Besides the rather insane vet appointment for Nicholas (the little puppy in question), the vet found that his testicles were not descended as I had thought from previous appointments, and were just above and under the skin (could be felt). I have been reading about this a bit, and I want to let him develop more because he was a runt and, well, I don’t want to castrate him at all unless he becomes a nuisance. (Please no discussions about testicular cancer in unneutered males, I am knowledgeable about the research papers and general concensus). My question is how to maniupulate and try to encourage them to go down in the scrotal sack as I have been reading about. Anyone know? A vet or experienced breeder perhaps?
At this age, you’re highly, highly unlikely to get them to migrate to the appropriate location. In over a decade in practice, I’ve yet to see a testicle which wasn’t in the scrotum at 12/16 weeks make it to the right place. The general consensus is that you want to remove any retained testicles by around two years of age.
I just had a double cryptorchid kitten who underwent massive surgery last weekend to neuter him. He was also a runt - premature, in fact, and at six months only weighs 3 pounds. I don’t think there’s any way to get them to go ‘where they need to’ at this stage. Either they follow the inguinal canal when they should, or they never do, is my understanding. It’s also my understanding that for cryptorchids, the likelihood of testicular cancer increases by as much as ten times.
I just got my dog neutered who was a crypt. My regular vet wanted $360 to neuter him but I got it done for $120 at my local shelter.
Anyways I waited till he was over a year to get him done because my vet said it was possible that he could drop up until a year. After a year it is highly unlikely they will drop.
It is true that cancer increases in a crypt and also they can become very studly with an un-descended testicle.
Talk to your vet about the danger for crypt dogs. It REALLY raises risk of testicular cancer.
