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ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > They're going to cut them out.... testicles. (19 replies)
They're going to cut them out.... testicles. by Gator113 on 04 January 2012 - 21:37 |
My boy Falco is almost 3 years old. His testicles never dropped. I have held off having them located and removed, allowing him to mature more before having them removed. I have never had a neutered dog and this is my first GSD. He is friendly, loves to play ball and seems to live only to please me. He has been with me each and every day, 24/7, from the first day picked him up at the airport when he was 8 weeks old. We are very close. I have been told by others to expect all kinds of issues resulting from this surgery. Heck, mine were being cut off, I would hide in the woods and never come out and I would hate everyone. LOL What kinds of things do you experts say might happen with Falco because of this surgery. Bad attitude, lazy, fat, no love for life, distant toward others....not me, the dog. ;>) Thanks..... |
Gator113 by hexe on 04 January 2012 - 21:51 |
| About the most that will change is that his caloric needs will be less, so he WILL get fat if you don't cut back his food a bit, but just keep an eye on him at first and if you see some pounds creeping on, then reduce his intake as needed to keep him fit. You also may see the texture of his coat change, and become a bit softer, but I haven't observed that in all neutered dogs, and he might develop a sabled 'stripe' down the center of his back, often referred to as a 'bitch stripe' because it oftens occurs in females after they've had their first heat. If his attitude, temperament, energy level, love of people and of life are good now, they will remain that way. In dogs where there are problems with inappropriate aggression towards people or other dogs, neutering can help reduce those behaviors IF the trigger is testosterone production, and not other factors such as the dog's actual personality. In normal, healthy, happy dogs, you shouldn't see any change in their aggression as it applies to appropriate situations, however, since that is not based on the dog's testosterone. |
by Gator113 on 04 January 2012 - 22:02 |
| hexe...... Thank you very much for responding. |
by Sunsilver on 04 January 2012 - 22:07 |
| In short, don't expect much in the way of changes. My male was neutered at 3 years due to prostatitis. The only change I've noticed is he doesn't pee on the counter at the vet's anymore, and he did develop a bitch stripe. The silly git will still chase after the ladies, and even tie with them. Last summer, he got into a scrap with an 18 mo. old, testosterone-loaded, un-neutered English mastiff, which resulted in the owner of the mastiff being bitten on the leg. (I'm not sure which dog nailed her, but I'm pretty sure it was her own, as Ranger's canines are worn down to stubs from chewing on rocks.) Her dog was definitely the aggressor, but Ranger certainly didn't back down from him!  And at 9 years of age, damnit, he SHOULD have known better!!I tell ya, they still have that pesky 'Y' chromosome, even if they ARE missing the bits that go along with it!  |
Sunsilver by Gator113 on 04 January 2012 - 22:28 |
| Thank you all. I feel much better about this. I don't like the gray stripe... he is now so darn beautiful. Oh well... it needs to be done. |
by mirasmom on 04 January 2012 - 22:31 |
| I had my 3 year old white GSD neutered and he lived to be 12, also he still tried to mate with the girls, he was still a guy at heart, like hexe says, just watch out for them calories, my boy loved bread and butter, all he could steal, I nick named him the dough boy! Kanes good weight was 90 pounds, his bad weight was 110 pounds, so just keep track of that. Kane pictured at ten years old! Don't worry, your dog will still love you and you have just saved his life, cause his testicles are in a bad spot and need to be removed. I actually got Kane snipped just so I could get an indefinate listing number on him from the AKC,(he didn't have papers) I ended up taking him to his first dogshow and having him pee so much in the ring we got kicked out, I'm talking the judge yelled "Get him outta here!" so after that I didn't go back to a dogshow with him till he was ten, he got a prize for being the oldest dog there to earn his first leg toward his CD! Word to the wise....no matter how thirsty your dog seems right before entering the obedience ring, DO NOT give him a big sip of what you're drinking!  |
mirasmom by Zep on 04 January 2012 - 23:48 |
My last GSD Duke's testicles never dropped. I never had them removed and they never caused a problem (and he still "accidently" sired 2 litters with strays who somehow got into our fenced yard). At age 6 he developed congestive heart failure and A-FIB, but the vet assured me that was unrelated. The vet cardiologist had given Duke 1-3 months to live when I first brought him in (she removed 7 liters of fluid from his chest cavity! I initially thought it was bloat/twisted stomach.) He lived 4 more years. The cardiologist always said she was his miracle dog. Duke was PTS this past Nov 16th as the meds (24 a day at various times!) could no longer control the build up of fluid and draining him of the fluid was not enough as he would start filling up again after a few days. |
by Nans gsd on 05 January 2012 - 00:26 |
| I would recommend a 30% reduction in calorie intake right away in fact prior to neutering; and you can plan on that much less food/calories for the rest of his younger years; have to see when he ages if his calorie intake needs to be adjusted again. Best of luck Nan |
by Jenni78 on 05 January 2012 - 00:39 |
| Why can't you have them located and dropped? Are they too deep in the abdominal cavity? Do they have to come out totally or could you just leave them alone where they are? There is a lot of dispute about the cancer thing relating to undescended testicles. It's more a thing where IF the dog develops testicular cancer THEN it's not good if the testicles are undescended, but there isn't much evidence to support that having them undescended CAUSES cancer. I had a dog w/one undescended and finally neutered him at about 6. I would never do it again, though I didn't really have much choice at the time. His body compostion totally went to $hi+ in a matter of about 5 weeks. All muscle was lost and he just became thin and soft instead of lean and muscular. Yuck. He was a tiny dog so it was much easier/quicker to see. |
Jenni78 by Zep on 05 January 2012 - 00:45 |
| That's what my regular vet told me, Jenni. "You could do it or not do it (remove them). There's a possibility it could cause cancer or he may just live a normal cancer free life". He left the decision up to me, not that I must do it, just because. Zep-- |
by Zep on 05 January 2012 - 00:46 |
| Oh and yes, Duke's were to deep in the cavity, would have required some kind of surgery either way. |
by hexe on 05 January 2012 - 05:44 |
| "Why can't you have them located and dropped?" Trouble is, Jenni, drop them *where*? Since both testes are retained, the dog's scrotum never developed, so it would be a bit more involved than just popping them out of the abdomen and into a waiting sac... Sorry to hear about your dog losing all his conditioning to such an extreme degree AND so quickly, but that really is unusual--unless he also became a complete sofa cushion and never moved faster than a begrudging walk from that point forward, there is no physiologic reason for him to have deteriorated so drastically from the neutering... Now, it's possible he suffered some sort of complications in response to the anesthesia agent, or the suture materials used, or even a surgical sponge inadvertantly left in the body cavity, and I could see *that* bringing such a result, but a routine surgery to remove one or more retained testicles, not something that would be expected to occur. My primary concern with retained testes isn't so much the cancer issue, but rather testicular torsion, which can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and alleviated quick enough: [Material below is Copyright September 14, 2008, http://www.pet-informed-veterinary-advice-online.com. All rights reserved, protected under Australian copyright. No images or graphics on this Pet Informed website may be used without written permission of their owner, Dr. Shauna O'Meara.] 5a. Testicular torsion (twisted testicle condition): Testicular torsion is the condition whereby the testis rotates on the end of its testicular cord (vas deferens and testicular blood supply), such that the vas deferens (also called the ductus deferens or spermatic cord) and testicular blood vessels become spiralled tightly around each other. This effectively results in the vas deferens strangling and cutting off the testicle's blood supply. The testis itself becomes starved of blood and is subsequently unable to receive life-giving nutrients and oxygen nor eliminate metabolic waste products such as lactic acid and carbon dioxide. The ultimate consequence of this is that the strangled testis initially becomes very swollen and enlarged and painful and then it gradually begins to die and rot within the animal. Testicle torsion can occur within the scrotal sac (i.e. it can occur in properly descended testicles), however this is not very common because the testicle is typically held in a very tightly-fixed position within the scrotal pouch. The scrotal testis does not get much opportunity to move around, much less rotate about on its blood vessel and vas deferens attachments. When the condition does occur in a scrotal testicle, the pet develops a very hot, swollen, painful, enlarged testicle and scrotum. The animal will be reluctant to sit; it will seem painful; it will not allow the testicle to be touched and it will tend to constantly lick and bother at the painful, swollen region. Left long enough, the scrotum may become necrotic (rot) and turn black and the animal will become sick. Treatment involves removal of the affected testicle (i.e. castration of that damaged testicle) and the prognosis is normally good. Whilst testicular torsion is very uncommon in the scrotal testicle, it is significantly more common in an undescended testis, particularly an undescended, abdominally-located testis. Abdominal testicles are not tightly fixed into position (see the image of the cryptorchid cat testes below) and are, instead, free to float about within the abdominal cavity on their long vascular and spermatic duct cords. They therefore have much more chance than scrotal testes do of spinning about and twisting on their testicular attachments, leading to testicular torsion and strangulation. The chances of a cryptorchid animal developing a testicle torsion is particularly high if the retained testicle has developed a cancer (tumour) of any kind. Enlarged, undescended testicles with large tumors growing off them are very likely to become unbalanced and rotate about on their blood vessel attachments, particularly when the animal runs around (big tumour-testicles will tend to bounce about in the belly much more than small testicles will). When torsion does occur in an abdominal testicle, the animal will initially present with signs of acute abdominal pain and a reluctance to move. The animal might be inappetant (not willing to eat) and lethargic and exhibit other signs of internal discomfort (e.g. panting, teeth grinding, pacing, restlessness, vomiting, crying when touched). If the condition goes undiagnosed, the torsed abdominal testicle will rot, resulting in peritonitis (severe inflammation of the abdominal cavity); ascites (an abdomen full of fluid); vomiting; severe shock (collapse, high heart rate, pale gums, cold extremities and so on) and even death. Treatment involves supportive care (fluids, antibiotics, treatment for shock) and immediate surgical removal of the affected testicle. The prognosis is good if the condition is caught early, but guarded to poor if the condition is diagnosed late and severe peritonitis and shock has set in. [End excerpt from"Veterinary Advice On-line: Cryptorchidism (Retained testicles)-- http://www.pet-informed-veterinary-advice-online.com ] |
by windwalker18 on 05 January 2012 - 19:42 |
The only reason I can think of to "drop them" into the scrotum rather than to alter the dog during surgery to find them would be in hopes of leaving the male fertile to breed, and if he's got retained testicles that would cross him off most any responsible breeders list anyhow. We've just decided that my boy won't be bred, and as much as I adore him as a whole male, he's nearly 3, and won't physically change that much by being altered. I also don't want him to accidently be bred. I'm not worried about him being mad at me... He's not going to be looking for them anyhow, and loves me even when I'm an idiot!! LOL |
windwalker18 by jc.carroll on 05 January 2012 - 20:31 |
| I have yet to see any appreciable change in any males I've owned after neutering. Cats, dogs, exotics... They haven't changed. The only difference is the Tom cat stopped spraying on everything. The dogs, still lift their leg to pee, chase females in season, etc. I am a rather big proponent of spay/neutering animals not for breeding. I hear horror stories, but have never had any issues first hand. |
jc.carroll by jc.carroll on 05 January 2012 - 20:35 |
| I would ask that your vet prescribe painkillers for your boy post-surgery. Dogs might not -need- pain killers for a routine neuter, but adominal surgery is a pretty major enterprise, and having had a few abdominal surgeries myself, I think it only fair to help my pets feel comfortable post-op and during recovery. |
by Gator113 on 05 January 2012 - 21:52 |
| Thank you, each and every one of you. I don't come here often, but when I do I am always impressed with the knowledge and help that comes from this GSD loving group. I thank you and my Falco thanks you. Cheers....... |
by hexe on 06 January 2012 - 00:54 |
| j.c.caroll, it's now considered the 'standard of care' for a pain reliever to be administered at the conclusion of the surgery, before the animal is taken off general anesthesia, and follow that up by prescribing additional pain relief medication that's to be given for several days post-op at the very least, so I don't think Gator113 will need to ask. Gator113, it's good to hear the board responses were able to ease your concerns. Let us know when he has his surgery, and we'll all send good thoughts for him your way. Can't hurt, right? :) |
by Kalibeck on 06 January 2012 - 02:18 |
| You could buy a set of "neuticles" ......they sell them for vets as sterile kits, ready for insertion into the animals scrotal sac....of course your vet would have to create a 'sac'..... a pair of anatomically correct prosthetic testicles! LOL! jackie harris http://www.neuticles.com/procedure/proc01epid.wmv (here's the link for an insertion video) |
Kalibeck by jc.carroll on 06 January 2012 - 02:31 |
| Hexe, around here I've found unless I ask for take-home meds, they're not offered. Different regions have different norms, I suppose. One of the previous places I lived, the critters practically got monogrammed pillows to rest up on, lol. |
by windwalker18 on 06 January 2012 - 05:35 |
| The only thing I've seen to watch for is bleeding @ the site of castration, there's a lot of little bleeders in the scrotum area and occasionally I've seen males who swelled a great deal. applying an Icepack to the area will help, but if it gets hot or swells excessively contact your Vet asap to have it checked. While probably not life threatening it can definitely be painful or uncomfortable for the dog. (Have seen it only a couple of times in hundreds of castrations, so not common, but worth mentioning just in case) Jill |
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