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ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR OF THE MALE DOG -
TESTOSTERONE EFFECTS |
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What should you do when the puppy has
undescended (retained) testicles? Two testicles should have descended into
the scrotum by the time the puppy is six months old. Yet, there will
be cases when the testicle has not descended.
The risk of the retained testicle becoming cancerous when the puppy
is older is present. You may not be aware of the growth as you
seldom check an older dog.
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The cancerous growth can be as large
as a hen's egg by the time the dog is over 10 years old. The
probability of developing a cancerous testicle is high if it is not
descended into the scrotum.
It may be sensible to get the retained testicle removed by your veterinary
surgeon when the puppy is 6 - 12 months old.
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The
male dog was neutered at an old age. His undescended testicle
was getting bigger and bigger indicating a cancerous growth.
At least 3x bigger than the normal descended testicle.
Yesterday, on April 17, a man in his 60s showed me a letter that the
AVA offered to compound his fine to $600 for two dogs found to be
unlicensed. The normal fine would be $10,000 if he went to court. I
felt sorry for him. Punitive measures against the ordinary man
should be much lower, but the bureaucrats here seem to think that
the higher fines would be hurting. Too bad if the offender has to
feed the family.
If the male dog has
unsociable behaviour such as urine spraying at home to mark his territory, bites
people when unprovoked or guarding its feed bowl, mounting on people's
legs and barking non-stop, it may be best to get him neutered early.
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ANTI-SOCIAL
BEHAVIOUR OF THE MALE DOG
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE OLDER MALE DOG
KEEPS
URINE-MARKING INSIDE THE APARTMENT? |
The 13-year-old daughter believed that
it was extremely cruel to neuter the 1.5-year-old Miniature
Schnauzer. So, the domestic worker had to mop the floor and wash the
furniture every day. Every time she did it, the male dog
urine-marked the furniture again. The carpet was not spared too. "Nobody
advised us as how to stop this urine-marking behaviour," the
exasperated mother said to me.
"It is difficult for the groomer to advise you" I said. "An deep
understanding of the male dog behaviour is needed. How to stop
urine-marking inside the apartment? It is the execution of the
recommendations of how to stop the anti-urine-marking
behaviour that is difficult." The mum must have been stressed
by this anti-social behaviour.
"Neutering at 6 months would be effective," I explained that it was
a bit difficult to know whether urine-marking would stop after
neutering now that the dog was 1.5 years old. "But the operation
would likely reduce the urge to urine-mark. There is still a need to
train your dog to pee outdoors."
The daughter was quiet during the consultation. She was as tall as I
am for a 13-year-old. Seldom do I meet such a tall Asian girl at 13
years of age. She seemed to understand her mother's frustrations
about having to keep the dog away from the carpet and the sofa. It
was a losing battle every day. She did not object to the neutering.
Later at home, she phoned me to ask whether the dog would feel the
pain or die during neutering as she had surfed the internet.
"Unlikely to die," I said. "There is no pain during neutering as the
dog will be under general anaesthesia."
 ZOLETIL
SEDATION AND ANAESTHESIA IN THIS CASE
Zoletil 50 - 0.2 ml IV. Dog was sedated within a minute. I noted that
the dog salivated a few watery drops and had a bright red maroon
tongue as if the dog was dehydrated. The normal tongue colour during
xylazine sedation which I often use is pink.
Zoletil also caused the pupils to be dilated unlike xylazine, even
at this low dose. I gave a 0.5 ml atropine injection IM and the
pupils went back to normal size while the salivation ceased within 2
minutes. Isoflurane gas anaesthesia was given. Neutering was
uneventful. I find that Zoletil IV is not as good as xylazine in
sedation as there is a need for atropine to prevent the
above-mentioned side effects. Xylazine has the main disadvantage of
causing vomiting after injection. Zoletil 50 at 0.1 ml IV was
more useful in the sedation of cat than in the sedation of the dog
in my opinion.
RE-TRAINING THE DOG TO PEE OUTDOORS
1. This dog was warded for 10 days while the owner neutralised
the urine smell inside the apartment with white vinegar:water at 1:3
using a piece of rag. She did it 3 times.
2. The dog was crated but taken out 3 times a day to exercise
and pee and poop. Meal times were 2x per day. This routine
was performed for 10 days. The owner was informed and told to
continue the routine.
The 13-year-old daughter was prepared to wake up at 6 am to bring
the dog outdoors first thing in the morning as the dog usually
eliminated in the balcony. However, my routine was taking the dog
out at 8.00 am and so the domestic worker could do the job.
It sounded cruel to crate the male dog. This method ensured that he
would not pee and poop inside the crate as he wanted to be clean. He
was happy to go back to the crate after the exercise as he had to
rest after neutering.
He went home on Day 10 and so far, there was no complaint. The
owners had to adhere to the routine or it would be back to square
one. The dog would be confined inside a crate for the next 4 weeks
and observed. He should no longer be urine-marking inside the
apartment as he had a routine he would look forward to. This means
that the mum would no longer be stressed out and yet maintain the
harmonious mother-daughter relationship. The mum thanked me
personally and I hope she would now have peace of mind. |
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TOA
PAYOH VETS
