Bleeding after castration

[tuppyandjess]

I castrated a 5 month old dairy/beef cross bull calf this morning. It is the first time I have done a surgical castration. I have held the tail for hundreds of them while someone else did them, & got my AI tech to give me a couple of in depth demonstrations, so I thought I could do it myself.
I did as best I could what was described in all the info I googeld, & what I was shown. It went well at first, but after he started moving around after I finished the second testicle he started bleeding. I have tied off the scrotum tightly with baling twine, because that was the only way I could find that would stem the rather significant flow of blood. Now what? How long do I leave it tied off? What are the potential outcomes when I take it off?

The method I used is as follows:'
I pushed the testicles to the bottom of the scrotum & secured a piece of wide elastic around the scrotum firmly enough to hold the testicles down the bottom. I made 2 incisions with a scalpel - one on each side, at the very bottom of the scrotum. I pushed each testicle out of the respective hole & pulled down with reasonable pressure to get the testicle clear of the scrotum. I rubbed the tissue that joined the testicle to whatever is higher up past the scrotum with the back of the scalpel blade until it was all rubbed through. I was confused by the thickness of the cords. I was expecting a thinner amount of tissue to be joining the testicle to the rest of the calf, but it was quite thick & quite vascular. I think maybe I should have pulled harder - as in pulled them out further - but I was concerned that would be cruel.

Now I'm so traumatized I'm contemplating becoming a vegetarian ...& the calf isn't very impressed either

Help please?

[pattysh]

There is considerable bleeding on an animal of that size. I had an adult pony done once. He bled for quite a while but the vet said it was normal amount. On an animal that size my vet applies an emasculator or hemostat before cutting the testicle off and helps stem bleeding. My huge concern is the baling twine. Not sure but I am thinking if it's been on for several hours with no blood flow to the scrotum it probably caused irreversible death to tissues. I am sure the baling twine will get infected. I am thinking placing an actual castrating band where the twine is might be the only solution without a vet call.

[pattysh]

I would place the band adjacent to the twine then cut the twine off and apply an antiseptic.

[tuppyandjess]

Thanks pattysh
Yeah I had thought about the twine being so tight it might cut off circulation. While he was lying down I undid it & redid it a few times for that reason. But now he is up & I'll have to get him back in the head bale to do that again ... & I am hoping to figure out if I am better to leave it on a little longer or if that will make things worse before I try & get him in. He isn't likely to be very willling to go back in so I need to have a bit of a plan fast. I was sort of hoping that seeing as rings cut off circulation to the whole scrotum anyway it might not be such a huge deal ... but obviously I want to make the decision that causes the calf the least problems. And obviously I'm a woman & a human to even be able to think that ... cause I'm sure males, & especailly male calves, wouldn't agree :/

[tuppyandjess]

I think you're right pattysh. So I just went & cut off the twine. He still has feeling in the area because I accidentally poked him with the end of the scissors when I was doing it & he felt that. I didn't put a ring or anything else on it because to be effective it would have had to be placed towards the top of the scrotum & would have replicated the situation I already had. Also, while I got him into the bale, he wasn't going to put his head in the head gate for anything, & I couldn't have done more than I did with him unrestrained. There is just the odd drip of blood now. Hopefully he will just lie down quietly somewhere & not upset the clot & there won't be any further drama. Fingers crossed

[tuppyandjess]

He's grazing & has had a big drink from mum. He looks like nothing much has happened.
Animals are SO resilient & I constantly feel humbled by what they take in their stride.

[elnini]

Glad he's feeling better :-) Yes... try doing that to a bloke and I bet he isn't eating dinner quietly in a couple of hours !

[pattysh]

Sounds like it wasn't tight enough to do harm then. You will still see draining from a surgical castration which is normal. Sounds like you got the job done! Good job.

[sdmilkmaid]

It's important to pull the testes all the way out, and until the cords actually tear. Very similar to the umbilical cord stretching until it tears at birth. Then cut the "tails" off short so they no longer hang out of the scrotum. I have done mostly smaller calves - 2-6 wks - but I've also knife cut 6-7 mo old bulls. If you're down to an occasional drip of blood within a couple of hours, he should be fine. Try not to get him too excited for a few days, which it sounds like you're doing. Keep an eye open for swelling/infection. Good Luck!

[tuppyandjess]

Yeah ... in retrospect I don't think I pulled them out anything like far enough But Geeez Louise - it was makin' my eyes water & I'm not even a bloke! I think I had lulled him into a false sense of security ... I had stuffed around with them for so long with all the washing & drying & hair trimming & disinfecting while I was psyching myself up that I think he thought it wasn't that bad after all ... he didn't even play up until they were both out !
The place up the road has a bloke come in & cut all their calves, & he's supposed to be excellent. I'm going up there next time he's there for some hands on, supervised experience. Next time I want to do it right.
Thanks for the input everyone