Calling all HQHVSN Veterinarians
Cryptorchidism is a relatively common finding in both dogs and cats presented for castration. It is important to fully castrate cryptorchid animals because retained testicles are at increased risk for neoplasia, objectional behavior related to testosterone production may develop, and because the condition can be heritable. The procedure for locating and safely removing a retained testicle can be challenging, especially for novice surgeons.
Surprisingly, there are no published reports of the characteristics, surgical procedures, and outcomes in a large number of cats and dogs undergoing cryptorchid castration in a high-quality high-volume spay-neuter (HQHVSN) setting.
We are recruiting HQHVSN surgeons to help close this knowledge gap by collaborating with Dr. Simone Guerios and Dr. Julie Levy and contribute cryptorchid castration case data for the 15-month period January 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025. The deadline for case submissions is May 9, 2025.
Study Purpose and Procedures
The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the frequency of cryptorchidism in dogs and cats and the pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative characteristics of animals presented for castration by HQHVSN surgeons in the USA and Canada.
For the purposes of this study, an HQHVSN veterinarian is defined as one who has performed at least 3,000 spays and neuters in 2024 as the primary surgeon. Since the study focuses narrowly on outcomes for skilled HQHVSN surgeons, we are interested only in the surgeries in which the veterinarian was the primary surgeon and not surgeries in which the veterinarian supervised trainees such as inexperienced veterinarians or veterinary students.
Veterinarian contact data is collected for the purpose of follow-up data clarification if needed. All data, including veterinarian, facility, and patient identification, will be anonymized and aggregated prior to analysis and publication.
Getting Started
- Ready to join the project and share your surgery data? Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have. Or you can jump right in and start with STEP 1 to enroll if it seems like a good fit.
- Click or scan the blue STEP 1 card to complete the Study Participation Request Form. For this you will need your contact information and total number of cat and dog spay/neuter surgeries performed as the primary surgeon during the study period (01/01/2024 to 03/31/2025). If needed, you can estimate the number of surgeries to get started and then circle back to fill in the exact number when you have a chance to run any required reports. The STEP 1 data will include counts for the following surgeries performed during the study period:
- Cat spays, Dog spays
- Cat neuters (not cryptorchid), Dog neuters (not cryptorchid)
- Cat neuters (cryptorchid), Dog neuters (cryptorchid)
- Click or scan the blue STEP 2 card to complete the individual Case Summary Form for each cryptorchid surgery performed in the study period. Our research team can assist with compiling these if that is helpful.
STEP 1
Submit the Study Participation Request Form once to sign up
STEP 2
Submit one Case Summary Form for each cryptorchid castration
LEARN MORE
Learn about research performed at the Shelter Medicine Program
Preview the Forms (sample only, actual forms will be submitted online)
Sample Participation Request Form
Frequently Asked Questions
How is an HQHVSN surgeon defined?
For the purposes of this study, we are defining an HQHVSN surgeon as one who performed at least 3,000 spays and neuters as the primary surgeon in calendar year 2024. We realize there are many highly qualified surgeons who will be left out by this definition, particularly those who spend a large part of their time mentoring veterinary students and entry-level surgeons. However, we are specifically seeking to understand the characteristics ad outcomes of cryptorchid castrations performed by veterinarians managing a high surgery load.
Am I eligible to submit my surgery data to be included in the study?
If you performed at least 3000 spay/neuter surgeries as the primary surgeon in calendar year 2024 and can complete a detailed case summary form for each cryptorchid surgery performed from January 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025 (15 months), you can contribute your data to the study.
Can more than one veterinarian from the same clinic or shelter sign up to participate?
Yes! As long as each surgeon personally meets the enrollment criteria of at least 3000 surgeries in 2024, there is no limit to the number of veterinarians per location.
Can I submit surgery data from more than one location where I perform surgery?
Yes! You can add up all of your surgeries from multiple locations to meet the minimum 3000 in 2024. However, you must have access to individual medical records of cryptorchid surgeries from each location that you plan to include.
Can I submit data from cases in which veterinary students, entry-level surgeons, or other trainees performed the surgery under my supervision?
No. This study is restricted to surgeries performed by skilled HQHVSN surgeons.
What is the study period for the retrospective study?
We are collecting data on all surgeries performed during the study period of January 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025.
What information will I need to complete the Study Participation Request Form?
Just your contact information and the total number of surgeries you performed in during the study period broken down by cat spays, dog spays, cat neuters (not cryptorchid), dog neuters, (not cryptorchid), cat neuters (cryptorchid), dog neuters, (cryptorchid).
What happens after I submit the Study Participation Request Form?
We’ll review your form and if it meets the criteria for participation, we will be in touch within a few days with a link to the case summary submission forms.
What is required for the case summaries for cryptorchid castrations?
You will submit one form for each cryptorchid castration attempted, no matter the outcome. It’s very important not to leave any cases out to avoid biasing the study results. The forms will include patient signalment, location of the left and right testicle, diagnostic testing if any, surgical incision placement and technique for each testicle, surgical time, complications, and outcomes.
What if some details are missing from the medical records?
We understand that retrospective studies relying on medical records are sometimes incomplete. We have statistical methods to account for that. Contact us if you think are concerned too much information may me missing from a large proportion of records.
How is patient, veterinarian, and clinic confidentiality assured?
Your case summaries will be identified using an anonymizing code that you provide. Be sure to keep a list of the codes in case we need to contact you to clarify any data entries. We will not collect clinic information. All responses will be compiled into one data set. Case information will be untraceable back to any individual veterinarian.
Can I be paid for my effort to compile case summaries for the project?
Unfortunately, this study is unfunded so we are all working on volunteers on this one.
What if I don’t have enough time to complete all the case summaries?
We believe it will be most efficient and accurate for each veterinarian to complete their own summaries because they are familiar with their practice protocols, how medical information is recorded, and the use of codes and abbreviations. However, if you get behind, we may be able to have a research assistant at the University of Florida prepare the case summaries for you. We highly value your case data and will work with you to prepare it for inclusion.
What is the deadline for submitting case summaries?
We are seeking to collect all of the case summaries by May 9, 2025. This is a short turnaround time because we are hoping to submit an abstract to the 2025 American College of Veterinary Surgery Summit the following week. This is a rare opportunity to present data from HQHVSN surgeons to a group of board-certified surgeons.
How will the results of the study be shared?
We hope to present an abstract at the 2025 American College of Veterinary Surgery Summit, which is the annual meeting of board-certified surgeons. Then the data will be prepared for open-access publication in a leading veterinary journal. We will include a list of all the veterinarians who contributed data in the acknowledgement section in gratitude for their participation. Veterinarians can opt out of this recognition if desired.
I have more questions. Who can I contact?
Feel free to reach out any time to Dr. Simone Guerios at sdguerios@ufl.edu or Dr. Julie Levy at levyjk@ufl.edu.