Hi all

I just wondered what your advice would be on this subject. Reggie was at vet today. We went to get some more wormer so they wanted to check his weight etc etc for correct dose. Anyway the vet informed me that she could only feel one testicle at the moment. She wants to check him in a couple of months and if still not down to castrate.
Have any of you experienced this. What are the dangers if left? I in my silliness forgot to ask.
I know from reading various posts a fair few CDers are not keen on castration but I just wondered in this scenario what would people do if it was their dog. How long would you wait to see if it will appear. I have to say castration was not something I was about to start thinking about but not sure now!
Many Thanks
R M
Oh by the way Reggie is now four months

I think at 4 months it still has time to decend.  Have a word with his breeder, they will probably have the best advice knowing the breed etc.

Discussed this with my vet as Zuma only had 1 down at 15month, she was quite happy to leave it till he had finished growing physically and mentally and she would then remove JUST the one that wasn't down. He had abdominal surgery for unrelated thing at 18 mth and it was removed at same time (only 1 GA etc) but most people advise leaving it till 2years ish. I think there have been posts where people have said  their dog has had 2nd come down up to a year old.

hi there, a pup i bred still only had one descend by 2 yrs old and as he was in a pet home they took him to be neutered in case the undescended one turned cancerous.the vet took both away but had to dig around to find the hidden one,there was no way it would have descended on its own.b.t.w,he still mounts their other dog and cats regularly although it wasnt the reason they had him done. regards,roy.

At four months he has plenty of time.  Don't let anyone rush you into having him done too early.

I had a boy with only one descended, but wouldn't have surgery until after he was a year old.  As it happens, it would never have come down, it was still in the inguinal canal and was half the size of the normal one.

You have loads of time to make a decision (or for it to appear.) 

Hi all
Thanks for your replies
As I thought then there is no major rush to get it booked in in a couple of months!! That was my feeling but thought I would run it by you just to check!!!
Thanks again!
R M

Could I be cheeky and ask how much the operation cost?  Only a friend of mine has a 6 month old puppy whos one testicle has not decended, he is due to be castrated and they will do it all at once at a cost of £500!!!!

There's no rush for him to be castrated as his retained testicle could descend in the next few months. It won't go cancerous between now & him reaching puberty. £500 Jeez do they use gold stitches then ?

I had a similar issue with my rott boy and tooolz suggested the testicle shoogle as a way to help them be released.  If you do a search on this she describes the technique. 

In the end my boy's just dropped but it may be worth a try.

Not sure whether this works, but someone told me once that zinc helps, i remember ringing a company as my sisters lab only had one and they needed to know if it was the left or right one, why i don't know, and his dropped naturally, can't for the life of me remember the company, anyone else heard of this?

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=1036606;hl=tooolz%20testicle#pid1036606

tried to edit but this is the thread.

Hello Reggiesmum, don't be rushed! You can wait till he's 18 months or so. Vets seems to have an overly brisk attitude to deciding that at this baby age you dog is better off without anything at all. I might add that this attitude was the last straw for me and I went in search of another veterinary practice after 15 years of being their client--the best thing I ever did. I insisted that they remove only the retracted inguinal testicle, much to their annoyance, and then really put the lid on it by telling them I wanted him hip scored (as a minor breed it's good to have as much information about every animal that we can) since they were already anaesthetising him. They promptly treated me like a suspect backyard breeder and the rest, as they say, is history.

Diesel is very happy six months on as a one ball wonder and never ever has to go near the show ring again. Not sure whether he feels that he's got the best part of the bargain, but his character is exactly the same, his coat is great, and he isn't  subject to being mounted by dogs down the park who can't tell whether he's a he or a she!

I think the cost of surgery came to £170 with pre-op bloods etc, but the cost is going to depend on the weight of your dog and where the undescended testicle is hiding. Good luck with Reggie, take your time and let him grow up a little first

£500! Is this a puppy or a baby elephant we're talking about here??? Sounds extortionate to me--my WSS had this done at £170 all in

JAY15 he is a 6 month old ESS weight 14kg. My friend is a vet, and she said it would be a bit more expensive than a normal castration, but £500 sounded a bit over the top. She said if the testicle is in the abdoman it will be more expensive than a normal castration, but not £500. 

Gosh it's only around £80.00 here in Manchester.  Don't rush into it, the dog is still young.

The friend who has the puppy is not the vet (im probably confusing people now)
Would pet insurance cover the cost does anyone know?

my insurance company paid out, I was with Direct Line at the time.

I will tell my friend.  She was worried they may not pay up.

I dont know if they all will, but then I didnt get Fagan castrated I just had the retained one removed (well I would have if it had been there, as it happens he never had 2 in the first place !!) it might be different for castration.

My vet friend has just phoned and told me that every case is different, but they certainly would not charge more than £200, so she is confused as to where the figure £500 came from

I have just had a bitch spayed, she was an older bitch so she her kidney and liver function were tested and also the tumour on her fallopian tube that was removed has been sent off for examination the total for this was £259 so  £500 for a male dog to be neutered seems very steep to me. As others have said I would also be waiting until the dog was older.

My friends vet said they want £500 to neuter their 6 month old dog and remove an un-decended testicle.  Their insurance wont pay up for the operation as Sam isnt sick due to the un-decended testicle and it would be a preventitive operation which they dont cover!