:

Leave Testicles alone Vets are only after ££££££££££££££££££

 

[~JO~]

Our GSD had 2 undescended testicles - he was bred to be a police dog but wasn't accepted due to this. We had him as a pet and he was fantastic dog, he was fine until he was about 8 when his coat which was black really lost condition and went very dry and orangey - they operated and one was very small and near his kidneys the other was huge and abnormal but wasn't cancerous. He had them removed and was back to his old self - however we lost him to anal furunculosis a couple of years later

In retrospect we feel perhaps we should perhaps had have had them removed a couple of years earlier (as he had both retained) as he did get very low before they were removed however he was fine until this point.

 

[controversial]

75% your vet must work for carpet right my vet said leave well alone hes seen 2 cases in 30 years and if they do goe in they might not even find them cutting through very important muscles can ruin their running and if they do get cancerous the swelling tells them exactley where they are leave well alone unusual for a vet to say unless youve got a scare monger money grabber

 

[controversial]

75% your vet must work for carpet right ,my vet said leave well alone as hes seen 2 cases in 30 years and if they do go in they might not even find them cutting through very important muscles can ruin their running and if they do turn cancerous the swelling tells them exactly where they are leave well alone unusual for a vet to say unless youve got a scare monger money grabber

 

[vivo]

IMO,if you wouldn't have had him castrated,other than for this reason,i would leave well alone.
Vets just love this excuse to chop bits off dogs & make a nice wee earner,but it is highly unlikely that it would cause cancer later on in life.

There is new evidence which is showing that castrating can actually cause more problems later on in life than leaving well alone.

This is well worth a read :thumbsup:  

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHea...euterInDogs.pdf

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HERE HERE :thumbsup:

 

[FoxyDog]

Is there not a problem with pet overpopulation in England that so many people are SO against fixing their animals?!?!?

There seems to be about an equal amount of research for and against from what I have been able to find. Meaning there is always a chance of a medical problem REGARDLESS of what you do. And don't keep saying that all vets are just about geeting the money. My vet will ALWAYS advise to spay/neuter if he knows you are not a breeder (a good one anyway), because he knows that the average pet owner is not fully prepared for the resposability of owning an intact animal. I agree with him compleatly. There are just too many animals out there making more when we don't have homes for everyone already. Again, I don't mean to offend anyone but is there really such a big difference between over there and here in North America that this is not a consideration?

FoxyDog

 

[dawn]

I didn't want to get involved in this, as I (like many on here) feel very strongly about neutering animals without due cause, and saying that an animal should be :rant: 'FIXED' :rant: implies that something is wrong with the animal AND IN MOST CASES THERE ISN'T.

 

FIXING is an euphemism for neutering which is a perfectly usable word in this context.

.

It is another bastardisation of the English language by the :clown: Americans :clown: .

 

 

[SIZE=14pt]If it aint broke don't FIX it.[/SIZE]

IF a dog needs neutering (either sex) for a genuine medical condition that is OK. To have a dog (either sex) neutered for the convenience of the owner and/or the pockets of the vet concerned is definitely a no-no.

 

[wild whippies]

Riley's in the same situation and my 'pet' vet said she'd castrate both testicles rather than removing the undescended one alone. That irritated me for starters.

All surgery carry's risks and as Riley's ball has never interfered with his racing, then it's staying put. Reading Alfyns link has underlined my own feelings about it and as Vickys said, it's a risk I'm willing to take. If he does have to have an anaesthetic in the future I may reconsider him having it done but currently the risks just don't outweigh the benefits.

 

[Bellefire]

Riley's in the same situation and my 'pet' vet said she'd castrate both testicles rather than removing the undescended one alone. That irritated me for starters.All surgery carry's risks and as Riley's ball has never interfered with his racing, then it's staying put. Reading Alfyns link has underlined my own feelings about it and as Vickys said, it's a risk I'm willing to take. If he does have to have an anaesthetic in the future I may reconsider him having it done but currently the risks just don't outweigh the benefits.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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my grew had the same problem when he was small, in that only one testicle had appeared. my vet said to leave him until he was 12 months old and see what the situation was then. he said that it was entirely up to us, but that the only problem he could forsee if we left him was that when racing, he may have some 'bad' days where it was causing him some discomfort. he said there was a slight risk of cancer, but that the change in his personality etc may mean that we would rather take the slight risk. luckily, at 15 months old, the other is stacked on top of the other, but outside the body, so we didnt have to make the decision. he did say though that he may still have some discomfort when racing, although this doesnt seem to be the case at the moment, touch wood.

 

[gutsey]

FOUND THESE.

http://www.versatiledogs.com/vet/disease24.html

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_canin...Health-Benefits (scroll near the bottom on this one)