[cyborg]

Not even local anesthetic? How can you neuter pigs and cows without anesthetics and they give anesthetic to dogs and cats?

[Nataku X]

I don't know about pigs & cows, but they neuter goats by putting a rubber band around their, y'know. It falls off all by itself.

[bigfootbob]

Pigs are highly susceptible to drugs, I've experimented with different drugs my vet provided, too dangerous and hard to administer.

Steers we put into a squeeze box so they can't thrash around cause excessive tissue damage. Steers are too big and the amount of drugs required for this minor operation causes more trouble than it's worth.

Stop thinking about this as if it was a human, it's not the same.

[vetvetdoug]

The castration of bulls and boars is done without anesthetics. Bulls are made steers by immobilizing the animal by pushing the tail directly over the back and doing the procedure. The cost to the producer to do this procedure using lidocaine (local anesthetic) or a general anesthetic would affect the cost of the unit greatly in both by medicine used and the time involved to accomplish castration. A local anesthetic would also increase the danger to the administrator greatly. A general anesthetic would increase the death rate which would transform into monetary loss and greater financial liability to the veterinarian. I will offer to the producer either procedure and cost is the primary reason for 99.9% of the producers electing for no anesthetic. Many producers do the procedure themselves taking the liability upon themselves but accomplish a successful outcome most of the time. When they screw up is when I make my money to correct their mistakes.

Pigs are different. The procedure, albeit painful, is quick. I have tried to use anesthesia and more times than I care to admit, the anesthesia killed the pig. The damage to my eardrums was permanent and I avoid pig castration at all costs. Most producers do this procedure themselves and when they find a inguinal hernia, I do the procedure and make money.

In Merino sheep, mulesing and tail docking is necessary. Having lived in Del Rio, Texas, home of the Merino sheep capital of the US, I have seen what myiasis (fly strike) due to flies and screwworm larvae has done to sheep. Tail docking and mulesing done at an early age is no different than circumcision accomplished upon a male child. I believe that these surgeries done on sheep early make for healthier sheep and done without anesthetic make it safer. Lidocaine blocks sounds nice and neat but try doing that on a young animal. Also using too much lidocaine on a young animal many times results in the death of that animal. The time taken to do the procedure in a sterile and anesthetic environment would make wool, lamb and mutton cost prohibitive.

Martina needs to have some maggots implanted in her butt so that she could see what the non-mulesing animals go through in the large ranches where the sheep are seen only a couple of times a year. She also needs to eat some mutton from those non tail docked and mulesing animals so that she can taste the feces in the tainted meat from those sheep.

[gocats]

When I was a kid I had a job one summer neutering pigs. You dont use anstiseptic. Let me just say it was the worst job I've ever had. I neutered over 1000 pigs.

[WV Mountain Mama]

My dad used rubber bands on his bulls this past year to neuter them. It is more painful for the guys (my husband) trying to wrestle them to the ground. My dad then suggested that they use the headlock to hold the bulls. My husband thinks my dad is still laughing at him. LOL!