Hi! Just wanted to clarify a matter which pops up once in a while. Don't want to get people all excited, although that is not all bad either, LOL. Re neutering as opposed to using the castrator implements sold for lambs etc. One of the most useful benefits of Neutering a dog(or cat) is the elimination of the occurance of testiclular cancers. These cancers are seen frequently in intact dogs, and somewhat less frequently in cats. So, using the implements mentioned above and elsewhere, as done in farm stock does not help with this. They do not remove the testes but just shove them up within the body. So, you are not providing the dog or cat any medical benefits with this method. Just wanted to tuck this in so the next time someone brings this up you can pass it on. It has been more and more the practice to neuter or spay puppies younger and younger. I can see dong this type of thing on a very young pup. But on an older pup(over 3 months)I think I'd just want to poke the person who did this right in the nose. Wouldn't call him or her any names of course, would want to stay polite, but I'd poke 'em just the same. LOL LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 21, 2002

Answers

No disrespect intended but I'm not sure you understand how the castrators work. Basically you put a VERY tight rubber band around the testicals and scrotum sac and the blood circulation is cut off and eventually the entire pouch with testicals falls off. Therefore you have castrated the animal.

Susan

-- Susan in Minnesota (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), February 21, 2002.

Yes, banding usually does remove the testicles. There is a technique whereby the testicles are oushed up inside the animal to render it intact but sterile, however, most banding removes both the testicles and scrotum.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 21, 2002.

Oy vey! I think I'll pass on this one!

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), February 21, 2002.

Yes, that is what happens. Occasionally you get a calf that doesn't have them both on the outside of his body and you can "steer" them wrong...heehee! Bad pun I know! But you have to get both testicles inside the band or it doesn't work on calves. I have no clue about the other technique where they are up inside the body. We band our bull calves before we raise them up together or they would all fight like...well...bulls.....anyway.....A funny thing happened one time...not for the easily grossed out....I wondered what in the world that was on top of the fence post and yep..you guessed it. Still with the rubber elastrating band around them. I never could figure out how it got up there! From a distance it looked like a mouse of some sort with a collar on! NO I HAVE NOT BEEN EATING THOSE MORNING GLORY SEEDS! HEEHEEHEE! :~)!!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 21, 2002.

If you band just the scrotum with the testicles still up inside, you still have an intact male, just one who will probably shoot blanks. They carry the testicles away from the body, because the body temp is higher than what sperm can live at. If you notice when it is cold, everything is carried closer to the body (shrinkage:) when it is hot out they hand much looser LOL!

I have a pretty pair of testicles that were off a white wether, his name was Casper and he was our butcher goat for jerky. I had a friend make me a really pretty silver filligry holder for them, and I wear them around my neck at goat shows. A real conversation piece, male judges seem to smile the most at them :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 21, 2002.

Now Vicki- are you pulling my leg again? I just cannot picture it....;)

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 21, 2002.

We were at our Vets clinic on Sat when he had to geld a horse that had one retained testes. He had to put the horse to sleep.He then used a knife to make an insision. He had to go in an pull the retained one out of the abdomin. It was several inches in. That one had to be stitched up. He used a Clamping devise to crush the cords before removing them. All the time the animal is sedated and on an IV. Sorry if I gross you out!! I watched several geldings of horses. I have also watched cats being neutered. I have a friend who is a Vet Tech instructor at a college. I have never had to deal with bandings but I believe cattlemen use some kind of clamping devise that crushes the cords. I could be wrong.

-- PJC (zpjc5_@hotmail.com), February 21, 2002.

All we use is an elastrator. IT is like a pair of giant half tweezers/ half pliers/ kinda looking thing. When you squeeze the handles a set of 4 prongs spreads open the rubber band so that it will fit over and around the testicles. When you release the handles slowly the rubber band is around the top of the scrotum and the testicles hang down on the other side. The rubber band is probably not comfortable, but our calves don't seem to ever notice it when it is done to them when they are small. The sack eventually drops off because there is no blood flow to it. The whole process takes minutes for each one and they don't lose any blood. IT is MUCH smarter to do this to them very early when the testicles first decend.(sp?) If you wait very long it can be difficult to use the elastrator and it can also be more difficult for the calf to get over it. If we don't do it to them early, we just take them to the sale as bulls before they start trying to put the mineral feeder up into the trees. LOL! We had two one time that were so awnry that we had to drag the trough feeder up out of the ravine every single day because the goofy twosome would knock it down there! UGH! We sold them as bulls for a dairy farm.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 21, 2002.

sorry, as usual I was not very articulate. I was refering to an elatrator and not the actual banding of the testes. Just kinda wanted people to know if they do this to a canine you are negating one of the most valuable reasons for doing it in the first place. Thanks for the replies! :) LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 21, 2002.

Rebekkah, I will send you a picture of the necklace.................OH!! Or were you wanting me to send you a picture of...........shrinkage???? :) LOL Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

No no, I've seen the shrinkage- I mean, I'm married and have had goats for awhile.... :#) It was the necklace I just can't picture!!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 22, 2002.

Maybe someone with a scanner could post a medical type picture of what the elastrator does, both testicles are suposed to be down in the sack, and the band on top of them, the instructions with mine even says to "press fingers into the groin...usually the testicle will come through the ring" .. "if the testicles do not descend into the scrotum, apply pressure...into the abdomen just above the attachment of the scrotum"

I can't think of why anyone would do this to remove the sack and not the testies. The would be no guarantee that the animal is sterile.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), February 22, 2002.

So if you cut'em off you can't get cancer in 'em. I'm sorry, but that doesn't seem to be a very useful insight. In homeopathy, it is said that cutting out a cancer does not really cure the organism of cancer, any more than picking the apples cures the tree of apples. If the organism/immune system is unbalanced in such a way that cancer can take hold, it will take hold, (in this case, if not in the testicles, then elsewhere) and unless that system's balance changes, it will still be an environment ripe for cancer.

-- snoozy (bunny@northsound.net), February 22, 2002.

No, No , No, LOL I am still trying to get across(sorry I am not so good at this) that it is the method of shoving the testes up inside the cavity and crushing the scrotal sack that I am referring to. This is the method used by many commercial lamb and calf businesses. This is the danger to dogs. We know that, of course, true neutering takes away the testes and so of course, the problem of possible cancer is removed right along with the testes themselves. Also, something to think about, as you already know, many poorly bred dogs are cryptorchids(have one or both testes retained up inside the body)and these retained testes are much more likely to become cancerous than the normally descended testes. So, if you have a chryptorchid dog, just removing one descended testicle will not help the dog. Sorry I have not explained this very well. :) LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 23, 2002.