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Help with a possible testicle problem

11K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  shakespeare 
#1 ·
This is long - apologies !

I have a young (3 year old) entire male Basset who has had any number of problems since coming to us at 4 months. The latest has been sitting on his bum and wriggling. And yes, I immediately suspected anal glands although despite being able to externally drain these (have done for years) I wasn't able to get anything out. So off to the vet who going in from inside, did :rolleyes:

He gave him oral antibiotics (my previous vet always flushed and packed topically) but I went along with this treatment. He seemed to be better and a recheck showed no further problem.

However, this wriggling on his rear end continued (and yes, I know that once disturbed, these glands can take a time to settle down again). When I checked him, I touched his testicles (scrotal sac) and he yelled. :eek: So back to the vet - did he do this again - NO! Not a sound. Anal glands fine.

He's still doing this wriggling around, after over a month - sometimes he reacts when I touch these testicles, sometimes he doesn't (I know, don't touch his testicles :D) I've watched him when he does this, and he doesn't seem to be sitting on his anal area, just on his scrotal sac. He doesn't have any difficulty in walking (sore back there) and there is no obvious swelling back there either. I am booked in with him at the vet's again tomorrow and am about to tell her to castrate him, something I'd honestly prefer not to do to be honest - he's a mellow enough dog as it is.

I'm just wondering whether anybody can shed any light on what might be going on - when he lies down, he tends to stick his bum against a chair and does moan from time to time, although basically this isn't a sick dog much as there is something going on ;)
 
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#3 ·
Thanks Mikey, but done - he had full skeletal x-ray to find out why he was lame early on (premature closure of the growth plates, ulna both sides), hips/elbows fine, and his prostate has been checked (same time as the anal glands were done) and that's fine. Possibility appreciated tho. :p
 
#5 ·
Follow up with Frankie - I had him to my vet this morning and after a thorough examination, including checking those anal glands again, which were pretty full with yuck stuff on one side, we have decided that on Monday, he'll go back for a flush and pack to be done on these glands and as he'll be under a g/a, also to have two smallish lumps (which have been checked out as just cysts) at the base of his tail, removed. At the same time she'll recheck these testicles when he's 'out'. He did react slightly to investigation this morning much as she could find nothing immediately abnormal there. :)

It may be that eventually these glands will have to come out as they are apparently quite far in - which probably explains why I've never been able to express them externally myself, as I've always been done with my other hounds :p If their siting means they are not going to work as they should (given his stools have been normal for the most part in recent years may be the case), we may be looking at repeated trips to flush and pack in the future - nice for the vet's income, but not for my Bank balance ;)

So as of now, he remains unaltered :D
 
#6 ·
I was going to say it may very well still be the anal glands and not the testicles. Our Gunny (GSD) who just turned 7 recently started having issues with his anal glands. He started licking back there constantly and even though you couldn't see anything externally he apparently had an infection in there. He was on antibiotics, seemed better but started licking again a few weeks later. Found out he had yet another infection. Antibiotics again and rechecks every two weeks to be sure the infection was gone. Sure enough it came back again and he need surgery to have them removed. The vet said the one was two-three times the normal size so it was good that we took his advice and had them taken out.
Recovery was a real pain in the you know what. Getting banged up by that cone, paint getting chipped off the walls, scaring the hell out of Yogi!:D Yogi wouldn't go near Gunny for a week!
Anyway, best of luck to your pup!
 
#7 ·
Thanks Yogi's mum. We had to have these removed from our very first hound, years ago now, and it most def. wasn't nice either for him, or for me watching him 'go'. :eek: We had another some years back who started to have repeated bouts of infection, flushing and packing each time and despite resisting getting them taken out because of the first experience, were set to get this done. However, things finally settled down with him and they stayed put. I hope it's the same with Frankie but if they have to come out, they will :p

We've never managed to keep those e-collars on our hounds but we are around most of the time in any case, and will be from Monday too, so no cone. He shouldn't be able to reach back there (the lumps) - much as never say never eh. I have a feeling we are in for a bumpy ride from Monday because he's a softie :rolleyes:
 
#8 · (Edited)
flushing and packing each time

Have you found this helps? Had this done to one of ours & even the vet said 'it only sometimes works'. Now they are both fed raw with occasional bones things are better but Lucas's gland output is like toothpaste & even if he passed bricks they wouldn't clear. You're are very fortunate to have the knack, I've been shown how clear the glands by various vets but have never managed, makes me flipping anoyed!
P.S hope they get your hound sorted out, I was thinking of torsion but think he would have swelling?
 
#9 ·
flushing and packing each time

Have you found this helps? Had this done to one of ours & even the vet said 'it only sometimes works'.
Sorry not to get back sooner :D I've always found topical treatment (flushing and packing) has sorted out these glands in the past. Makes more sense to me than oral medication. And for sure, the oral treatment Frankie had when we first discovered he had a problem, with these vets, didn't work!! My previous vet could do this flushing and packing, without needing to sedate, or knock them out too. They'd just stand on the table with one of us at one end restraining them while I was at the other, holding the tail away. No fighting to get the job done. :p I had persuaded my current vet to try this, but as I want the job sorted out, I'm going for the knock out treatment - and getting these two cysts taken off at the same time just in case they are playing some part in all of this ;)

Doing it myself - I don't go internally because I'm always worried about getting it wrong, and doing damage :eek: I straddle them, looking to the rear, and apply pressure to either side of the anus at sort of twenty before four :), externally. I may not get the glands completely empty, but at least I can take the pressure off, and see what comes out = whether a vet treatment is needed or not. With Frankie I've not been able to.

Def. not torsion - we've had 4 cases of that, 2 survived, 2 didn't :(
 
#10 ·
Def. not torsion - we've had 4 cases of that, 2 survived, 2 didn't :(

So sorry you have lost two to torsion (bloat) a horrible horrible thing to happen, but I meant torsion of the testis.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Haha After I wrote that, I did think about torsion of the testis. And I touched on that with my vet on Thursday, not a torsion specifically, but whether it was possible for him to be retracting his testicles and them getting stuck? (in laymans terms?) She said as he hangs so low (well he can hitch em up when he wants to :rolleyes:) that would be 'unlikely'. I'd have thought she might have considered torsion - I have no experience of this (always something new eh) so if that happened, would they 'un-torsion'? Have to say that since she expressed these glands again on Thursday, he's not sitting and wrlggling anywhere near as much as he was on Wednesday and Thursday before I took him in so.......... ;) I must go look at my Blacks Vet. Dict. to see if I can find out anything new on testicle torsion.

And yes, a GDV is something I'd not wish on my worst enemy (canine or human!!), much as the two we lost were 11 and 14.

Add later ...... after checking on the Internet, it appears that this situation wouldn't resolve without surgical intervention. Further it's painful, and the testes would be swollen. No, and no. If only they could speak eh.
 
#12 ·
Just another thought :D!
Could he have mites, not had this but know they can get them around anus or perhaps he just squashed/bruised himself when scooting. I'll give up now :rolleyes:. Hope it resolves it'self soon.
 
#13 ·
Frankie had his two masses removed and the AGs flushed and packed yesterday, came home and...... kept me up virtually all night :rolleyes:

He was so bad lunchtime, wouldn't settle (I gave him another wack of Metacam) and crying that I took him back to my vet. Everything appears to be fine :confused:

I now have Tramadol and some Kalm-aid tablets (for him, not for me although I'm tempted :p) which I'll give him before bed tonight in the hope at least I get some shuteye. Meanwhile he's HUNGRY and eating up a storm (much as I'm limiting how much because he's loose) I guess it was inevitable that he'd milk this for all it's worth. I keep telling him he should be thankful he won't ever have to be spayed :eek:
 
#15 ·
Your sympathy is MUCH appreciated :) And it didn't get any better as the week progressed really. By Saturday we were back at the vet because between us (hubby and me) we'd barely been averaging 4 hours sleep a night with all his restlessness and moaning and groaning. Nobody knows what a Basset in distress sounds like, unless they've experienced it. I managed to see the operating vet who decided to remove the anal gland packing. What came out looked like Vaseline - and certainly like nothing my previous vet had ever used. While we were there he spotted...... TWO FLEAS!!! I nearly died. Came home armed with a hugely expensive flea collar (and ordered a cheaper version online for my Whippet :rolleyes:). Saturday night found me on the floor armed with my flea comb and a bowl of hot water - I must have removed going on a dozen fleas. I know we live with squirrels around which has often meant fleas, but all of a sudden he's covered with them :eek::eek:
Everything in the house that can be, has been laundered, I've also sent off for some house-de-bugging stuff (which I hope will work). There are no fleas on my Whippet and no flea dirt either. And no flea dirt on him so I can only think he brought them home from THE VET :eek:

Had him back today , Monday, to be checked again. He's much calmer, but one of the incisions looks quite angry, and had a talk with that vet, who is a skin specialist, about the fleas. She said categorially that when she checked him before the surgery, there were NO FLEAS. He's now on Metacam and the KalmAid tablets, and sleeping peacefully in the office here.

He goes back on Wed. to have the one set of stitches out - the irritated incision may have to wait a few days longer.

I am NOT impressed (and neither is he!!!) although apart from the flea collar, the last two visits have cost me nothing. :cool:
 
#16 ·
A restless, moaning basset at anytime is disturbing & awful at night, lost count of the nights I've slept on the floor with them down stairs. The classic is needing to go out every 45 mins, & then in the early hours no dog with you at the back door, fumble for glasses to look for the b...dy hound only to find he's under my duvet asleep :eek:!
Found fleas for the first time this summer having a juvenile hedgehog in the garden, no previous problem for six years. & yes they have picked up fleas from a visit to the vet. Dislike spot ons & some don't even work!
Hope Frankie continues to improve :).
 
#18 ·
I just wanted to see how you're little guy was doing today - can't offer any help just wishes he feels better sooner than later.


Jen~
 
#19 ·
Thanks guys. Just came back on here ..... Franks had his stitches out yesterday (yeah) and although one of the incisions is not as smooth as I'd have hoped, it's all healed up at least. He's a much happier bunny too. On Monday when I checked him, there was quite an angry red patch around one of the lump removal sites which I didn't like much so I took him back, yes again... :eek: and was advised to put him back on Metacam to help with the inflammation, and also the Kalm Aid which had worked well in helping him be more settled. Both worked, so yesterday at least the stitches were able to come out.

I'm going to take him in monthly to have these glands checked - in the hope we can avoid having to have them removed. :eek:

He's back in his crate alongside my bed overnight and last night I didn't hear a word out of him until just before 7 am. :D:D

Fleas - well so far I've found none on either of them. When I was at the vet's yesterday, I noticed that almost everybody in there was buying flea control products!!! This is December - in the UK - not August/September. Whatever is going on!!:huh: The household spray I' ve bought arrived today so tonight, before we turn in, I'm going to spray at least the living room.
 
#20 ·
Actually I've found that December is often a bad season for fleas - I find them on the dogs I groom. Don't know why.
 
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