Yes, it’s true. Should you lament the loss of the look of "manliness" in your oh-so-macho dog, you too can elect to have your dog’s testicles replaced with silicone-based implants when he’s neutered.
Akin to the breast implants some of you may be intimately familiar with, there’s no need to lose out on appearances when it comes to the sterilization of a male dog. A product called Neuticles is there to make sure you have a choice in the matter. Here's what they look like:
OK, so I agree with you. It’s a silly notion, this need for testicular implants. I get it if Lance Armstrong wants one to round out his pair after losing one to cancer. I even get it when women choose to augment their breast size a cup or two. But for your dog? Seriously?
Um...yes.
Here’s where I’ll confess to having implanted a few pairs of these myself. When owners have done the research and arrived with the dreaded question, I’ve had to relent: "If it’s the only way you’ll concede to having him neutered...I’ll do it."
In fact, I’ve even offered the Neuticle option to clients who have formerly been intractable on the subject of neutering: "Consider that he doesn’t have to look like he’s lost them."
It may seem somehow wrong, if not downright unethical, to offer an option that––let’s face it––is 100% cosmetic. There is ZERO health benefit to Neuticles. Though the rate of complications is impressively low (less than 1 percent) and these complications are fully reversible, surgery to implant Neuticles (done at the same timeas neutering) is wholly unnecessary.
I don’t dispute it. But when an owner repeatedly refuses to neuter a dog that desperately needs to be neutered (think: the presence of testicular masses, recurrent prostatic disease, etc.), what would YOU do?
Dr. Patty Khuly
