Merlin is a lovely 6-month-old British Shorthair kitten who first came to Vetwest Wanneroo when he was just 12 weeks old for his kitten vaccination. During this visit, he managed to melt the hearts of all of the nurses and quickly became a favourite with his gorgeous looks and personality. On examination with Dr Natasha, it was noted that Merlin only had one of his testicles descended which meant it was even more important that he returned in few months to check him over again and book in for desexing. When an animal’s testicles fail to descend from the abdomen when they are young it is called cryptorchidism and sometimes one or both of the testicles fail to descend. Sometimes the undescended testicle will sit in the inguinal canal (the inner thigh area) or sometimes they will still be in the abdomen and can be quite tricky to find. It’s very important in these cases that the testicle is surgically removed as it can lead to medical complications in the future such as pain for the animal or on some occasions even cancer.
Merlin presented back to Vetwest Wanneroo for his routine desexing at 6 months of age. Upon admission with our surgery nurse, it was found that Merlin still only had one testicle and therefore it was even more important that we went ahead with the procedure on the day to find his missing testicle and remove it. Once Merlin was safely under anaesthetic we were luckily able to find the missing testicle in his inguinal canal and quickly and safely removed it along with his other testicle. Merlin was then placed in a warm bed with lots of blankets to recover from his surgery while he was monitored closely by the nursing team. Merlin made a very quick and uneventful recovery from his surgery and it wasn’t long before he was awake and trying to play again with all of the nurses as they walked past and gave him lots of cuddles.
Merlin’s mum also signed him up to the Total Wellness Plan which gives her peace of mind that all of his flea and worming treatment is sent to her every month and it includes his annual vaccination plus heaps more. If you are interested in the Total Wellness Plan, find out more here.
