Question Re: Testicle Descending - Page 2

Once the inguinal ring closes, if both testicles are not below that ring in the scrotum they never will be. Any testicle trapped above or in the ring when it closes will never descend into the scrotum. It is physically impossible. Older puppies whose rings have not closed are those dogs whose testicles seem to go up and down, present one day, gone the next. The descent of the testicles into the scrotum depends on 2 things, the length of the ligament that attaches to the testicle and when the ring closes. In theory hormone injections will not help and any puppy whose testicle/s come down after they get hormone therapy would probably have dropped them anyway or they were there all along. On most male puppies the ring is closed by the time he is 8 weeks old, some could close as late as 5, 6 months. Many feel that dogs with rings that close later are not the best breeding risks as they will produce more males with rings that are slow to close and the beat goes on. If I were trying to breed away from this, and it does sound like more than just a casual problem in this breed, I would be careful to not use a male whose testicles were not both present in the scrotum by the time the dog reached 3 months of age. This might be easier said than done since some aren't going to know and some just aren't going to tell. You must also consider that some people are just not good at finding them on young puppies; you cannot stand a puppy on all 4's to find his testicles, doesn't work with most young dogs. In a perfect world, any male puppy that doesn't have both testicles present in the scrotum by the time he is no more than 3 months of age, should probably not be bred or only be bred to a motherline known to not also produce the fault. It is not believed to be sex linked so both parents contribute equally to this condition. It is really hard to find a testicle that is retained above the ring. Sometimes a bit of fat in the groin area is mistaken for a testicle. When these dogs are neutered, the vet often needs to search for the retained testicle, they are not always just above the ring. If you have a dog with one or both retained testicles, you aren't going to breed him anyway, so why not have at least the retained testicle removed to prevent the chance of it's becoming malignant. Why take that chance? If the dog has matured, removing a retained testicle is not going to cause him any harm. If you're one of those who thinks that males can't live without testosterone then leave the one that's in the scrotum. If both are retained, then it's probably best to have them both removed and just deal with your male not looking masculine. If both testicles are retained he's never going to developed his male characteristics anyway. If removing retained testicle/s can give a dog even a slight advantage of not developing a malignancy, I'm not sure why an owner wouldn't just do it.

Anyone know of studies actually linking cancer and undecended testicles? Or is this just more western mindset of, if it's in the wrong place, take it out? A vet told me that my dog with no testicles would have no testosterone. We got his level checked and it was entirely normal. He also developed secondary male sex characteristics just fine.

This study gives the increased risk at 13.6 times higher in cryptorchids. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Citation