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! As the holes were bigger than they would like, due to getting the testes out. Ouch, poor Alfie.
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| Big boy lol, before the proceedure 12th May 2011 |
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| 12th May 2011 |
There were two vets, a lovely young lady I hadn't seen before with my regular vet, she arrived first in her car. I took her to Alfie and she said wow what a handsome lad, in the meantime she checked his passport etc. She did the pre-op 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, so we waited for my regular vet he was right behind her coming in his car. We put Alfie in the corner stable, bet he thought that was odd and these two strangers! Then the nice young lady said she wanted to give him a sedative, she said our vet had told her how fabulous they are all 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, the other 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 hibbiscrubbed the testicles and surrounding area then Alfie started figeting 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 atual castration, they had a feel around again, then Alfie was swishing his tail a little 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, leaning heavily on me. The nice lady vet said "what do you wish to do with him, he's so pretty", I said "mainly fun stuff, showing etc" she said "oh yes he's so pretty", awwwww.
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| Emasculator |
Out came the vets' kit for the proceedure, 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 trully set in, the vet got a large syringe of local anaesthetic in both testicles and around them, yep, that needle was another big OUCH for males everywhere! We now waited for this to take effect whilst the vets scrubbed up. The vet then put a slit in one testicle sac, 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 clamped a bit longer, an extra minute each side then put a couple of stitches in each side to close it 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.
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| Alfie's you know what lol |
Alfie is doing well. I went home for a break hence now me typing this out, whilst 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 so I will rug him when I go back and wash his leg down so the blood doesn't attract flies.
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| Alfie's wound awww |
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| Alfie's stitches and open wound |
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