# Cryptorchidism (Undescended Testicles) in Chihuahuas?



## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Anyone have a Chi or dog with this disorder or know of anyone who does?


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

Yes!! Gatsby was a chryptorchid; his neuter was way more complicated as it was basically a spay. They couldn't palpate the other testicle; so they had to go "hunting" and they found it way up in his abdomen. =(


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Did you have him neutered at an early age? Did you see any different behavioral issues with him?


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## TLI (Sep 3, 2008)

Chance was Cryptorchid. He was neutered at 19 months old. Other than calming him down (no longer "keyed" up over intact females), and changing his metabolism majorly, he's the same sweet, loveable little Angel. : )

The surgery is more complicated than a regular neuter. It's actually 2 different procedures. A neuter, and an incision along side the penis to remove the testicle inside the abdomen. I almost lost Chance to his neuter. It was TERRIBLE! There is a thread and pics on it somewhere around here. His stomach looked like a massive war zone! But I don’t think his experience is common.


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## Chihuahuasloveme (Jan 8, 2010)

My mastiff had this he's the ripe old age of 10 no problems I do remember his stomach being black and blue from bruising after though he got neutered at 6 months or so and I think there's a higher incidence of cancer if they aren't neutered


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

We rescued him at about a year and a half; and he was already pretty much neglected at that point and had plenty of bad habits so I can't attribute that to the testicle lol. He was really emaciated so we had to wait a lil while to fatten him up before putting him under anesthesia. He did mark a lot while he was intact; but he didn't seem any different than any other intact male dog I'd had. As far as I know it's just the location of the testicle; I don't think (but I could be wrong) that the actual function of it/testosterone is affected. Only ONE was undescended though; so maybe his other one balanced it out?

He was neutered a month or so after we got him; and that DEFINITELY helped improve his marking but not 100%. It had the same affect on him that neutering any other dog had; just that it took him longer to recover because of the large incision they had to make while looking for it. But behaviorally he now just seems like any other neutered dog. He still has potty problems which is why we just switched him to raw now that I took over his care again and so far that's helping with that. 
So I guess no, there wasn't any different behavioral issues that I saw in comparison to any other intact male. If you have any other ?'s I'll be happy to try answering lol.


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## TLI (Sep 3, 2008)

Pic of Chance's tummy after surgery.


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## Chihuahuasloveme (Jan 8, 2010)

TLI said:


> Pic of Chance's tummy after surgery.


That's exactly what maxs tummy looked like!


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

OUCH!!!! Gatsby's did NOT look like that at all. I never thought to take a pic of it but it wasn't anything like that. It was a very long incision along side his penis but it was only mildly red and he never had bruising like that. He had a lot of staples and just a little soreness around them.


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## TLI (Sep 3, 2008)

Yeah. :/ From what I was told, it isn't common for it to happen like that. For about 3 days there, I didn't think he was going to make it. He had a really bad time with the whole thing.


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

Poor baby! Glad everything turned out okay.. it's so hard seeing them in pain!


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Wow! Poor Chance that looked awfully painful :-( I inquired about a tiny little male Chihuahua that has this issue and is 2 yrs old and 2 lbs 8oz. I was just wondering after reading up on it. Not that I am going to get him or anything just curious as a what if ;-)


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## TLI (Sep 3, 2008)

I wouldn't let him being Cryptorchid stop you from getting him. He does need to be neutered though. Their cancer risk is much higher being Cryptorchid.


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## lynx8456 (Feb 26, 2009)

Went thru this with Jasper at 7 months old and he just took a bit longer to recover. All went well though.


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

Ohh, I seee.... well in THAT case.... *clears throat*

Chryptorchid chihuahuas are known as the most amazing, brilliant, sweet perfect dogs in the entire world and bond especially well with humans who go by the name of Michelle.

I'm dead serious. O_O


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Kitty&Kahlua said:


> Ohh, I seee.... well in THAT case.... *clears throat*
> 
> Chryptorchid chihuahuas are known as the most amazing, brilliant, sweet perfect dogs in the entire world and bond especially well with humans who go by the name of Michelle.
> 
> I'm dead serious. O_O



LOL! You are too funny! I am not looking to add to my pack but I will keep all of that in mind ;-)


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

TLI said:


> Pic of Chance's tummy after surgery.


Wow, that looks so sore. Reggie had one undescended testicle, they had to look for it in his abdomen, but they did the incision in the abdomen right in front of his penis just like a spay. It never looked bad, just like a normal spay incision. He had no bruising, but his scrotal sac incision site got infected and his poor sac blew up 4 times it's size. When it came to a head and popped open, it immediately reduced the size of the sac and then healed up in no time, but until it did, he was in agony. He didn't get neutered until I found him at about 5 to 6 years old. I did notice a reduction in aggression and a LOT less marking, but he still does mark rarely, it's like he forgets every once and a while.


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

So sorry Reggie had to go through that too, bless his heart :-(


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## rocky scotland (Jun 15, 2008)

Rocky had the one testicle that hadn't dropped and they had to 'find' it in the abdomen but he did not look like Chance, poor wee guy. He had the normal incision when the normal neuter was and a long incision along the side of the penis, it was pretty tender and it got a little infected so he was given antibiotics, because of where it was the sutures pulled a little and I think thats why it got infected. Once the sutures came out it really healed so well and made a huge difference.


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## Zippy (Dec 31, 2010)

Zippy has an undescended testicle too. I have heard that the cancer risk can indeed be a bit higher because of this. However, he remains un-neutered because of the dangers of anesthesia with his heart murmur.


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## chi's R me (Jun 30, 2009)

I just had my chinese crestie Billy Idol neutered last Saturday and he had the same problem. He came thru it really well and didn't even have all the bruising some of you have had. His second cut was right along side the penis. I told him he'll be a better man for it. lol He is 9 months old, I haven't noticed any change in him, he still acts like a puppy, running and bouncing all over the place.


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## Kioana (Mar 1, 2005)

my jasper had it so he had to fixed


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## Lindilou (Mar 6, 2011)

One of my standard poodles had this. He was neutered without any problems or big wounds,and recovery was straightforward. Maybe his wasn't buried so deep as some of your dogs had.


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## rache (Nov 10, 2009)

Little Bo had this to. The vet found his testical up near his kidney, his poor tummy was black and blue. He had his normal neuter incision, another Along side his penis and another near his ribs but on the other side. His penis was so swollen from all the digging round it was permanently out for a couple of days. The vet also said the testical had started to turn abnormal so it's a good job my nan got him done when she did or we could have been looking at cancer. Scary thought. The bill was almost £400 by the time that was done and the other bit on his eyes. Poor little lad x


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