Cryptorchid

[CHgirl]

I have aA App colt who will be 2 this summer. He only has one testicle down. My young vet tells me that horses are either born with 2 down or not. Other horse people tell me otherwise. I remember that when we were breeding big horses, there were some we waited a little longer on to geld, to supposedly drop. Hate to do an expensive surgical gelding on him if there is a chance he could drop on down. He was bought as a stud prospect as a baby. Any experiences or thoughts on this?

 

[dannigirl]

Most of ours have been down by their actual 2nd birthday, but some have taken longer. We had one that never did really show up so when he was actually 4, we scheduled the surgery. When he was sedated, the second one dropped completely, thereby allowing a regular gelding. We had a great vet that only charged for the regular gelding.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Your Vet is right. Normal is 2 testes in scrotum at birth. But, variations to abnormal are unpredictable. Some testes may appear after even 2yrs old.

If the teste appears later in life then it was in the inguinal ring or lower, abdominal testes never appear. Testes in the ring are not particularly difficult surgeries.

I wouldn't wait. If the teste is in the ring, no big deal and you paid a little more. If the teste is in the abdomen then the surgeon was prepared and the surgery is likely to go better.

Isn't he worth doing it right?

Dr. Taylor

 

[mdegner]

Dr Taylor is the expert here, so I would listen to him.

I can tell you that we have had a couple of mini stallions over the years who did not fully drop until the end of 2nd year/beginning of 3rd. With our most recent example, neither were down at two so we took him to a vet and she confirmed they were not in the abdomen but were just sitting right there and she recommended we give a little more time. He is now three and they have both finally dropped.

 

[stormy]

If indeed he is what you want as a stud I would have him examined by an experianced person....may involve tranquilization. In my experiance minis can kind of tuck them away...they are there just have to be checking at the right time....trailer rides and tranquilizer can help locate the ones playing hide and seek!! (actually had my vet out to check a stallion one time...said it was the easiest $50 he had ever made, I had checked this stud repeatedly and could only find one...a bit of tranquilizer and plop..there it was, size of a hens egg too so plenty developed!!)

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I am old school on this- if they are not there at birth you are in trouble and I would not even consider using as a stallion an animal that was not fully palpable by the time it was two! You are passing the problem on, potentially, to all his foals.....I am certain this is why we have the problem in Minis- because people are so forgiving of what I consider to be a very real fault- just like slipping stifles. As Dr Taylor says, go ahead now and if he is not cryptorchid- and very few horses, even in Minis, are real cryptorchids, then the surrgey will just be more straightforward and hopefully cheaper to boot.

 

[CHgirl]

I am old school on this- if they are not there at birth you are in trouble and I would not even consider using as a stallion an animal that was not fully palpable by the time it was two! You are passing the problem on, potentially, to all his foals.....I am certain this is why we have the problem in Minis- because people are so forgiving of what I consider to be a very real fault- just like slipping stifles. As Dr Taylor says, go ahead now and if he is not cryptorchid- and very few horses, even in Minis, are real cryptorchids, then the surrgey will just be more straightforward and hopefully cheaper to boot.

You hit the nail on the head. I did buy him as a stud prospect, that was my only reason for waiting. But I think you are right in that it is not a trait you want to pass on.

 

[CHgirl]

Your Vet is right. Normal is 2 testes in scrotum at birth. But, variations to abnormal are unpredictable. Some testes may appear after even 2yrs old.

If the teste appears later in life then it was in the inguinal ring or lower, abdominal testes never appear. Testes in the ring are not particularly difficult surgeries.

I wouldn't wait. If the teste is in the ring, no big deal and you paid a little more. If the teste is in the abdomen then the surgeon was prepared and the surgery is likely to go better.

Isn't he worth doing it right?

Dr. Taylor

My reason for waiting is that I bought him as a stallion prospect. But evidently even the retention of a testicle at all, even in the ring, is a negative trait you don't want to pass on, from what I am hearing. Never ran into this with our big horses very often. Is this more common in minis?

 

[minimomNC]

I hope you got a guarantee on him if you bought him as a stallion prospect. One of my worse mistakes was not making sure before I bought a stallion. Lesson learned there, never again would I buy a colt without both testicles or a contract in case they don't drop. Good luck with him.

 

[Becky]

In my experience (and that's been a number of years), many owners and vets don't know what to look or even feel for when palpating a miniature for testicles. I believe owners think there may not be any or two if they don't see them hanging between the horses' legs. Miniature testicles can be substantially smaller than full size horses in comparison. With the hair coat of miniature horses, testicles are not always visible.

I've also seen a number of cases where a client's veterinarian (or even 3 in one case) could not find any or a second testicle when indeed they were there. If I can palpate them, they are through the inguinal ring and are normal.

I would get a second opinion at least, either by a knowledgable vet or other party, before determining a horse was a monorchid or cryptorchid.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Very good point, Becky.

 

[bevann]

I had a Mini colt that did not drop both until a full 36 months.I kept checking on a regular basis.He is now a gelding.

 

[BigDogs & LittleHorses]

I had a Mini colt that did not drop both until a full 36 months.I kept checking on a regular basis.He is now a gelding.

How does 14 years old sound?

I had what apparently is called a high flanker. He had a sneaky testicle that eventually revealed itself first up towards the sheath, then it fell into place right where it should be. For awhile everything looked normal, then one started getting noticeably larger. I had it removed and it was found to be cancerous. The vet said that it seemed to be contained and I thought that was the end of the story, but three years after removal we found a large untreatable cancerous growth in his abdomen. A post mortem indicated that it likely originated from the trapped nut. I should have had it removed right when I took possesion of him.

I realize that some need a little more time, but at some point you need to get it out. Testicles subjected to unregulated temperatures have a HIGH incidence of cancer!