Q:  My fiance and I adopted our Poodle mix last June. His age is estimated to be about 3 years per our vet. We adopted him from a pet adoption group who rescued him from a shelter. We were told he was neutered, however there was no precise date given, nor was any paperwork supplied. We are having difficulty getting information from the adoption group as to what shelter he came from (they are very disorganized). When we asked our vet to verify that he has been neutered for our city's registration, he told us he couldn't verify it because he couldn't prove the dog wasn't cryptorchid. No testes are palpable, but as I understand, there is a possibility they are in the abdomen. Our vet also told us ultrasound and blood tests for sex hormones weren't very sensitive/specific. We were told the safest course would be abdominal exploratory surgery, but my fiance and I are very reluctant to put our little guy through that. Cost aside, is there any possible way to tell whether there are testes present without having to resort to surgery??

A: I am not sure if/why your vet already this ruled this possibility out, but you may have a GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone) or hCG (chorionic gonadotrophin) stimulation test done at any time. Ask your vet if she/he can perform this. And, as a general role, because all surgeries can carry some risk and patient discomfort, you should definitely weigh all options before doing exploratory surgery.  

Your question has been answered by the following veterinarian:
Daniel Lauridia, DVM

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