TOA
PAYOH VETS
Case 1.
A woman adopted a bigger Papillion cross-bred that has a left undescended testicle larger than the biggest hen's egg you will ever see in a supermarket. That was some weeks ago when she asked me to examine the dog and to age him. I estimated the age to be over 6 years as the teeth were in good condition. She did not want any surgery to remove the large left undescended testicular tumour.
2 days ago, the lady brought in the dog as there was a few new lumps growing beside this tense skin testicular tumour, irritating the dog causing him to lick it. I warned the owner of the very high risk. The tumour was massive and the cancer cells would have destroyed much of the testicle based on this large size.
"I met his ex-owner who came to me when I was walking the dog a few days ago. The person asked why I was so stupid to adopt a 12-year-old dog but did not acknowledge she was the owner."
The tumour and the cysts were removed. It was quite a bloody surgery. The dog survived the surgery but passed away probably from heart failure around 12 hours later as her tongue and gums were cyanotic. The woman was understanding. Dogs over 7 years old are considered high anaesthetic risks and most owners and vets prefer not to operate on such categories of dogs as so much risks and emotions are involved when a dog dies on the operating table.
Case 2.
One day before this case, there was the 13-year-old Shih Tzu with the recurring ringworm in his belly. He had an undescended left testicle 3 x larger than the descended one and is much firmer. The dog came in for the generalised ringworm in April and had recovered in her face, legs and body. But the belly was itchy and red rings appeared. It was a new case of ringworm again.
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| Left undescended testicular tumour has been removed together with the descended right normal testicle in this 13-year-old Shih Tzu | |
"Why didn't you
tell me that my
dog had
testicular
tumour the last
time you saw her
for ringworm?"
the woman in her
50s asked me.
She had brought
in the dog for
an itchy body
which did not
respond to
anti-ringworm
drugs prescribed
by two vets
consulted and by
her
self-treatment
of
over-the-counter
lotion.
"At that time, the undescended tumour was not so big and hard," I advised
neutering. This
was done under
general
anaesthesia with
little bleeding
unlike case 1.
The tumour had
not grown fast
and large yet.
The dog is of a
similar age as
Case 1 but
survived the
anaesthesia and
is well as at
today (3 days
after surgery).
Conclusion
Annual health
examination of
your older male
dog by your vet
will have been
best if you
don't want him
neutered. It is
best to neuter
dogs with
undescended
testicles as
there is a high
probability of
them becoming
cancerous.
Although
anaesthesia is
safe nowadays,
old dogs are
always a high
anaesthetic
risk.
Updates
will be on this
webpage:
http://www.sinpets.com/F6/20130528
undescended_testicular_tumours_toapayohvets.htm
More
info at:
Dogs or
Cats
To make an appointment:
e-mail
judy@toapayohvets.com
tel: +65 9668-6469, 6254-3326