Someone please help me understand! My boy had no sign of testicles and I was worried, took him to the vet. Vet found only one. He said to give it some time to see if it would drop. Hasn't dropped, and the one he has seems to appear and disappear and is rather small. He's now 7mo. and I'd like to get him neutered but he has d-mange. When's too late to neuter? Why the one small here one day and gone the next kinda testicle? Anyone else ever had this problem? Solution? My poor "One Nut Wonder!" He's still my big man!
My "One Nut Wonder"????
- Thread starter bkidd
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SoleilBxrs
Banned
we've got a few "one-nut wonders" here on the boards! 
my Cassius is one of them. We had high hopes for him to be a show dog.. but his second testi never dropped fully. We waited until he was 1 until we got him fixed. The neuter cost a bit more than a regular neuter since they actually had to make 2 incisions, and is actually a little more like a spay. But he's totally fine now.. took him about 2 days to get back to normal after his surgery, then about 10 days of "quiet" time, before stitches were removed. I would get your boy fixed as soon as mis mange clears up. Youre doing the best thing for him! good luck!
-Kat
ps. i do believe it is genetic (someone correct me if i am wrong), but hard to tell which side it came from (dam or sire).. which is why people should never breed monorchid, or cryptorchid dogs.
my Cassius is one of them. We had high hopes for him to be a show dog.. but his second testi never dropped fully. We waited until he was 1 until we got him fixed. The neuter cost a bit more than a regular neuter since they actually had to make 2 incisions, and is actually a little more like a spay. But he's totally fine now.. took him about 2 days to get back to normal after his surgery, then about 10 days of "quiet" time, before stitches were removed. I would get your boy fixed as soon as mis mange clears up. Youre doing the best thing for him! good luck!-Kat
ps. i do believe it is genetic (someone correct me if i am wrong), but hard to tell which side it came from (dam or sire).. which is why people should never breed monorchid, or cryptorchid dogs.
Rlr.Giraffe
Banned
Exactly what Kat said happened to our little "wonder" too.
SoleilBxrs
Banned
neraknna said:
poor boy!
Have you gotten him fixed yet? Even more urgent for a dog who has undescended testi's to get fixed. If they ever twisted inside him, it can mean BIG trouble. -Kat
Bkidd: it is never "too late" to neuter, but the greatest benefits for the dog come if it is done early - before puberty. In the case of a cryptorchid dog (one or no testicles descended) it is best that they be neutered as soon as possible as retained testicles have a high chance of turning cancerous. Before 6 months is best, and preferably before 1 year. But any time is better than no time 
The demodex makes things rather more difficult in your case. How bad is the mange and how is it being treated? I'd be looking into trying to boost his immune system as much as you possibly can and when you get the mange under control, get him neutered as quickly as possible.
Incidentally, yes cryptorchidism has a genetic inheritance. It is thought to be a sex-limited autosomal recessive trait - meaning that the dog must inherit two copies of the responsible gene (one from each parent) but that only male dogs can actually be affected (obviously LOL). Kat: that means that both Cassius' parents had to be carriers.
That makes it a difficult condition to screen out of a breed - because those dogs that have only one copy of the gene (carriers) won't be visually identified and bitches never will be even if they have two copies of the gene. Obviously, a male dog with an undescended testicle(s) is easy to identify and should never be bred from. Because of the high risk of an undescended testicle turning cancerous, neutering as soon as possible is wise - but once that is done, there are no further health implications for the dog.
The demodex makes things rather more difficult in your case. How bad is the mange and how is it being treated? I'd be looking into trying to boost his immune system as much as you possibly can and when you get the mange under control, get him neutered as quickly as possible.
Incidentally, yes cryptorchidism has a genetic inheritance. It is thought to be a sex-limited autosomal recessive trait - meaning that the dog must inherit two copies of the responsible gene (one from each parent) but that only male dogs can actually be affected (obviously LOL). Kat: that means that both Cassius' parents had to be carriers.
That makes it a difficult condition to screen out of a breed - because those dogs that have only one copy of the gene (carriers) won't be visually identified and bitches never will be even if they have two copies of the gene. Obviously, a male dog with an undescended testicle(s) is easy to identify and should never be bred from. Because of the high risk of an undescended testicle turning cancerous, neutering as soon as possible is wise - but once that is done, there are no further health implications for the dog.
Lisa_p
Super Boxer
Ray is also a memeber of this club. When we chose him we checked to make sure he had two testicles, because we wanted to breed with him. But when we picked him up and were home and happy we noticed that he only had one, the other had gone back up. We were told that there wasn't too much of a worry, we just had to keep an eye because there was a chance of cancer. He landed up getting prostate cancer about 3 years ago and everything was removed. He is as happy and healthy as ever - jumping around like a puppy - you would never say he is nearly nine - well aside from the grey.
Lisa
Sugar & Ray
Lisa
Sugar & Ray
SoleilBxrs
Banned
gmacleod said:
Very interesting! Thank you gmacleod!
How closely do breeders pay attention to this recessive trait? I mean, it seems that there are a lot of boys who end up w/ this problem.. many from well-established show-lines. I mean, it seems like almost all breeders (other breeds too of course) worry about whether or not both testi's have descended or not. Is this just something that breeders take a gamble on?-Kat
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