Week 23 bad news

[joshua8838]

So bad news for Moose. The vet said that he only has 1 testicle and that the other one is still inside him and now we have to get him neutered I don't know what to do he's still so young but on the other hand I don't want him to develop a tumor any advice. Obviously I'm not gonna let him get a tumor.

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[angelbears]

It is my understanding that it takes time, the testical has to be sitting in there for a while. I would ask the vet if you can wait until he is 18 months. Most vets push for early neutering even though it is not the best thing for the giant breeds. What you have to do is weigh the the damage that early neutring may cause to the risk of cancer. IMHO the risk is greater to neuter early.

Retained Testicle Or Cryptorchidism In Your Dog Or Cat

 

[Boxergirl]

I don't have advice, but I can tell you about my experience. I adopted a boxer that had testicular cancer from a retained testicle. It was a sertoli tumor. Because it was a hormone producing tumor, he had feminization. Very large nipples, hair loss on his legs, and some urine leakage. He was six years old when I adopted him. The cancerous testicle was removed and he remained cancer free. Because he was a stray with no medical history, there's no way to know how long he'd had cancer, but I would bet it wasn't five years. While my boy remained cancer free after surgery, he did have issues involving dripping pus from the penis that we were never able to resolve before his death. He wore a belly band 24/7 which meant he always had UTIs. The pus was likely a prostatic issue rather than being directly related to the testicular cancer. I would probably not neuter just yet. I would discuss the chances of the testicle becoming cancerous in the next year and see what the vet says. I would think that would be something you could monitor. In your position, I would have him neutered at 18 months. Sooner if there's any indication that there may be a problem. There's no sense taking a chance. From an aesthetic rather than a health view, Leo's nipples really detracted from an otherwise gorgeous dog. We didn't love him less. I even forgot he had big nipples, but I was reminded every time someone asked why "she" had a penis. Lol. Poor Leo.

 

[NYDDB]

I would wait as well. I had a Labrador with the same issue, and upon advice from the vet and breeder, waited until after he was at least a year old for them to neuter him. I think he had the surgery when he was about 15 months.

 

[EverythingEnglishMastiff]

Can it be that it's just a late dropper? Even in humans the testicles don't always descend together huh? Also you don't just get cancer over night. Ultimately he's your pup and it's your call. IMO better to wait til he's older.

 

[sjdavenport]

You really just have to weigh the pros and cons and make the best decision you can for your pup. If he were mine, I think I'd wait until he's a more mature. The chances of him developing any testicular neoplasia before 12-18 months are basically zero (never say never though). However, the retained testicle can become torsed and start to necrose in the abdomen, so I'd watch him closely for any signs of abdominal pain or discomfort until he has that testicle removed. The only other con for waiting is that the older guys always have a tougher time recovering from any surgery than the young ones (and it may be a little more difficult to find the testicle in a larger dog, it's harder than you'd think!). And I'm sure you already know all the benefits of waiting until they're skeletally mature prior to neutering. It's a heritable condition, so I think that's why so many vets get so concerned about postponing neuters on these guys.....unfortunately many clients are irresponsible and don't have good control of their dogs, so the chances of an accidental litter with the cryptorchidism passed on is always there. If you decide to wait, I'd just reassure your vet that you have all the steps in place to prevent that from ever happening....that may reduce the pressure a bit.

 

[tlov]

Have you considered him having a vasectomy instead of neutering? You could have the retained testicle removed and have a vasectomy on the remaining one then he would still get the benefits of having his hormones. I'm not sure where you're located. You'd have to see if there are any vets near you who perform vasectomies.


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[EverythingEnglishMastiff]

I wanted to ask that and didn't. Is that a possibility?

 

[tlov]

I'm pretty sure it is. I have a female and when we got her we were in spay contract. We had always spayed and neutered our dogs so didn't really think much of it. Then we found out it's better for giant breeds to not be spayed or neutered until they're older. I did some research on ovary sparing spays and vesectomies. And we actually had her scheduled for OSS but ended up talking with the breeder and changing her to a breeding rights contract. So now we are waiting until she's older to decide. Long story short my research was mainly about females but I believe I did read that they can remove a retained testicle and do a vasectomy. One problem is not a lot of vets perform these procedures so it depends where you live if there is one near you.


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[DDSK]

I had a German short haired pointer that went through his entire life like that, he lived to be 15 years old.
And fathered at least two litters of pups. Never had surgery of any kind.

 

[DMikeM]

Just wait, and get a second opinion. Try to find a vet that has mastiff experience. BTW 2 of my pups didn't drop the second teste until around 4 or 5 months. And a vet tech I know actually massaged to sack a few times on one and the teste popped down while she did that. It went back up for a day then descended by itself.

 

[Liz_M]

Another vote for not jumping too quickly into surgery. My Lab is now seven years old and is a "failed foster" I got as an approximately 4-month old puppy. His testicles didn't descend until he was 9-10 months old. My vet was unwilling to do unnecessary surgery and told me that as long as the inguinal ring (the opening through which testicles descend) was still open - it closes up in late puppyhood - we should wait. And sure enough, down they came, finally.


The only health issue this dog has ever had in seven years was one case of nasty moist dermatitis. He's very healthy. I had him neutered some time between three and four years old.


So ask your vet about the possibility of his balls just coming down a little late. I think some vets are too inculcated in the "pediatric spay-neuter" model to be able to look outside of the box.

 

[SG1]

My Dogo had the same issue. My vet said to wait till he was a year old and if it had not dropped by then I should remove the testicle that did not drop for fear of it becoming cancerous. My vet recommended I wait a year to see if it drops. He was only ten weeks old at the time and the vet said it my drop later on. I waited a until he was a year old and it still did not descend. I"m with you when it come to neutering and opted to remove just the un-descended testicle. My dogo eventually developed bladder infections that reoccurred and at seven years of age his kidneys began to fail and I eventually had to put him down. I did not think one had anything to do with the other.

Fast forward ten years with an entirely different breed of dog (Presa) with the same incalcitrant testicle. Diablo was a year old when I purchased him and gave him to my daughter. I advised her to have the one testicle removed which she did. Over time he developed the same medical problems as the Dogo and at seven years of age had to be put down due to kidney failure.

Vasectomy and tubal-ligation are current options in dogs, the only problem with it is it is a fairly new procedure and there aren't many vets trained to do them. Liz_M may be right about the inculcation of vets in neutering and spaying.

You have a lot of choices here, whichever way you go I wish you and your handsome boy the best.