Elastic Castration
I've been researching all the care aspects of owning sheep and goats, and it seems the most common castration method for most livestock is use of a special type of elastic band used with pliers that stretch it out and let you get a good fit. The other method is to do it with a knife (with or without anesthesic), or a burdizzo, which is a clamp that crushes the vas deferans, causing the testicle to shrivel up and die.
I found this website describing how to use this method on your dog. I also recall a few years ago, a friend's mom had three male cats castrated with this method. The cats were acting totally normal, not in pain at all, and from what most people say, the discomfort is minimal if done properly. Contrasted with a vet visit, anesthesia, stitches, head cone, and whatever else, it seems like a viable option. The burdizzo could also be used. With a bit of local anesthesic, it seems a lot more pleasant than the knife method, but the knife method seems to be preferred because the results are instant and it has a higher success rate. There's a chance that the burdizzo won't work, for instance, and there's more chance for the elastic method to not be done properly. With the burdizzo, it's simple to just do it again, with the band method, as long as it's done properly, it's fine. The knife method offers the highest risk of infection and bleeding, but like I said, it's more sure-fire.
Not that I suggest people castrate their own dogs, but maybe a vet tech could learn how to do it. It might also be a more cost-effective and quicker method for catch-and-release programs of feral animals, especially since you don't have to worry about keeping them confined for recovery.
As a side note, I've stumbled across so many websites on how to use these methods (particularly the burdizzo) on humans. I can't believe there are people out there who castrate themselves, but for "modern day eunuchs", the burdizzo seems to be the preferred method. Probably because the discomfort is minimal and there's no dead sac that falls off.
I found this website describing how to use this method on your dog. I also recall a few years ago, a friend's mom had three male cats castrated with this method. The cats were acting totally normal, not in pain at all, and from what most people say, the discomfort is minimal if done properly. Contrasted with a vet visit, anesthesia, stitches, head cone, and whatever else, it seems like a viable option. The burdizzo could also be used. With a bit of local anesthesic, it seems a lot more pleasant than the knife method, but the knife method seems to be preferred because the results are instant and it has a higher success rate. There's a chance that the burdizzo won't work, for instance, and there's more chance for the elastic method to not be done properly. With the burdizzo, it's simple to just do it again, with the band method, as long as it's done properly, it's fine. The knife method offers the highest risk of infection and bleeding, but like I said, it's more sure-fire.
Not that I suggest people castrate their own dogs, but maybe a vet tech could learn how to do it. It might also be a more cost-effective and quicker method for catch-and-release programs of feral animals, especially since you don't have to worry about keeping them confined for recovery.
As a side note, I've stumbled across so many websites on how to use these methods (particularly the burdizzo) on humans. I can't believe there are people out there who castrate themselves, but for "modern day eunuchs", the burdizzo seems to be the preferred method. Probably because the discomfort is minimal and there's no dead sac that falls off.
Comments
I think they use banding on hogs too. When I was growing up on the farm, all of our male goats were castrated as kids with the banding method. They were bothered by it initially, I'm sure it was immediately very painful, but they didn't go on and on like if it was an acute wound. I think the nerves died eventually and their bodies adapted to the pain. I think it took several weeks for the balls to shrivel up and fall off. We still took our dogs and cats to the vet for heavens sake and had them surgically neutered, however. It isn't that expensive when you live in a farming community already and the vet has to deal with money conscious farmers daily.
My initial thought, is that if the band is not applied tightly enough, you can get gas gangrene in the extremity/sac and this can enter the blood stream and cause sepsis or peritonitis as the testicles descend directly through the abdominal wall. If the testicles themselves were banded in half, aside from being beyond cruel, my biggest concern would not be that the animal could still reproduce as the article suggested, but I believe the organ would rot, become an open wound and put the animal at high risk for septicemia or peritonitis.
In any case, it's very interesting on the various methods of castration...both ancient & new alike.
Just one more method to try out.
zowie!
It is not uncommon that testicals become lunch for the cowboys out there who still do the work of castration themselves, I learned that on TV.