[seber]

Hey all, I would like to ask question I've got:
I purchased a beautiful Husky puppy, and when the time came for him to get his shots, a check-up, etc., the doc discovered that he only had one testicle (of course, I had already found that out! *wink*). He said he could get cancer in the future if I don't remove them both, so I got worried (and skeptical). I asked him what he thought the best decision would be, and you can guess the answer he gave me. So, I told him I'd think about it (yeah, right!). I've read through other forums on this subject, and some say their dog has lived years with only one testicle and they haven't had a problem, and some just say cut them off immediately! (Typical...)

(Fast forward to the present day)

In my opinion he's perfectly fine. All of his "parts" function if you know what I mean, and he has had no problems, and I have not taken him to the vet since then. Seeing some of you have an expertise on things like this, I am hoping you good folk could have an honest answer for me.

(See poll, or reply below.)

Thanks!

This post has been edited by seber: 29 January 2010 - 07:32 PM

[HuskyHusky]

If I were in your position I wouldn't want to neuter the dog for obvious reason. Testicular cancer rarely spread in dogs so just pay more attention to his ball and make sure there is nothing unusual. Good luck!

PS: Do take the dog for annual check up tho just incase they see something you missed. And remember to get a second (or more) vet's opinion if something do go wrong.

[Blitz]

The medical term is called undescended testicle. Chances are the testicle is there, it's just up inside his body.
I was born with this problem, and had a simple surgery as a kid that dropped it down into my scrotum, all tubes still attached, everything fine.
I'd ask your vet if it's possible to have that type of surgery for your dog.
I've heard of cases where the undescended one will drop on its own as the puppy gets older, but if it doesn't, the bigger the testicle gets the more difficult the surgery will be to perform.
I personally would get this done for the simple fact that if the testicle stays up inside the body, that testicle does have a higher risk at becoming cancerous.

This post has been edited by Blitz: 29 January 2010 - 09:36 PM

[Bernard]

I think it's time to find a good vet. As Blitz pointed out, this is not an uncommon problem and it has a simple solution if caught early. If the vet failed to inform you of this, you need to find a vet that doesn't put politics ahead of his patient's welfare.

Bernard

[Hiway]

exactly what they said... with ice cream on it !

Nothing wrong with only one nut. I've had several dogs with only one that could give you what for and you wouldn't know they only had one.. know what i mean? <wink wink>

Seek second opinion and ask for options other than nutering.

Good luck :)

[wildlove76]

 I concur with the others above.  In all honesty that vet you spoke to, either has extremely poor communication skills and neglected to explicitly state that he has scientifically verified that indeed your boy has one testicle.  Or more than likely is a lazy/ greedy SOB and just wants your money and the socio-political satisfaction of cutting off his balls.  Either way I personally would never use that vet again.  Also remember that while a vet is a doctor, they are providing a service to you, and you have every right to question them and grill them on every little thing if you so wish.  Always be wary of anyone not totally open and willing to answer any and all questions objectively, directly, and openly... 

This post has been edited by wildlove76: 30 January 2010 - 12:55 PM

[threelegs]

One is still better than none . . .

[seber]

Yeah. The doc was a fairly young guy, maybe in his 30's or so...he probably hadn't seen, or had much experience with a condition like that (yet). Maybe that is why he gave me the answer he did, but I dunno...I don't think I will get him neutered now anyway...

[Dirtbiker2K]

Unilateral cryptorchidism (the failure of one of the testicles to make it down to the scrotum) in dogs is I think more common than in many other species. Yes it is possible to surgically help the testicle to descend but this is dependant on whether the testicle is still in the abdominal region or if its already slightly descended (classed as an inguinal unilateral cryptorchid). All vets will have learnt about cryptorchidism and will be aware of the risks surrounding leaving it untreated.

Undescended testicles do have a much higher risk of becoming cancerous and so surgery is to be recommended. Especially as it is impossible to easily see if there is any early development of a tumour in an undescended testicle without surgery.

Now it comes to why would the vet recommend neutering. And in this case no it won't be anything to do with a compulsion to cut balls off. Cryptorchidism can be genetically inherited and you should never breed from a cryptorchid male. For this reason a vet will see little point in performing surgery to allow the testicle to descend when there is no real benefit to the animal. By suggesting neutering he does have the animals best interests at heart and he also has the best interests of future generations, should you decide to go and breed him anyway. Obviously you can not tell the vet that you would not like him completely neutered as you would like to preserve his sexual characteristics for yourself.

In this specific case it does depend on the age of the dog as to whether there is an option to operate to allow the testicle to descend. As the dog gets older the size of the undescended testicle will usually increase so it is larger than the descended one. Also the internal structure and function of the undescended testicle is effected by the higher temperature inside the body than in the scrotum (theres a reason balls hang down).

I would recommend to definitely have the undescended testicle removed, but not necessarily to have the descended one removed too. Leaving the undescended one where it is is NOT a good option. Although your dog may be fine if the testicle was not operated on he may well get a tumour there. Metastasis from one testicle to the other is quite unlikely but that doesn't mean it won't happen. It depends if you are willing to risk your dogs health over this. Once the undescended testicle has gone then the risk of any problems in the other is no higher than in any normal case. Obviously if you leave it and the tumour does spread your then going to end up with your dog losing both his testicles anyway plus all the other problems connected with the growth of the tumours.

I am sure you can discuss with a vet the option of having only the cryptorchid testicle removed and I don't see why there should be any propblem with this. But I will reiterate my previous point on the matter of DO NOT DO NOTHING AND HOPE IT WILL ALL BE FINE as there is a good chance it may not.
Personally I am strongly opposed to mandatory spay neuter (but thats a different topic altogether) but I would not hesitate to have an undescended testicle removed.

Obviously it all comes down to what you want to do, but do not put the want of having an intact dog over his health.


DB

[Pes1961]

If he did not have a second inside, it's okay.

[Dirtbiker2K]

Pes1961, on 03 March 2010 - 07:01 AM, said:

If he did not have a second inside, it's okay.

The failure of one testicle to form is something that is so incredibly rare it not even worth considering

[Arashi]

Dirtbiker2K, on 03 March 2010 - 01:53 PM, said:

The failure of one testicle to form is something that is so incredibly rare it not even worth considering

Actually my great dane had only one testicle, and the other one was still inside. So the vet just neutered this ball, and let the other one.
I dunno if it is because of this, but he didn't like sex. His penis was dry and it hurt him when I touched it, so I prefered not to go further with him.

[Dirtbiker2K]

Arashi, on 05 March 2010 - 10:25 PM, said:

Actually my great dane had only one testicle, and the other one was still inside. So the vet just neutered this ball, and let the other one.
I dunno if it is because of this, but he didn't like sex. His penis was dry and it hurt him when I touched it, so I prefered not to go further with him.

No he had 2 testicles one was just undescended which is what a unilateral cryptorchid is. If you read my earlier post in this thread you will see that unilateral cryptorchidism is fairly common in dogs. But a developmental abnormality where only one testicle forms full stop is rare.

Do you mean your vet removed the descended and left the undescended testicle? If so then the reason he probably wasn't to sexually interested is because the undescended testicles don't function properly due to the higher temperature in the body cavity compared to in the scrotum.