Veterinary Medical Terminology 101: Crypto-

Photo via maplegirlie

It's been awhile since I did a veterinary medical terminology 101 post, so here we are today. I recently thought up another interesting terminology word. The word is "crypt-" or "crypto-". I'm not talking about a scary cemetery or Superman's weakness. Here is the definition of today's word, crypto-:

"A combining form meaning secret or hidden. It is used in the formation of compound words."

Basically, it's something called a "prefix". A piece of a word you place with another word to make a completely new word. Hopefully, you followed all of that. The most common way this prefix is used in veterinary medicine is to describe a condition in male dogs called cryptorchidism. This is pronounced "kript - or - kid - iz - m".


So what does that mean? Here's the definition of cryptorchidism:

"Failure of one of both testes to descend into the scrotum." 

Sometimes, in male dogs one (or even both) of the testicles will remain stuck in the abdomen. The testicle never descended as it should have when the dog was a puppy. This can be harmful for male dogs because if left intact, it can become cancerous later on in life.

We like to recommend spaying and neutering dogs anyways, but especially for cryptorchid dogs. Due to the testicle being in the abdomen of the dog, a veterinarian will need to perform an abdominal procedure that is very similar to that of a female dog spay. Most doctor's shouldn't have a problem finding the hidden testicle, but it is possible that they could be "hiding" in some tricky places.

If you suspect or know that your dog is cryptorchid, please consult with a veterinarian and discuss your options of having the "secret" testicle removed.