How common are scrotal ablations during neuters?

[Lazy_Palomino_Hunter]

A friend recently had her 14 month old corgi neutered, and when she went to pick him up they told her that because he had adult sized testicles he ended up needing a “scrotal ablation.” She paid just over $600 for bloodwork, pain meds for 5 days, the neuter, and scrotal ablation (this is in the DC area).

I have worked for vets. I’m active in dog sports. I’ve had three of my own personal dogs neutered (ranging in age from 6 months to 6 years), and I have only ever heard of the need for a “scrotal ablation” in a dog being neutered due to testicular cancer. My googling tells me it’s also common in giant breeds with older dogs who would have excessively large "coin purse"s left over.

Every neuter I’ve sat in on or had done to my own dog involved a teeny (maybe 1-1.5") incision in front of the scrotum, and an empty sac left behind that shrunk over time. Removing the entire scrotum seems much more invasive and painful, plus pretty much pointless.

Is this a normal thing I’ve just been totally oblivious to? Why would a vet do this to a young, small dog?

[RobinL]

Not normal and there was a post on this within the last month, I think. Extra $$?

[WorkingDrive]

I have not heard of a Vet doing a scrotal ablation on a young, small breed dog.

We had an adult male German Shepherd neutered at four years of age. When we took him in for his neuter, they had quoted us $180 to have it done. We were asked if we wanted him to have an ablation performed. The Vet tech informed us it was “merely cosmetic” although it was an additional $600 added onto his surgery.

We picked up our dog and paid his, not $180 bill, but his $300 bill (they neglected to quote things like anesthesia!) and we headed to the pet store to get an e-collar as they didn’t have one large enough for him…at a Vet’s office.

We kept our dog calm and crated while he recovered, and we leash walked him outside to potty (he isn’t a jumper or anything.) Within 36 hours, his scrotal area had swollen to the size of a softball. The vet had us bring him back in and accused us of letting him jump around and run around and such, and that is why he was so swollen. The fluid from the surgery had built up and had swollen his scrotal area to the point that the skin started to separate showing signs of tearing (we were terrified.) They scheduled him for ablation surgery the next morning.

We got a phone call the next morning saying that the swelling had started to go down so they did not feel surgery was needed. We paid his $200 bill for an overnight stay, observation, and medication application, and that was that. In total, his neuter was a little over $500 but could have cost us nearly $1100 if the ablation had been needed in the morning.

We had to ice his scrotal area (luckily we had taught him “bang bang” to calmly fall over on his side) and use some cream to prevent infection.

When I spoke with vet friends out of our area (as in several hours away,) they had said they always do an ablation on adult male dogs. They don’t even offer it as an option because the swelling can occur, and sometimes the scrotal sack does NOT shrink. Out of the four vets I asked, only one said scrotal ablation for larger, adult dogs isn’t common.

As I said in another thread, our dog has a “change purse,” but he is a German Shepherd with a fluffy butt, legs, and such so we don’t even see it.

[RomeosGirl]

I had my adult (1 1/2 year old) dog neutered in May. I did not know that he might need an ablation (never even thought about it). He came home with a “change purse”. I thought it might shrink back up, but nope… still there. I wish I would have known to ask about it because to me the skin hanging is just a place for infection/swelling to pool up (& also it doesn’t look so attractive - he’s a short haired dog)

[McVillesMom]

Nope. Never done one on a normal, healthy neuter, regardless of age or size.

[Marshfield]

I’ve done a lot of them on mature neuters. It doesn’t add a lot of time surgery wise but cuts down on the swelling. My corgi male is older than your friend’s, but he would certainly be getting a scrotal ablation if neutered.

$600 in the DC area is probably about par from the the feedback I’ve had from folks in that area.

[jreventer]

We do them on mature/older/males with larger/looser scrotums automatically. But there isn’t an additional charge for the ablation. The overall cost for a larger dog would be more just be nature of more drugs, anesthesia needed, etc. But there is not an additional charge for the process of the ablation.
It does not add that much more time to the neuter and in these cases can really prevent issues after (swelling, bruising, etc). Honestly the dogs are not more painful with an ablation then without-of course assuming they are on proper pain meds

And $600 for the DC area for a adult dog neuter, as long as it includes bloodwork, pain meds, IV catheter, fluids, etc would be in line with that area

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

What is an ablation? Is this something one brings up when scheduling? I have a year old Doberman I wasn’t planning on neutering until 2, if at all. He is a working dog and I have followed cancer/joint studies on neutering with great interest. He also has the tightest balls/scrotum I’ve ever seen on a big dog…they haven’t dropped a bit (like it look weird to me how tight they are–like they are going to burst), so when do you know you must do an ablation? Is it always based on size–there seems to be some disagreement?

Anyway, this is interesting. Also considering a vasectomy instead, but I can start a different thread.

[WorkingDrive]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;7781959]
What is an ablation? Is this something one brings up when scheduling? I have a year old Doberman I wasn’t planning on neutering until 2, if at all. He is a working dog and I have followed cancer/joint studies on neutering with great interest. He also has the tightest balls/scrotum I’ve ever seen on a big dog…they haven’t dropped a bit (like it look weird to me how tight they are–like they are going to burst), so when do you know you must do an ablation? Is it always based on size–there seems to be some disagreement?

Anyway, this is interesting. Also considering a vasectomy instead, but I can start a different thread.[/QUOTE]

In the case of a regular neuter, a small incision is made in the scrotal sack, and the testicles are, for lack of a better term, popped out. In smaller and younger dogs, the sack is drawn back up to the body which is why you see male dogs neutered as puppies without anything there.

In the case of larger or older dogs, the scrotal sack may not draw back up to the body. That is when a scrotal ablation is recommended which is the complete removal of the sack and testicles.

Your Vet would be the best one to talk to or perhaps other persons who had the same age of dog neutered. Had I known that a scrotal ablation was not “merely cosmetic,” I would have just forked out the extra $$$.

[arapaloosa_lady]

Was this not something your friend was aware of before she dropped her dog off? A scrotal ablation should have been discussed with her in the discussion about the surgery before it happened. It’s not like the vet couldn’t see the size of the scrotal sack during a physical exam. I wouldn’t consider a scrotal ablation to be excessively invasive or painful, though, so I guess the only issue would be the vet doing the neuter surgery differently than your friend expected.

She can ask for an itemized bill if she’s concerned about the prices. $500 doesn’t sound lie much for a good surgeon + bloodwork + medications. Just the CBC/CS is ~$140 at my vet clinic.

[Lazy_Palomino_Hunter]

No, it was not discussed prior to the surgery- she went and picked him up and it had been done along with the neuter.

It obviously is inconsequential in the long run. My friend had no problem with the cost; the curiosity was all mime as to whether this was SOP anywhere. For such a young, small dog struck me as atypical and I thought I’d pose the question to COTH.

I know vets work hard, long hours and that people aften accuse them of money-grubbing when the reality is that medical care just costs money. That said, doing a surprise scrotal ablation on a 20lb, adolescent dog seemed like perhaps… an unnecessary procedure that padded the price a bit?

This is my friends’ first dog, and I’m just trying to look out for her and make sure her vet isn’t taking advantage. She’s going to ask them about the ablation during his follow up today.

That said, for all I know he had unexpected bleeding on the table that made it necessary. Maybe this vet does all neuters this way and just forgot to mention it to my friend before the procedure. Maybe they removed the testicles and it turned the dog had a shockingly large scrotum left afterward. :lol: Who knows? I’ll post if I find out.

Either way, her vet is probably lucky it was her dog and not mine. I would’ve been pretty ticked if my vet changed their surgical plan and didn’t at least give me a ring to tell me before I picked my pet up.

[jreventer]

I would just keep in mind that maybe for this vet including a scrotal ablation is how they do all of their neuters in all dogs, or maybe adult dogs. There are vets out there that always do ablations and wouldn’t consider they needed to discuss this with the owner, since they are not changing the surgical plan-just doing what they always do.

I would bet the vet had a reason (other then padding the bill) to do the neuter this way.

[Snowflake]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;7781959]
He also has the tightest balls/scrotum I’ve ever seen on a big dog…they haven’t dropped a bit (like it look weird to me how tight they are–like they are going to burst)[/QUOTE]

LOL! I don’t think I ever thought this much in detail about an animal’s junk before. Only on COTH… :lol:

[Marshfield]

[QUOTE=arapaloosa_lady;7782281]
It’s not like the vet couldn’t see the size of the scrotal sack during a physical exam.[/QUOTE]

For a lot of fluff-factored corgis you can’t even see the testicles as they’re moving through daily life. Unless they’ve been specifically taught to have them handled, a lot of dogs aren’t going to let you get a good feel of size when they’re awake