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Testicle Cancer


Jade n Ty
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Hi River

 

A Brit, eh? Where from? (Not that I've been there, wherever it is... the four times I've been in GB it's always been on my way to or from Africa, so I've basically seen the path between Gatwick and Heathrow a few times. Very pretty, though. Some day I plan to stop over long enough to actually SEE the place. )

 

No, it's true that testosterone (and estrogen) do shut down the growth plates - puberty means time to stop getting taller and put your energy into having babies, hence the growth plate shut-down. (This is also why that kid that was big enough to be playing varsity sports in the 8th grade ended up being the shortest guy in the graduating class, while the little shrimpy dude in 8th grade ended up being the 6-footer). However, while this IS a statistically significant increase over an entire population (meaning it's real and measurable, and not due to random variation), it's probably not very siginficant in an individual dog - we're probably talking on the order of a couple of centimeters, not inches. Also, every dog is different, but on average they go into puberty between 8 and 10 months, so at that point the growth plates should have gotten the message. Even if they don't, they don't all turn into giraffes :D ... they'll stop growing, just not quite as soon. (As an example, I X-rayed Finn at 10 months - he was getting his tattoo and while he was asleep I thought I'd take a peek at his hips - and at that age his growth plates were completely fused. And there was great rejoicing.)

 

I can certainly relate to your fears of having the rhino-sized BC... I was REALLY afraid Finn would be just a mammoth BC. His father is lean and trim and 60#! :eek: I used to go home after weighing Finn as a puppy and alternately beg him and lecture him (quite sternly, of course! :D ) not to grow any bigger. Either that worked, or I gave him enough coffee and cigarettes to adequately stunt his growth :D , since even though he was just a MONSTER puppy, he's been 42.7# (exactly) for about 8 months now. Interestingly, he was the biggest puppy in his litter and had the most bone, but one of his brothers - more modestly built than Finn at 7 weeks, when I took him - is now, at 19 months, a 60# BC like daddy.

 

Gil sounds like a real treat, and it's great that his nature is so good. Naturally you shold do what works best for you. I'll mention one thing that I noticed about Finn, though. This may not be typical of everyone, but I had to housebreak him three times: once in puppyhood (naturally), once at sexual maturity (when he thought it'd be a good idea to hike his leg on things in the house, and sometimes things OUT of the house, such as my boyfriend's leg :eek: ), and now a third time, since he's going into social maturity and the hierarchy is re-structuring. Evidently this is his cue to pee on evertything. :mad: The second housebreak (at puberty) was easy, though - I think we had 2 episodes in the house and two out of it, and that was the end of that. Until 3 weeks ago, when all hell seems to have broken loose in his little brain. :rolleyes: But this too shall pass... or else his testicles will!

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Hi again AK

 

I had nice talk with Gil over coffee this morning.

 

The reason Finn grew so big is because you started him on cigerates not cigars! Gil has agreed not to grow over 50lbs on the following terms:

 

1 box of fine Havana cigars(a day)

1 bottle of Jim bean (monthly)

3 walks a day (where balls and frisbees must be thrown constantly)

1 lazy boy recliner and a remote

To be taught 1 new trick every week

 

and his final request 3 ducks and chicken to round up (originally he wanted a herd of cows but we negotiated)

 

 

Okay back to being serious ;)I dont know if Fin's behaviour is typical or not. My first BC was a male and while he was harder to house train than my bitches as a puppy, we only ever went through that once.

 

He never humped anyone or anything in the house, never ran off, was always attentive, he marked in the house twice when I was away on business and my husband was looking after the gang. Which I put down to him trying to be the leader (and feeling insecure) while I was away (he knew I was the only one allowed to mark the furniture :rolleyes: )

 

He was never neutered because I wanted a pup sired by him, as did many agility people. He was always a pleasure to have around, he did have a slight guard instinct that I am not sure he would of had if he was neutered but this meant I felt safe to walk anywhere with him on my own at anytime. He didnt guard the house, toys or objects but he was protective of me.

 

Oh and I am from Lincoln on the east coast of the UK originally.

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Come to Bournemouth - if you're missing Finn you can play with Spike instead. He loves to play with new people, anyone who enters the park while we're there gets the full meet & greet routine and bugged to throw the ball. (And if you bring Finn with you that'll be even more fun!)

 

Liz & Spike: an officer and a gentleman

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I was wondering if a cryptorchid neuter can change a dogs bladder capacity. My pup had cryptorchid surgery at the beginning of December. It took him a really long time to recover even though they did not have to go searching in the abdomen. He had quite an incision. Anyway, before the surgery he was able to hold his pee all day in his crate. Lately I've been coming home to a big puddle of pee in his crate at least twice a week. I'm taking him in tomorrow to check for a bladder infection. But I don't really think that is the case.

 

The other thing I was thinking was that maybe since he is no longer lifting his leg every four steps maybe he just has more pee to spare now! I do take him out just before I leave for work and he always goes.

Jennifer

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Okay, Liz - where's Bournemouth? (Remember, I'm from America, where we traditionally suck at international geography. However - unlike many a college student, evidently - I do at least know that England is on an island, not Continental Europe, Normandy is NOT in the general neighborhood of Stonehenge, and there is no such country as Whales.) Perhaps if I do visit, you and Spike can straiten me out on this and the many other items about which I am no doubt confused. :D

 

jvw, as for losing bladder capacity - that should not be a side effect of a crypt neuter. However, he might have this change from ansthesia... depending on what drugs were used, anesthetics can lower the blood pressure, in part by lowering heart rate, and in part be causing vasodilation. We give medications to help counteract these effects, but that isn't as good as the body's usual regulatory mechanisms. In a given dog you might have enough change there to temporarily alter the bloodflow to the kidney in such a way as to cause a temporaray dilution of the urine as a result of renal meduallary washout (I think I might've gone over that in a different thread, one about low specific gravity, maybe...?) Anyway, that would result in a more dilute urine, and as a consequence a larger volume, hence a fuller bladder and more frequent urination. This effect should be temporary, and bear in mind that bladder infections most certainly SHOULD be investigated as a possible cuase, most especially in a post-surgical patient since they are already busy healing and don't need a second job right at the moment. Usually bladder infections produce a small volume/frequent urination, not a large volume/frequent one. Naturally, with males, this is a bit harder to tell, since they have to mark EVERYTHING. Or at least Finn does. :rolleyes:

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Well, his frequency has definitely decreased. And the urine appears to actually be more concentrated at least in color (we've got plenty of snow so I can see how much yellower it is)

I'm confused! I'll post an update Thursday after we've had our vet visit.

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Spike never attempted to mark anything indoors before, but he did it today at Bournemouth College... (I'm doing an evening class in dog grooming and I had to bring a dog)

 

Doc, Bournemouth is a seaside tourist town smack in the middle of England's South Coast. It's part of what our Tourist Board likes to call 'The English Riviera.' It's pretty good, although I'd really like it a little colder.

 

Liz & Captain 'Beach Bandit' Spike xxx

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Liz

Hmmm, a little colder, eh? Right now I'm grateful that it's a little warmer than it's been - haven't seen a temp above -5 (F) for two weeks. (This is unseasonably cold even for AK, at least in my neck of it - our daytime highs are generally mid-teens about now.) Today it was a balmy 20 degrees out, which means A) it warmed up 50 degrees overnight, and :D I was outside in my shirtsleeves chopping steps back into the gigantic drift that howling winds cemented into place over my steps down to the driveway. The good news: the drift is so hard that I believe a moose could walk up it without punching through (I was actually able to drive my truck over the top of the one that formed in my driveway, without breaking through. Twice). The bad news: I have only a hopeful fantasy about where the steps actually ARE, and have attempted to make the snow stairs in more or less the same place, although when things start to melt and the drift collapses, I may have some "interesting" footing for a while.

 

Finn, of course, was out there "helping" me, which primarily consisted of bugging me to throw his Heave-a-Beaver (soft frisbee thingy), keeping moose watch, and hiking his leg on the newly-cut edges of my steps, evidently to christen them. Apparently - unbeknownst to me - every tire on my truck was ALSO in need of christening, as was every interesting berm edge created by the plow guys, and, unfortunately, my Westie. :rolleyes:

 

jvw, it may be behavioral then - a bit of a drug hangover (since he was slow to recover) putting his usual routine out of whack (in which case it should ease up shortly) - or for other physical reasons. Will be interested in what your vet has to say.

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Good news is that the vet said his urine was a beautiful example of normal! So it is behavioral. I'm going to put him in a smaller crate for a while which I don't want to do because I'm gone so long. But I'll try it for a week and then go back to the regular one and see what happens. If he still pees in the crate I guess I'll have to shell out for a dog walker.

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