Cryptorcoid Dogs

RE: Cryptorcoid Dogs

KizzieB — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 21:51:12 GMT

Waow Alison!! Thank-you so much!!

That really gave me food for thought!! Will definitely know how to deal with this if it ever comes up again!! I will also check out the other web page for more information!!

Thank-you again!!

RE: Cryptorcoid Dogs

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:28:51 GMT

more...

Quote:

Any way; is there ever a situation where it is ok to leave the testicle that has descended and remove the retained one? Bearing in mind that this was a 1 and a half year old dog that was to spend the rest of his days on the sofa. I couldn't really think of any and thought I'd pick your brains. Castration is castration right??

Response:

I removed just the abdominal testicle from a unilateral cryptorchid dog last year. Normally I would remove both but he was quite a nervous dog and his owner was concerned that the drop in testosterone would make him more nervous. It seemed like a reasonable argument so I agreed to just removed the retained testicle.

RE: Cryptorcoid Dogs

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 13:49:34 GMT

.. more..

Quote

as it needs another surgery

Query

Why does it?

Further response:

still need to remove the inguinal testicle. (Or both really....)

Quote

The process that leads to a risk of the retained testicle becoming cancerous also applies to the descended one. Hence both need removal.

Response

My understanding was the risk of cancerous change was because the retained testicle was maintained at a higher temperature than its designed to be. The risk to the other would be no greater from my understanding of pathophysiology of this.

RE: Cryptorcoid Dogs

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 13:01:50 GMT

...more replies

The process that leads to a risk of the retained testicle becoming cancerous also applies to the descended one. Hence both need removal.

Saw a 16 week pure bred dogue de Bordeaux puppy recently with one descended testicle and one inguinal testicle. The dog had been vasectomised (bilaterally) by the breeders vet. Not sure that was very ethical as it needs another surgery (when a bit older) to be castrated.

RE: Cryptorcoid Dogs

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 12:11:13 GMT

Some VS responses...

Potentially I suppose, although I have never done so.

I'm not a believer in routine castration, only if there is a specific need in the animal. The retained testicle needs to be removed, but the normally descended one is no more or less likely to do the animal any harm. If we accept cryptorchidism is likely to have a hereditary component then we may not want to breed from him. Lots of entire male dogs appropriately managed and not running around fathering puppies.

I would advise removing both (if only due to increased cost and morbidity of further surgery if the dog needed castrating later), but I can't give you a nice ethical reason why you shouldn't leave the normal testicle alone. Many entire male dogs go through life quite happily intact. Strongly advise against using as a stud dog and flag the record well. The only disadvantage would be a later hunt for the already removed retained testicle.

Why do you think we should remove both?

Castration is castration right??

Well not necessarily. I'm assuming you are talking about a monorchid dog here although you don't actually say that so the reason for surgery is to remove the un-descended testis not castrate per se.

I would normally advise removing both testicles but the reasons are 1) to prevent future potential health issues and 2) so he can't mate and pass on the defective gene. There has been the odd occasion when the client has requested I leave the normal one but I get them to sign a certificate which declares what has been done and of course record my advice in the clinical notes so if someone re-homes this dog in the future then they need to be aware that the abdominal testis has been removed.

Presumably, you mean keyhole surgery to find and remove an undescended abdominal testicle?

The best advice has to be - make an appointment to discuss it with a veterinary surgeon. In all likelihood he/she will give exactly the same good advice for which a consultation fee will be charged.

I can't think of a single situation where I would remove only 1 testicle and not the other. I'm not sure if others would deem it an unethical procedure as such, but in most cases I think it would be.

I had a client about 2 years ago, a local retired GP, who only wanted an enlarged testicle removed and not the smaller one. We persuaded him otherwise, and it turned out the small one was abnormal, with an interstitial seminoma that had caused it to atrophy. The contralateral larger one was normal on histology. The advice to remove both was therefore correct.

...

I'll post more as, when, if I get replies!

hth

Ali h

RE: Cryptorcoid Dogs

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:26:59 GMT

Hiya,

shared this on Vetsurgeon.org for some VS info! Will cc over to here with responses.

Ali h