Pets of the month for September goes to not one but these two beautiful boys.
These guys came into the clinic about 2 weeks apart for neutering, also commonly known as castration where both testicles are removed to sterilize (make infertile) a male dog. Castrated dogs are unable to reproduce.
Unfortunately for these two when they came in for their desexing it was noted that Woody has no testicles that had descended and Oscar only had 1 testicle that had descended. During this time, they were checked over by Dr Raj and Dr Hali to see if they could confirm if the testicle is retained in the abdomen or in the inguinal canal (the passage through the abdominal wall into the genital region through which a testicle normally descends).
Undescended testicles are commonly called Cryptorchidism which means the failure of one or both testicles to drop into the scrotal sac in male dogs. The testicle can be retained in the abdomen or anywhere along the path to the scrotum pouch (inguinal area). Where the testicle is lodged depends entirely on its size at the time of descent. Abdominal ultrasound is used to detect where the testicle would be if it is within the abdomen.
Desexing is important in dogs as it helps reduce:
- The risk of testicular cancer, the second most common cancer in intact (unneutered) dogs. The risk of cancer is increased in cryptorchid dogs.
- Undesired behaviors such as mounting, marking and aggression
- The likelihood of roaming, which may result in motor vehicle accidents or other injuries
We would like to give a big thank you to Woody and Oscars owners for taking such good care of them