Dear Darrin:
 
>My classmate said that he had his dad neuter him by himself.  Whoa-that's
>not good.  I think he just cut it open and get them out.  (sorry bout the
>graphics)  Sure hope he's OK.
>
>Dr. Williams-was this a very bright idea on their part?=20
 
Absolutely not!  However, this is certainly not the first time I have
heard of this practice.  In fact, many framers neuter bull claves without
anesthetic, simply by heavy restraint and quickness.  Other farm animals
are often done the same way, and some have bragged to me about doing cats
and dogs.  The inhumanity of this type of procedure without anesthesia
confounds the mind, but of course, there are people out there with outdated
beliefs about animals not feeling pain as humans do, or that the end
justifies the means, or that spending a hundred bucks at the vets isn't
justified for a $35 ferret.
 
Let's not forget the possibility of infection.  Luckily animals heal much
better than we do, and infection rates are lower - but what will he do if
there is an infection?
 
Or what would he do if there was intractable bleeding - both testes are
supplied with a testicular artery.  In the olden days, vets would pull
slowly on the testes in an anesthetized cat or ferret until they snapped,
assuming that the spasm of the arterial muscles would staunch the blood
flow (and it most often did.) Nowadays, all testicular arteries are tied
off during catrations, just to be on the safe side.
 
Needless to say, castrations are best done at the vets, with sterile
procedure, competent hemostatis, anesthesia, and above all, an idea what
they are doing.
 
Good luck convincing this "non-obsessed" owner to vaccinate.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3245]