Cooper has only got one...

[polarbear]

...ball. 

Sorry but poor Cooper! 

He was at the vet's today for his second vaccination and the vet said he only has one testicle.

I have to take him back in a month to see if the second one has descended.  The vet didn't say what would happen if it hadn't.

Has anyone any experience of this?  Might it involve surgery?

[Ninasmum]

Try not to worry about atm, esp. as Cooper is so young 
A friends cocker only had one testicle until he was almost a year old 
Thankfully it decided to make an appearance a few days before he was due to be operated on 

There are some peeps on here that have had their dogs operated on because of this but i'm sure they waited until their dog's were much older than Cooper. 
Hopefully someone else will be along soon to give you some more info. 

[mlynnf50]

Sorry to hear about Cooper, Selby only had 1 testical and we waited until he was nearly 3 to have it removed, the reason was that I was waiting for the other one to come down but it never did, and I wanted him to be fully mature before having it removed, I spoke to the vet and he said they can turn into cancer so really I felt I didn't have a choice.  Have you asked the vet if he can feel it? Selby still has his other one.

[polarbear]

Thanks for your replies.

I didn't realise it was so serious and could turn cancerous.  The vet just said it had to be monitored for 'health reasons'.

He didn't say if he could feel the second one.  I guess we'll see what he says in a month's time.  But, as has been said, it seems it can take a lot longer than one month to appear.

[Neon]

Hi

My first cocker, Charlie, had a retained testicle and the vet advised removal as it could become cancerous.  He had the op but I decided I didn't want a full castration (as advised by the vet).  There was nothing wrong with the other one so I wanted him to keep it.  He was fine after a couple of days and had his "lampshade" removed after a week.

Edit, Charlie was about 3 when he had it removed.

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

Our last cocker, Freddie, only had one, so it was removed (with the other one). Sorry, it's too long ago to remember how old he was (mum organised it too).

Henry also only has one, although I feel him up ( ) every day to see if I can feel the other. I'm sure I can feel a second one under the skin (the first hasn't popped down yet), but the vet couldn't when he saw him last week. They may drop down at any time, apparently. He's now 19 weeks.

I plan to get Henry neutered when he's 8-12 months. Obviously the operation is easier if the balls have both descended. If not, then the vet has to dig around to find the other. Sometimes they are easy to find, sometimes take a bit longer.

There are various studies that show that retained testicles are more susceptible to cancer, and also that just having testicles at all increases the cancer risk. Other studies show there's no more risk. Most vets seem to push it, possibly because they want to see fewer unwanted puppies, or possibly because they make money out of it (although I doubt that this is the case, as they'd make a lot more from cancer treatment).

I'd take the advice on here about castration with a pinch of salt though, as it is such a personal thing (and there's a study to suit everyone's point of view) - whether you get your dog neutered seems to be a very big bone of contention on here - some people recommend it, some people don't. I think most people would agree that you shouldn't leave an undescended testicle though, whatever you decide to do with the "good" one!

[Fifi]

Hey my pup also called Cooper is the exact same 
The vet said not to worry as he's young, and will re check in Feb, if it hasn't by then he has to get surgery also..

[cangrejo]

Charlie only had one as well. I waited until he was 10 months old to see if the other would descend, which it didn't.  He had both removed in the same op, Charlie's retained one was very retained and had started to shrink so the vet had to tip him upside down during surgery to get it 

He was fine the next day, my biggest problem was trying to keep him quiet and stopping him jumping on the furniture or doing the wall of death 

[jaybee]

Bingley still only has one  waiting until he is fully matured before we go down the surgery route

[elaine.e]

There's still plenty of time for the other testicle to appear, so don't worry.

William only had one testicle descended and although I don't usually have my dogs castrated I decided to have William done when he was 15 months old and the testicle hadn't appeared. I waited until then to give the testicle time to appear but mainly because I felt it was important to give William's body time to mature. My vet surgery encourages owners to have their dogs castrated but not until they're physically mature, so in the case of medium sized dogs not before 12 months old.

There are a lot of studies that show that retained testicles have a higher risk of becoming cancerous than descended ones and that's why I chose to have him castrated. There are also studies that suggest that the risk isn't as high as once thought and of course leaving a dog entire increases the risk of testicular cancer.

Other studies indicate that dogs castrated while physically immature are more prone to cruciate ligament  and other problems that may require surgery and behavioural issues too.

As others have already said, take your time and do your research before making any decision about castration.

[karendorman13]

When Kol has his second needle at 10 weeks the vet could only find one but he was at the vets on sunday (3 months) and i asked her to check and they are both there but he is getting done sometime next year when i feel he has settled and matured enough

[polarbear]

Thanks so much to everyone for your kind replies.

I had planned not to have him castrated just to keep his coat pretty but I now see there's a lot more to it than that! 

I'll read up on the subject and listen to my vet's advice and decide what's best for Cooper.

Thanks x

[piph]

Neither of Ozzy's testicles have descended yet, and he's 19 weeks old tomorrow - we hadn't planned to have him castrated either, but have been advised to wait as they can appear right up to 18 months of age.  We had planned to wait until about then anyway if they didn't appear to allow his body to mature properly - it still happens even if the testicles are retained.

Poor Ozzy, no testicles and now only one eye - but we love him anyway 

[siam]

Alfie only had one testicle descended ...... until he was almost a year. We took him for his 1 year check up and expected to be told when he would have to have the operation for the retained testicle and got a very pleasant surprise when the vet said there are definitely 2 there now!! I wouldn't say it was the most prominent of testicles  but we were delighted Alfie didn't need his operation, so as others have said there's plenty time for Cooper. Our vet reviews dogs needing the op at around 14mths.

[Liz F]

Diesel had an undescended testicle, I waited and waited, hoping it would appear but it never did   Vet informed me of dangers in leaving testicle inside and in the end for medical reasons I decided on castration.  Only thing is castration has effected Diesels coat, hes like a woolly mammoth now   before he had a beautiful sleek and shiny coat sometimes wonder that if I had only had the undescended testicle removed and left the other one if his coat would have remained the same

Would definitely wait until Cooper has matured before making decision - there is plenty of time for it to appear yet.