How long would you leave a youngster in post rig op?

How long after gelding before turning out?

  • 24 hours

    Votes: 2 40.0%

  • 1 week

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 2 weeks

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 3 60.0%
  • Total voters
    5
Dark Storm

Dark Storm

Well I'll be a Krampus's Auntie! :D!
Jan 4, 2009
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Hadfield
Can anyone give me their experiences on a newly gelded youngster, how long they took to get over the swelling? Bailey has swelled up today, first time since the op, and I was wondering whether I should bite the bullet and put him out in a small enclosed grassy area, mud free??
 
poppy 99 said:
None of the above, call your vet for advice!!!! Every pony is different!
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That's the first thing I did when I got home from the yard:wink:.. I really want to know what other people's opinions are when it comes to gelding, I hear so many different ways.. I've had 3 different Vets, over the years.. My first one, stopped doing horses, and passed me on to to another large vet practice, and eventually I decided to go with Peter Fenton, having had great reviews on their work, and they have been the nicest people:biggrin:
They even rang me up Fri morning, to check on how Bailey had got on:cloud9:
 
What did your vet say ?
Given the operation, I can't see how a bit of swelling could be a worry but it depends how it swells and if it doesn't go down.
I knew of a poor mite who had a slight infection after his gelding but you could see horsey was very unhappy and almost unable to put one hoof in front of the other.

As Poppy said, every case is different and every vet will probably give slightly different advice.

My arab was gelded in my back garden, lying down.
Vet told me to keep him in a week on straw bedding (didn't want shavings or dust getting into the wound). My vet did not put external stitches to allow the wound to drain if need be, just a post-op spray from memory. He had an antibiotic injection the day he was gelded and another inj a few days later.
I think it did swell a bit but then went down rather quickly too - he was fine when he went out into the field a week later.
 
Stormin said:
What did your vet say ?
Given the operation, I can't see how a bit of swelling could be a worry but it depends how it swells and if it doesn't go down.
I knew of a poor mite who had a slight infection after his gelding but you could see horsey was very unhappy and almost unable to put one hoof in front of the other.

As Poppy said, every case is different and every vet will probably give slightly different advice.

My arab was gelded in my back garden, lying down.
Vet told me to keep him in a week on straw bedding (didn't want shavings or dust getting into the wound). My vet did not put external stitches to allow the wound to drain if need be, just a post-op spray from memory. He had an antibiotic injection the day he was gelded and another inj a few days later.
I think it did swell a bit but then went down rather quickly too - he was fine when he went out into the field a week later.
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They gave him a long lasting antibiotic injection, which I suspect may be starting to leave his system.. he's on shavings, which is the same stuff as the surgery had that he was kept at overnight.. He hasn't actually got down for a proper sleep since the op (his bed is far too tidy).. when I look at the swelling, it's more his sheath (not the willy) that's actually swollen, not where they removed the 'haggis' from, if you understand what I mean?
There's no blood (a few drops on Sat morning, but not since), its an open wound, left to drain.. He was done stood up..

He's been fine since Fri, walked out fine until today, I suspect a lot of his discomfort is actually bruising to the stomach muscles in his left flank, going towards his sheath..
 
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I'm sort of thinking, I'll go down after to work one day this week, and it will have miraculously disappeared.. I'm probably worried, because I've never been through this before, and everything is new to me:unsure: His field mate swelled up the same, but sooner, and was stiff for the first two days, I suspect it's a bit of delayed reaction with Bailey...
An over anxious mother LOL!
 
You know it sounds pretty normal from what you post.
I guess he doesn't want to lie down because he's a bit sore, understandable I'd say.
If I were you, I'd just continue as you are and keep a close eye on him (because you know him well). If he starts to look uncomfortable in the painful sort of way, off food and/or drinnk etc, don't hesitate to call the vet out because it could be infection.

I'd certainly hold off putting him in a field, mud or not.
My vet told me that once the haggis (to use your term) has been removed, there's not much between the wound and the intestines and that there is a minimal risk that the intestines fall through the wound hole ! Not sure how much of this really is possible but it motivated me to keep mine in.

Wishing you a speedy recovery Bailey :smile:
 
There's one thing Bailey will probably say to me by the end of this week is..........."Enough with the bl***** carrots and apples! I'm sick of them !":giggle:
He says "Thanks:wavespin:"
 
pauline w said:
We've had loads gelded over the years and never kept any in. The vets , different ones, always advised being out was best as long as it's not muddy.
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Agree - check with your vet of course, but we were always told to get them outside and moving - best thing ever for preventing/reducing swelling. Mud may just be a problem right now though:help: but even so, before turning out, I would clean the wound, liberally coat with wound powder -NOT creams/lotions, and repeat the cleaning and powdering when they came in. They really don't get much mud up in that area anyway!
 
I've been told to leave his wound to heal by it's self, and if it starts to weep, then ring them, I've had a friend who's youngsters' wound got really infected (to the point pus was coming out), and it was simply yuk! But I think they did interfere with the healing process (kept messing with it, bathing it etc before the infection kicked in, and it didn't have time to heal properly)
Looking at Bailey's wound tonight, yes it is still swollen, but it hasn't got any worse, if anything, it seems a bit better, and there's no sign of any infection creeping in..
 
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