Failed castration.....mistaken testicle!

Coblover63

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Had the vet out this morning to castrate my colt. When he gave him his tetanus jabs a couple of months ago I asked him to check whether he had "dropped" and he had a feel around and found two small ones. Colt is very gentle and docile but a day after booking his op last week he started mounting my other gelded yearling in a different way to just play so I wondered whether puberty was kicking in and was glad I'd booked him in!

So the vet confidently sedates him this morning, gives him his antibiotic injection and a good clean before realising that he can only feel one testicle. Has a good root around on the off-side and then finds it and injects the local anaesthetic into both. He decides to do the tricky side first, makes a small incision and then realises that it isn't in fact a testicle but a lymph node. He did search for a good 20-30 mins before giving up and abandoning the procedure. He was very apologetic and I don't blame him at all, even though I now have to treat my boy in the same regime as if he HAD had the op, ie, in isolation, on bute and antibiotics and to keep an eye out for an infection in 7 to 10 days. He has said he will only bill me for the drugs used and we will try again next spring.

This is the 4th colt I have had and this one - at 17 months - is by far the eldest I have had castrated -or not in his case - the others had all dropped a lot sooner! Do I need to worry about a retained testicle at this age or is it still quite common at his age for only one to be down? The vet thinks he can feel the other but it was still too high to grab with his forceps.
 

Cortez

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Should have dropped by now, but it looks like you'll have to wait or possibly go for a full GA and in-theatre investigation. Testicles can hide in some weird and wonderful places and be real ******* to find and remove.
 

Hallo2012

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unusual but not impossible.

try saw palmetto powder..........................know of 2 people who fed this to colts with only 1 down and in both the other testicle made an appearance after approx 2 months on it.......one horse was 3yo at this point! Could be coincidence or could be not, who knows, but wont harm to try (original person is a friend of a friend and i KNOW she was recommended by a well regarded herbal expert and ran it past her vet first, before recommending to the next person).
 

Clydiegirl

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Do you know how much saw palmetto they fed, Hallo2012? I've got an 18 month old colt that's only dropped 1 so far, willing to try anything rather than put him through a bigger op.
 

Whoopit

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My friend had her 7mth old lads crown jewels whipped off last week and he isn't on any Bute or antibiotics? Albeit he's out as he's missing some vitals... Is that normal - sounds absolute opposite to your fellow or is it because the vet had to rummage in your chaps case??
 

Coblover63

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Why is he in isolation?
I have two youngsters and whilst the other one has already been gelded they are typical babies and play-fight all the time, mostly on their back legs:D So I'm having to keep them apart until his incision heals..... at least until after days 7 to 10 when any potential infection may reveal itself. They adore each other so are just looking wistfully at each other over the fence.....
 

Coblover63

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My friend had her 7mth old lads crown jewels whipped off last week and he isn't on any Bute or antibiotics? Albeit he's out as he's missing some vitals... Is that normal - sounds absolute opposite to your fellow or is it because the vet had to rummage in your chaps case??
Yes....he's just covering him because he was up inside rooting about for a good 25-30 mins. It's not standard practise for a straightforward castration.
 

Hallo2012

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clydiegirl-it was approx i teaspoon per day apparently :) her horse ate it up in a handful of chaff so it must be fairly taste and scent free!!!!!
 

3OldPonies

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Mini P was just like your boy OP. If we'd not lost him this summer then he would have been going in for surgery soon so the vet could have a good rummage about to find the other one. He'd had the same experience as your boy, shortly before he came to me in December last year - vet turned up, started the op, but couldn't find the second testicle he did open the iguinal canal, but still nothing doing by the time the little fella passed away 8 months later, just after his second birthday. He was on danilon for a few days after the op. It left him with a bit of a phobia about being touched in that area - can't say that I blame him really!
 

foxy1

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My friend's colt didn't drop his second testicle until he was a three year old, vet told her it was unlikely to drop after 18 months but it did appear!
 
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