[Lab.lover]

Hello

We have a gorgeous chocolate boy, Arlo. He is now 10 weeks. We took him for his second jabs this week and the vet mentioned that she can onto feel 1 testicle and that it is something I should keep an eye on as they should be there by 8 weeks.

Naturally I panicked and googled. Now I’m all worried about the situation. I’ve had a little feel myself and can feel a little pip on the right hand side but nothing on the left. I don’t want to prod too much.

We had intended on him being a stud dog, like his father, who we own and is well endowed 🙈.

Are they both likely to appear even though I can only feel one now? Anyone else with same experience?
Thanks

 

[Maddie]

I’m quite surprised that the breeder didn’t make you aware before you got him. There are methods of trying to encourage the undescended testicle down with massage but I’m not sure exactly how. It was demonstrated to me once but I didn’t pay a lot of attention as my boy had two and making sure there were two balls was part of the pre sale vet check.

Where I live, a dog with monorchidism would not be allowed to be bred with, he wouldn’t get a full pedigree.

i believe it’s still possible for the second to appear.

 

[JohnW]

They are often not on show at 10 weeks and I'm a bit surprised your vet was concerned. Often we find one will keep appearing and disappearing during the first 6 months before finally staying down. The latest I've known is a year, but thats VERY unusual. As Nicola says, a monorchid dog should not be bred from, and I would be reluctant to use a dog who was very slow descending. But there is plenty of time yet.

 

[Lab.lover]

Thank you for your replies. I’m aware that he cannot be bred from if both do not descend, that’s why I am concerned about it. Should I be able to feel the other somewhere if it is to descend?

I’m hoping that the left one will show itself soon. I have contacted the breeder to see if anything was picked up on his first vaccination check up.

 

[Lab.lover]

I have since spoken to another vet who informed me that there is still chance for it to drop. They said it’s usually the right one that does not descend and that’s the one we have. I’ve tried to have a little feel around for the left one but don’t really know where to check and when I have done, the right one seems to then hide too.
The breeder says she was not aware of a problem at the first vet check. Which the vet finds difficult to believe. It’s a little awkward as my dog is the father, he is fully intact. So why did my little one end up with only one if it’s a genetic thing?
Anyone any experience with have only right testicle then the left one dropping later?
Thanks

 

[JohnW]

An interesting fact about testicles. People talk about them dropping, but in fact they dont as such. Initially they are held in place in the body by the craniosuspensory ligament. This gradually degenerates, while at the same time the gubernacular ligament thickens and contracts, pulling the testes into place. So as you can see, several things must happen, and if something is slow, or fails to happen then the testes may fail to descend or may be late. Yes, it is always thought of as genetic.

 

[shnazzle]

Slightly confused about one thing;

Been doing a lot of reading but I can't seem to find any reason, other than genetic predisposition, for not just removing the undescended testicle and leaving the good one.

I understand that to meet human standards of what a dog should be like for shows and pieces of paper of pedigree, you don't want that. But for "normal" people, is there any reason why the dog shouldn't be left with the one working one for the purposes of normal hormonal growth?

There's plenty on why to remove the undescended testicle (cancer etc) but the other one seems to be 100% functional and there is no difference in dogs with one or two.

Are there medical reasons to remove both?

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[Lab.lover]

Interesting thought, I’m not entirely sure. Though I’m guessing it’s to do with breeding. As it’s genetic it can be passed on, so therefore better to remove both so he can’t be bred. Just presuming.

I’m a little confused about the genetic side of things. How does it start off? I own the sire and has 2 very well endowed testicles, as did his father so they obviously haven’t had this issue. Where has it come from?

 

[shnazzle]

The mother perhaps. It seems to be a quite a complex gene mutation and can be carried by both male and female.

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[Lab.lover]

Those of you who had a late developer...could you see the other testicle at all, before it descended? Or did it just appear out of nowhere so to speak? I’ve had a little feel around (as much as possible, as he’s a wriggler) and I can’t seem to feel anything at the moment.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading up and it seems quite a complicated thing and not as rare as I first thought. I’ve seen a lot of people comment that their labs have dropped late (up to 6 months) but I can’t help but think about it. I’ve also read in a few ppl places that it’s usually the right that doesn’t descend as it has further to go and the left will usually make an appearance eventually. My pup has the right, which one were other people’s pups missing?

 

[Humph]

Slightly confused about one thing;

Been doing a lot of reading but I can't seem to find any reason, other than genetic predisposition, for not just removing the undescended testicle and leaving the good one.

I understand that to meet human standards of what a dog should be like for shows and pieces of paper of pedigree, you don't want that. But for "normal" people, is there any reason why the dog shouldn't be left with the one working one for the purposes of normal hormonal growth?

There's plenty on why to remove the undescended testicle (cancer etc) but the other one seems to be 100% functional and there is no difference in dogs with one or two.

Are there medical reasons to remove both?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

There is no reason to remove the undescended testicle early, so you can leave the dog intact until after growth is complete. When I was working we did sometimes just remove the abdominal testicle, but most clients tended to want them both gone. Usually because they weren't going to breed from them.

 

[Toosh1054]

We got 2 boys last October (Mack & Buddy) and Buddy only had one testicle. The vet wasnt overly concerned and just said to keep and eye on him as would likely drop later.

He is 8 months old now and is sporting a pair which he is very proud of as he spends most of his time on his back! The missing one started to make an appearance at about 6 months, so I wouldn’t worry and just let nature take its course. 😊

 

[Toosh1054]

Buddy’s usual sleeping position 🤣 Mack sleeps in the space he can find 😊

 

[Lab.lover]

We got 2 boys last October (Mack & Buddy) and Buddy only had one testicle. The vet wasnt overly concerned and just said to keep and eye on him as would likely drop later.

He is 8 months old now and is sporting a pair which he is very proud of as he spends most of his time on his back! The missing one started to make an appearance at about 6 months, so I wouldn’t worry and just let nature take its course. 😊

Thank you for your reply. It’s reassuring to know Buddy’s made an appearance eventually. My vet had almost written it off straight away. Can I ask, was there any sign of it at all before it made an appearance? I’ve had a feel of my little guys tummy area (left hand side) and can’t feel anything that might be ‘on its way’, though I know it would still be very small at the moment.
Love the photo, what handsome chaps! It’s almost as though he’s thinking...I waited a long time for these, I’m going to show them off 🤣.

 

[Toosh1054]

Thank you for your reply. It’s reassuring to know Buddy’s made an appearance eventually. My vet had almost written it off straight away. Can I ask, was there any sign of it at all before it made an appearance? I’ve had a feel of my little guys tummy area (left hand side) and can’t feel anything that might be ‘on its way’, though I know it would still be very small at the moment.
Love the photo, what handsome chaps! It’s almost as though he’s thinking...I waited a long time for these, I’m going to show them off 🤣.

Our vet couldn't feel anything at first, then later said she could but he was so nervous at the vets, that he'd pretty much withdrawn the one that had dropped too. Started off with a very small bump for a long while, which gradually got larger. We used to check all the time, but just let him be and then one day we spotted everything looked different and lo and behold his testicle had a 'friend'! Things moved quite quickly over the next couple of weeks and it caught up size-wise to where you wouldn't even know one had been a late starter. I think it's not worth getting overly concerned right now and let nature run its course; Buddy was not fussed at all and it didn't affect him. Arlo is still really very young and will suddenly start growing very fast. Looking at photos we took of our boys back In January, they look so small, but they are 27kg now in just a few months. Just like kids I guess, they grow so fast

 

[JohnW]

I simply cannot understand why vets feel the need to panic owners over this at a very young age. It's time enough for vets to discuss it when the puppy comes back at a year old for the booster vaccination. I'm afraid some vets are over keen to jump in with the knife. When my Anna was a baby I took her in to my usual practise at 8 weeks for her first jab, saw a new vet at the practise. After injecting he said, "When you come back for the second injection we will talk about neutering." I answered, "We will not!"

 

[Maddie]

I simply cannot understand why vets feel the need to panic owners over this at a very young age. It's time enough for vets to discuss it when the puppy comes back at a year old for the booster vaccination. I'm afraid some vets are over keen to jump in with the knife. When my Anna was a baby I took her in to my usual practise at 8 weeks for her first jab, saw a new vet at the practise. After injecting he said, "When you come back for the second injection we will talk about neutering." I answered, "We will not!"

I had much the same conversation with mine about Freddie. I soon put her right 🤣🤣