Boy stuff questions

[Deleted]

I have a couple questions that I thought the breeders here might help with.

1.) I'm taking in a retiring vhob who is 4.5 years old. I picked him up a couple weeks ago and noticed his left testicle was enlarged and hard. He's not completely out of season yet so I opted to have only the one testicle removed. I'm wondering if leaving the right testicle intact will produce enough testosterone to prevent the abrupt hormone imbalance that usually comes with an in-season neuter? (Antecdotal evidence suggests that neutering while in-season results in endocrine system issues including insulinoma.)

2.) Has anyone used Deslorelin implants on hobs with retained testicles instead of removal and would this eliminate/reduce the risk of testicular cancer?

Thanks!!!

[Deleted]

I'll tag crazylady and Heather for you. Also lorelei0922
They are all breeders and should be able to help.
:wave3:

[crazylady]

Hi can I ask are you planning on using this hob as a vas hob in the future ? if not I would have both testicles removed at the same time as it is nearly end of breeding season the testes will be shutting down for winter soon anyway I would not recommend any ferret with retained testicles ( crypto orchid ) being treated with des instead of the testicles being removed as a retained orchid will turn cancerous at sometime ( this is why hobs who have this are not recommended for breeding as it can be passed on ) plus by using an implant it may mask the symptoms of something more serious hope this helps take care bye for now
Bev

[Heather]

I would be castrating this boy. Sorry. Unless you're planning on using him as a v-hob, I would be castrating him before he goes completely out of season. The girls you want to spay out of season but the boys you want to castrate before going out because they will tuck up and it makes it much harder for the vet to do the alter.
I would not use DES on this ferret. It's much to easy to miss the possible cancer. It sounds like whoever got rid of him was aware that this ferret's health was going south. Getting rid of a v-hob is extremely unusual.
ciao

[nancyl]

I hope you had the abnormal testicle sent off for pathology. I'd also have the other one removed unless you plan to use him as a V-hob. And, as Heather said, it need to be done before he goes completely out of rut so the vet can find it easily.

[Deleted]

Thanks for all the advice The vhob's testicle was cystic rather than nodular (photo below). He was on the job up until a couple weeks ago so he's just now starting to come out of season.

To clarify a couple points, early this year, I asked the breeder if I could take him into my home when she retired him, which she planned to do this year. He's the cousin of two of my girls and they lost their brother late last year - they've "known" him since they were all younger and the girls will be happy to have another boy to boss around. He was working for another breeder out of town for the past couple months and when he returned, the testicle situation was noticed. I would not back out of my promise to give him a home just because of this issue. I do not plan to use him as a vhob, I had originally planned a DES implant.



As for my crypto guy, I was sure the only option was removal; however, I thought I would ask just in case new information provided another option.

Again, thanks for your help!!!!

[Sherry]

Good luck with them, and let us know how intros go!