My 9 month old rottie puppy is a cryptorchid. Though he is was carefully planned and beautifully bred, I had no plans to breed him, so I’m not disappointed in that respect. But I had not wanted to neuter until the 18 month - 2 years mark. I’m a responsible and experienced owner and trainer and his behavior is not an issue, but I have a nagging feeling the hidden jewel is causing some problems and now I have a dilemma.
Between 5-8 months, he went through a period of on/off lameness following short hikes or more active play periods . At one point, it resembled a CCL type of injury with muscle atrophy and uneven weight-bearing. He was seen at a very good clinic for a thorough exam and orthopaedic xrays. No changes were noted in the knee or any other joint in the affected left hind and interestingly, following the manipulations for the sedated xrays, his movement was almost 100% improved immediately. Because previous to the serious lameness he would occasionally whine/look at his flank at the end of an active day like something was uncomfortable, I spoke to the vet about the possibility that the retained testicle was somehow involved (it’s the left one). She (and a second vet she consulted with) thought it was a remote possibility.
While he has not ever been as sore again as the period that preceded the clinic visit, he does change his gait during a more-strenuous than normal hike, pointing his knee outward as he travels, and that different motion does leave him with some minor stiffness at the end of the day. He also doesn’t trot and gallop in general as much as I’ve experienced with my previous dogs. He’s a low-medium on the energy scale and while that seems to go with his laid-back personality, I can’t help wondering if it’s at least partly due to discomfort if he’s too physically active. It’s been weeks since I’ve seen anything I’d call outright lameness, but he still doesn’t use the left hind as evenly as the right. It’s subtle, but there is a difference in his muscling still. He functions normally in all other respects, with a very good appetite and all other signs of a healthy, happy puppy. He’s a solid 94lbs at the moment, but that will undoubtedly change overnight. You can almost see him growing, LOL.
If it makes any difference to anyone… he was one of only two. He was large and stuck, so delivered by C-section. His littermate only lived a few days and the milk-bar dried up, so he was bottle-raised. When I picked him up at 9 weeks, he was nicely socialized but a little behind the curve in physical development. I attributed that to not having brothers and sisters to romp with and he very quickly got stronger and more coordinated in our environment of lots of room to roam and lots of cats to play with. (His manners are particularly gentlemanly and I took me a while to realize his respectful demeanor with other animals was instilled at the end of the Paws of Death wielded by our five felines.)
So I’m wondering if any of you have had a similar experience.
And I’m also trying to decide re: neutering completely now, or removing only the pesky ball now and doing a second surgery later after he’s done maturing to remove the non-offender. Since I’ve lost four previous carefully bred rotties to one form of cancer or another, I’m very reluctant to take away the benefits of testosterone too early. But I also know retained testicles carry their own cancer risk (not to mention the possibility that it’s causing the gait disruption and soreness.)
What say ye?
