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Monorchid


shanedog
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I have an almost 5 yo Border Collie who I have had since he was 7 weeks. During his early vet visits I found out the he was a Crytorchid/Monorchid. The breeder suggested that I wait 2 -3 years for the other testicle to descend. Needless to say, it never dropped. Today he finally had his surgery for the removal of the good testicle and hopefully the removal of the "missing" testicle. Unfortunately, the surgeon could not find the other testicle. She performed as extensive a search as possible with no results. I was wondering how common this is in Border Collies and what the odds are of it not existing at all (the other testicle). Right now I have to wait 6 more weeks to have a testosterone level completed to see if there is another testicle. At that point we could go another round of exploratory surgery in the soft tissue if the levels (testosterone) are elevated. I am naturally worried about this whole thing. He is a very healthy dog otherwise. I have tried searching for information on this and can't seem to find much. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions as to where to get information regarding the frequency of possibly just one testicle existing? Especially in Border Collies? I am just trying to prepare myself over the next six weeks incase he requires further surgery. Any info would be helpful. Thank-you.

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Whatever the frequency of one testicle, it won`t make any difference to your dogs condition. Wait for the hormone tests, and be glad there wasn`t a cancerous mess from a retained testicle. I`ve never heard of any reason whatsoever to just wait and wait before the surgery. Unless this dog were the best of the best in skills to herd livestock, his health should have taken precedence over leaving a possible problem until it is so late. I would have had him neutered by 6 months. Be thankful for what you have, and let the hormone test help you decide your future decisions. The best of luck to you.

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I'm sorry to say I don't have any exact numbers to report to you, but cryptorchidism is a lot more common than monorchidism. I've only ever seen one monorchid, and in that one I was able to find the vas deferens and the panpiniform plexus, which are structures associated with the testicle, so I followed them. Where the testicle should have been was only a web of mambranous tissue without anything that resembeled a testicle in the slightest. I took that out, though, in case there were any stray testicular cells associated with it, and discussed monitoring and followup with the owners. If I were to guess at the numbers, I'd say that aomngst the four vets at our practice, we've probably seen in the neighborhood of 100+ crypts, and I'm the only one who's ever seen a monorchid. So, the frequency is low, but it does happen once in a while.

 

As far as crypts amongst BCs, again - no hard numbers, but Buddy was a crypt, and Finn isn't, so my own personal dogs are running at 50%! :rolleyes:

 

Your vet's plan is a good one - hopefully no testosterone will be detected, and that'll be the end of it. If he's a healthy dog in other regards, he should be more than able to handle two exploratory surgeries. Your wallet may feel differently, of course. :D

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I know of a dog who apparently had three. He was neutered, the vet removed two testicles, and then some time later another one dropped.

 

Kinda weird, but hey -- my bitch Fly has an extra set of nipples, so why not.

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