Only one descended testicle?

I spent several hours reading old threads, and heard a few mentions of cancer being a high incedence in dogs with only one descended testicle.

My neighbor's dog, Midnight, (who I'm sure I've mentioned before) only has one. His owners don't want to neuter him--though I've offered transportation AND funds numerous times--b/c it will make him 'less' of a dog and more likely to gain weight. Is cancer a real issue here (besides the obvious unneutered mutt issue)? If so, that may gain me some leverage in convincing them to neuter him.

So.. do you guys have any scientific articles on the subject? Even if it's a newspaper/magezine/book reference?

I don't but maybe you could call your vet clinic and see if they have any?

Ok a quick search shows that it's called Cryptorchidism so maybe search Cryptorchidism + canine + cancer?

You can also search it without canine.. Seems human male studies point to a higher incidence of cancer too when I've looked in past.

Yes, when I googled that was all I got w/o typing in the word "canine" or "dog."

I whelped a pup whose testicle hadn't gone down yet when he went home .... and the vet had told me that if it didn't come down , it should be removed . Luckily it did come down .

I would try looking for Canine Testicular Cancer, you may find the articles and research there.
Good luck
Lynn
by the way, friends of mine recently had to have their older stud dog neutered due to this. It is considered to be an emergancy but it is the most reliable way to stop the cancer. As a foot note stud dogs if not used REGULARLY often develope cancer.
This is the main reason that I am going to neuter my male later this year after he sires his last litter. He doesn't breed enough to justify keeping him a stud and putting him at risk as he ages.

you might want to check out these

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q...creased+risk+of+cancer&hl=en&um=1&oi=scholart

the second link has a pdf that looks relevant

Thanks, Saje.. I'm checking them out right now.

looks like some of them you have to pay for sorry. I didn't see that. Ignore those!

I haven't run across any of those yet, LOL!

His landlords want the dog neutered, but one of the owners doesn't want to do it.. so calling vets in my area and asking them for pricing on treatments for testicular cancer might get a response. *whistles innocently*

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_canine_neuter.html

I like this one. I'm going to print it out.

Good find! I hope it helps

Auggie had one that was not fully descended - it migrated up closer to his leg and didn't totally drop. The vet basically told me what's in that last link you posted - it can get entangled, it can cause all kinds of problems, and it NEEDS to come out. Cancer wasn't mentioned, but I wouldn't be surprised. (They might not have mentioned it since I was already planning on a neuter anyway and didn't really need convincing; we just did it at 7mo instead of 12mo because we didn't want it to turn into a problem.)

With a testicle that isn't descended, the surgery is going to be more like a spay than a neuter - they have to go into the dog to find it. This is even more difficult if the testicle is already entangled. I hope the dog isn't old enough to make it complicated...
This means healing and length of healing time will be different too.

Yeah I just had some one offer to sell me a Doberman with one testicle. They have been using him as a stud for two years. :yikes: Crazy people I say!

He's not quite a year yet, I believe. I remember I met him in august, and he was less than three months at that time, maybe closer to two months.

*sigh* I want to be able to magically snap my fingers and neuter and spay animals.. if I had one magical power, THAT would be it. No getting a million dollars, no talking to my pets, I want a snap and sterilize program.

Now I just need to learn how to snap my fingers.