Scrap book antics of a horse mad mum..welcome back : Archived: There goes his manhood - gelded

Today was the day I had to whisper around Alfie. I didn't let him know what we were planning for him this afternoon. It was shameful. The whole idea, shameful. Boohoo. What a waste, that's all I keep saying to myself. Alfie was, see, there I go, past tense, WAS, a big boy in the testicle department. In fact, the vet must have said he's a big lad about ten times during the proceedure. He said for standing castration they dont put stitches in, this way it allows for better healing. However, because our boy was so big and only two years old by the way lol, they had to put a stitch in each side! The holes were bigger than they would have liked, due to getting the testes out. Ouch, poor Alfie.

Big boy lol, before the proceedure 12th May 2011

12th May 2011

There were two vets; A lovely young lady I hadn't seen before with my regular vet. She arrived first. I took her to Alfie and she said wow what a handsome lad. In the meantime she checked his passport and we carried on with the small talk etc. She did the so called pre-op type checks and we waited for my regular vet to arrive. I asked her if she wanted me to move him to the bigger stable if there is going to be three of us in with him? We put Alfie in the corner stable so he would have more room and it would be safer for us three adults in there with him.(Bet he thought that was odd and these two strangers!?). As he settled in the stable, the nice young lady said she wanted to give him a sedative, she mentioned our vet had told her how fabulous they all are with needles, then she said "probably jinxed us now". She was right! She put the needle in and up he reared and slammed forward at the same time,nearly knocking me over, awwwwwwwww. I said it's because he doesn't know why he's in this stable. Anyway, our regular vet had arrived and began prepping his gear after telling me what to expect.

Alfie's lips started to droop as the sedative started to kick in. The vet hibbi scrubbed the testicles and surrounding area, then, Alfie started fidgeting so they popped another bit of sedative in him, this made him wobbly on his feet. By now they had his sedatives and antibiotics in him. A few checks later and more prep for the actual castration. They had a feel around again. Alfie was swishing his tail, a little too alert, so the vet had to give him another bit of sedative, that's three lots now, lol, he must have known, awww. This one really knocked him for six, his head was low, he was virtually snoring and he was now sweating to bits (normal) as the sedatives all kicked in, he was also leaning heavily on me, aww, my boy. The nice lady vet said "what do you wish to do with him, he's so pretty", I said "mainly fun stuff", she said "oh yes he's so pretty".

Emasculator

Out came the vets' kit for the procedure, it was an OUCH kit, lol, especially the big metal Emasculator. What was more OUCH, was a teeny weeny blade like a mini stanley knife blade, I did feel for Alfie now. In fact, I felt for all Males everywhere lol.

Now the sedatives had well and truly set in, the vet got a large syringe of local anesthetic and injected it into both testicles and around them, yep, that needle was another big OUCH for males everywhere! We waited for this to take effect whilst the vets scrubbed up. The vet then put a slit in one testicle sac,he then put his fingers in and pulled one of the testes out and removed it ,awwwww, OUCH again. The emasculator is then clamped on to seal blood vessles, clamped in place for 2minutes. In fact, it was 120 Mississippi's until we found a watch. I'm telling you now, it isn't easy counting 120 Mississipi's without losing count. I had to concentrate pretty hard and try not to get tongue tied showing myself up lol. This was done both sides. They didn't like the size of the holes so they clamped the flesh a little longer for an extra minute on each side aka 60 more Mississippi's, next, they put a couple of stitches in each side to close the holes up a touch. They like the wound open to aid healing and prevent swelling etc, so he still has an open wound, see photo below. As soon as the vets had finished, Alfie started to come around a touch and wanted to move around. I had to make sure every drop of hay was out of the stable whilst he was still under sedation as the vets said dont give him any water or hay until it wears off. On the post - op papers, the sedative normally takes up to two hours to wear off. I watched Alfie for a little while whilst he was walking around the box, checking the drips of blood and generally keeping an eye on him. It is normal for drips of blood, drips that can be counted, not pouring, If it pours, you have to phone the vet again.

Alfie's you know whatties lol

Alfie is doing well. I went home for a break hence now me typing this out, at the same time having up to the minute phone texts telling me how he is doing. I will be going back shortly to put water and hay in.He's bound to wonder what the hell he is doing in that stable, never mind why is he being starved? That's not right lol!! He will be dying for a drink too as they sweat loads whilst pumped with all the meds. I will rug him when I go back and wash his leg down so the blood doesn't attract flies.