Boo's Castration Videos "WARNING: GRAPHIC*

domane

domane

Retired cob mum
Jul 31, 2005
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He was sedated and then given a dose of short-term anaesthetic as well as an anti-inflammatory and long-acting antibiotic. The vet expected him to keel over quite quickly so her and her assistant braced to try to guide him the way they wanted him to fall. After five minutes, it was obvious that he wasn't going anywhere - he was swaying slightly but kept correcting himself - so she administered a second dose (the equivalent of knocking out a 500kg horse!) and in less than a minute his knees buckled and he fell - the wrong way, of course!

Boo was wearing a headcollar so they tied his leadrope around his upper leg fetlock, pulled his leg and tied it to his headcollar to keep his leg forwards and out of the way. Vet assistant gave the area a very thorough cleaning.

I had a lead light attached to a car battery so I positioned myself to hold the light so that the vet could see what she was doing.

This is the procedure she used for both testicles, although both of these vids are just for the first one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S2FePrgK2k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o44aJhMDM0

She left the emasculator on each tube for approximately 4-5 minutes, then replaced them with what she called a clamp, looked like a pair of scissors to me. These held the end of the tubes closed and stopped them pinging back up into Boo's body straight away. She was able to inspect the tubes thoroughly after both testicles had been removed to check for blood loss. One tube was bruised and bleeding so she pulled it out a little further, asked me to hold the clamp/tube and put the emasculators on again, higher up past the bleed and cut that part of the tube off again.

In this pic, you can see the removed testicles, the emasculators on the right and the "clamp" too...

IMG-20130307-02819_zps0249004f.jpg


She was very thorough, checked and re-checked for bleeding. There was a little oozing from the scrotum having been cut but he didn't bleed as much as both of my previous who had been done standing up, possibly because the clamps helped the ends to clot together a little better, I don't know, but I am very satisfied that it was a job well done.

Because of the strength of the anaesthetic, it took Boo quite a while to come round and he was fighting to stand before he was ready for quite a while. All three of us had to sit on him at one point, but the vet and her assistant were unperturbed and said this was "normal". She had a towel over his face to keep him calm and kept checking his eyes and saying that they were still rolling. Eventually, we all stood back and I removed myself from the stable so that they could assist him in standing. He did keel over again a couple of times and has skinned the area above his eye on the wall, but once he was up albeit shaky, I was able to go to him and soothe him and he stayed nice and calm whilst the residual anaesthetic left his system. Whilst he was still woozy, he had a microchip inserted into his neck and didn't seem to notice it.

By the time I left late this afternoon, you really wouldn't know he'd been through all that, he was eating, drinking, peeing, pooing and moving around his paddock completely normally.... I'm sure he won't remember much, if anything, so I think he came off quite lightly in the grand scheme of things!!!
 
Ohh thats quite interesting to watch! My my old horse got done I was holding the leg at the front so didnt see the gore!:tongue:
 
Glad he is okay - best not show Mr T this...hehee. Quite interesting really - always anazes me how much vets can do op wise outside of an actual surgery if you know what I mean. I think the ones on my old yard were done standing up - but I couldn't be sure. So he's okay to be out and about? Suppose the good thing is also at this time of year there won't be so many flies to cause infection etc.
 
Was there any particular reason for the vet wanting him completely knocked out? Or is this new thinking or just a personal preference thing do you know?

Just curious as I have never had one fully sedated for castration so have only ever seen them standing up with a bit of a sway to them.

Apart from many, many years ago when I have seen them just roped and thrown to the ground and literally sat on whilst it was done - not nice at all. I know sometimes it is still done over here especially on donkey colts, they just aren't considered worth the cost of any sort of anesthetic in some quarters.:devil:
 
This vets have a rule about them being over a certain height for standing castrations and although Boo was borderline for the height, because he is deep-girthed and very fluffy, she thought she'd be able to see better with him lying down. Having only witnessed standing castrations before, I was impressed by how much time, effort and general thoroughness she took.... and of course it meant that I got to see EVERYTHING so I was in my element! :giggle:
 
Domane Thank you for posting this and the picture and vids. It has taken me three days to steel myself to look at this thread. OH refused the offer. But since we ride geldings, I felt that I should know what happens to the horses.
As the mother of a surgeon, I shouldnt have been nervous of looking.
You explained very very well. Brilliant teacher, thank you.
Do the tubes just heal up on their own? Is the scrotum stitched up or does it just heal too. Or is it left open for the whole thing to drain?
 
Everything is left open to drain, Skib. The rule of thumb is if they bleed at one drip per second, or slower, all is fine... any faster should be closely watched and potentially the vet should be phoned again. If the drips are nice and slow, over 3 or 4 days the blood will gradually fade out to just a pale serum and the dripping decreases as time progresses. Out of the three I've had done, Boo bled the least. I expected a bit of a gush when he stood up, due to pooling whilst he was laying down, but to be honest, it was very minimal. Whether this was the care and attention of the vet or good clotting from my boy, I'll never know... possibly a mixture of both.

I was speaking to Mr & Mrs YO yesterday and they have only had one of theirs gelded and that was a disaster. He bled profusely so the vet had to return to stitch him up but warned that "there would be swelling". Apparently Zebedee looked like he had an udder!! I'm guessing that is why they leave it to drain, being one of the lowest points of the trunk, gravity would suggest that fluid needs to drain rather than collect. Whilst Boo was "under" the vet and I had a good discussion about the complications of this surgery. She explained that whilst it is "routine", it is also a very major and intrusive surgery. The worst case of bleeding she had meant a general anaesthetic and they packed out the scrotum with loads and loads of wadding. The problem as I said in my first post.... with the testicles removed, the tubes no longer have the weight to pull them down and ping straight back up into the body, so if they are bleeding, I would imagine it is very difficult to try to stem the flow.

They are given an injection of anti-inflammatory and a long-acting antibiotic at the time of the surgery. I have to say that the only indication that Boo had any surgery is that he lashes out or stamps a back hoof if I try to bend down to have a look... but so far there is no swelling. It certainly hasn't dampened his desire to run around.... unfortunately!!!! I have a supply of Danilon, if he seems sore but if he goes off his food, I shall be taking his temperature to look for early signs of a secondary infection.
 
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domane said:
This vets have a rule about them being over a certain height for standing castrations and although Boo was borderline for the height, because he is deep-girthed and very fluffy, she thought she'd be able to see better with him lying down. Having only witnessed standing castrations before, I was impressed by how much time, effort and general thoroughness she took.... and of course it meant that I got to see EVERYTHING so I was in my element! :giggle:
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I remember when I put up my Horses castration pics I had a barrage of questions as to why he was knocked out to, Where I lived ( in Mid Cheshire) Id never seen one done stood up before and many people questioned it ! I never actually asked the Vet why full knock out ( as it was not unusal for me to see) - So I wonder if it is size then? My boy was approx 13hh when done.
 
Maybe it is just down to the personal preference of the vet or the practice's rules. I have mixed opinions if I'm honest, having witnessed three different vets/practices geld three of mine. Whilst the standing procedure is undoubtedly quicker and you don't have all the worry of them dropping and trying to stand before they are ready, I do feel that the actual surgical side was FAR more thorough the generally clean/hygienic with the lying down procedure.
 
domane said:
Maybe it is just down to the personal preference of the vet or the practice's rules. I have mixed opinions if I'm honest, having witnessed three different vets/practices geld three of mine. Whilst the standing procedure is undoubtedly quicker and you don't have all the worry of them dropping and trying to stand before they are ready, I do feel that the actual surgical side was FAR more thorough the generally clean/hygienic with the lying down procedure.
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Well thats what I found confusing about being stood, as he was liturally on the floor with legs spread so they get right in there! I guess thats the pros and cons of both procedures!
 
Thank you for explaining more Domane - That is what happens with some human surgery too. It sounds like a very good vet - from the surgical medical point of view.
 
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