Continued
Last week, we began with an ailment which impacts upon fertility/reproduction, and which is associated with an inflammation of the testicles (orchitis). All that we wrote about last week had to do with an acute orchitis, ie an inflammatory process, which has a sudden onset. We explained that the ‘suddenness’ could be associated with physical trauma (eg, kicks to the testicles, cuts, bullet wounds, nail sticks, etc) allergies (eg, stinging nettle affecting the scrotum and, by extension, the testicles), chemical/electrical burns, specific diseases, cancer and so on.
Symptoms
The signs of acute orchitis (or acute orchiepididymitis – as I explained last week should be the more correct name) are swelling and pain in the testicles. The testicle becomes enlarged and hard.
Your dog will probably not allow you to handle him. His gait is spread-legged with his abdomen tucked up. He sits most of the time, especially on a cool surface.
I should mention in passing that whenever there is heat in the scrotal/testicles area, then libido (sex urge) is decreased and the quality of sperm is reduced.
There is another form of orchitis (or orchiepididymitis) and that is chronic orchitis.
Chronic orchitis (or chronic orchiepididymitis) may develop as a result