Do I have to neuter my 14 month old Husky cryptorchid?

Question

We have a 14 month old, adorable husky. His testicles never descended to this day, when he was 6 month old, the vet said he is a bilateral crypt-orchid and suggested surgery for getting his testicles removed .

Though we never had any intention to breed our husky, my husband is completely against neutering or spaying any pets. Every time we visit the vet, it really scares me when the vet talks about all the things that could happen, the chance of him getting a testicular cancer, incontinence in the later stages of life, aggression, etc.

I am not really worried about the aggression part because we never had any issues with out little guy being aggressive at any time; he is a people and dog lover.

Now that the vet says we can't even feel where his testicles are, he needs an ultrasound examination to detect where they are, and might need to undergo a major surgery depending on where their position is ...

One thing to note though is when we come home from work and when is really excited to see us, he rolls back for a belly rub and we could see two testicle-like things next to his private part.

We spoke to the vet about it asking if those are what his testicles are and they are just underneath his skin next to his private area. However, the vet mentioned about two other ball-like organs that exist around the same area and thinks they might be those, but not his testicles. Is the vet really just scaring me or is this something really dangerous?

I don't want to put my baby under a major surgery if this is not very serious. Please advise.

Answer 1

When a dog has a retained testicle (or two), there are two major problems that your dog is at increased risk for.

1. Testicular cancer. The risk of developing cancer in a retained testicle is at least 10 times higher than in a normal dog. If this occurs, the vet will likely recommend removing the testicle, in the hopes that the cancer can be removed before it has spread.

2. Testicular torsion. Torsion is when the testicle twists inside the body. This condition is EXTREMELY PAINFUL and the vet will recommend removing the testicle. Torsion cuts off blood supply to the testicle, and a failure to treat it will result in tissue death and rot inside of the body. An emergency neuter will be several times more expensive than a planned neuter now.

By recommending neuter now, your vet is trying to prevent your dog from having a life threatening illness later in life. It's possible that neither of these things could happen if your dog remains unneutered, but they definitely will not happen if you neuter now.