Can a pig uncastrate himself!

[PollyRichard]

One of our castrated boy, Charlie, who is very nearly 3 years old, has developed a lump in the region of his upper right back leg in towards his tail. On closer examination it feels like a testicle (the plum shaped lump seems to move around inside). I'm sure this is what it is. Is it possible that he's kept this up his sleeve for nearly three years? Or might it be something more worrying? No sign of boarish behaviour - a quieter, sweeter boy you could not wish to meet. Any thoughts welcome. Thanks.

[wendy scu]

it is possible that it is an un descended testicle that has decided to descend but Charlie i know came from me and my vet would i'm sure, have told me if there was only one testicle there when he operated. however, you never can be sure
i would hope that its just a testicle and if his behaviour and health are ok then don't worry. I know his friend is also a boy so no worries there.

[PollyRichard]

Thanks Wendy - he seems absolutely fine. We'll keep an eye on it to see if it gets any bigger.

[wendy scu]

how's the lameness Polly?

[PollyRichard]

Re lameness. Ted is a slim boy now and hasn't limped in weeks. Hurray! and thanks Wendy

[simon]

Could be a testicle or might it be a hernia?

[PollyRichard]

If it was a hernia would it be tender/painful? He is not bothered when we feel it.

[wendy scu]

if it was a hernia which had ruptured at that age i would suspect it may be larger - but i'm not too sure

[claire86]

Have to say, hernia was the first thing I thought of. I very much doubt that a vet would castrate a pig but fail to count how many testicles he/she was removing! I've seen something similar in dogs that have just been castrated and turns out to be a haematoma but would be extremely unlikely to be the case in a pig castrated 3 years ago - after castration, the scrotum shrinks so there is no 'pocket' there to re-fill. However, in the case of a hernia, abdominal contents could potentially fall through the inguinal ring into the 'scrotal' skin. In pigs, castration is normally done 'open' in that the lining of the scrotum (the vaginal tunic) is left open, meaning that theoretically this is more possible. But for it to happen 3 years post-castration would be very unusual. Without seeing it, it's hard to say but it could always be nothing at all to do with the castration/scrotum! Wendy - hernias can be any size, depending on how big the defect in the muscle is, how much material can fit through and the movement that causes either less or more material to be present, if that makes sense!
Of course there are a million other lumps and bumps it could be! Any chance of a photo?

[PollyRichard]

Thanks for all your thoughts everyone. Our vet is coming out this afternoon, so we'll see what she says. I know there's only so much can be deduced without actually seeing the problem.

[PollyRichard]

The vet is pretty sure its not a hernia, but there is definitely a 'mass'. No temperature, so the next job is to take a few samples with a needle to have a look under the microscope. We're going to try again next week as Charlie's patience was at an end by this stage? Are such things operable? No point getting ahead of ourselves, but it is a worry.

[claire86]

Really depends on the size of mass, it's location, it's attachment to underlying tissues and what type of mass it is. Most likely, yes it probably could be removed. Doing an FNA (fine needle aspirate - what the vet is planning on doing) is an easy way to hopefully get an idea of what the mass is, though it's worth bearing in mind occasionally you don't get a representative sample - we do only get a few cells from a very large mass! Good luck and let us know how it goes

[PollyRichard]

Things seem to be looking up. After a hilarious attempt to obtain the samples (straw bales scattered, me flat on my back) we decided to monitor for a week. The lump seemed to be becoming more focussed and shrinking. Low and behold, last night it burst with all sorts of goo. We've cleaned him up and the vet's coming to administer precautionary antibiotics. I'm hoping that's the end of our latest piggy saga. Don't you love 'em?

[wendy scu]

that conjures a wonderful picture! glad it was nothing more sinister