The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: rbarlo32 on November 24, 2011, 08:53:25 am
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ok one of the two rams that were castrated by the vet died last night no sign of blood loss. guessing it could have been stress. any ideas.
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it is a sheep thing :farmer:
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Could blood loss have been internal? I would get back on the phone to the vet for an explanation. What age were the tups?
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When I asked my vet. to castrate a four year old ram rather than have him destroyed he told me that death due to bleeding would be probable rather than possible. Gladly my ram was able to find a new home.
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Had a two and a half year old ram surgically castrated only a few weeks ago. he was up within hours and I kept him in for a couple of days surgical site was beautifully clean and tidy no swelling or bruising afterwards and this being the fourth adult I've had done this way I have to ask what technique was used?
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incision of the sack tying off and removal of testicals wound left open. no noticable blood loss from the wound as it was open i would have expected a lot if one of the blood vessels had ruptured. hes was 6-7 months old looked perfectly healthy before and as it was just a local was mobile afterwards. pity really he was a friendly little chap.
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I am sorry I wonder what the vet has to say. this method was the one I had done once and I swore never again. I found the ram found it very painful. the only complication I can think of is that he got an inguinal hernia as a result of straining
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or shock due to the pain. We were at a first aid course for dogs on Sunday and that was what the trainer insisted on - if an animal is in an accident of any sort ensure pain relief is immediate as it is crucial to survival as much as stopping any bloodflow.
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I couldn't agree more! I was quite shocked when after preforming a very difficult delivery resulting in the lamb having to be cut out and the ewe literally shaking, my vet was quite happy to just give her a shot of anti biotics. When I asked about painkiller he looked quite surprised, but complied. I did point out to him that if he was a woman he would know that ordinary childbirth is pretty painful, never mind what that poor ewe had been through. She did recover, but I gave her several doses of metacam over the next few weeks. Yes I know! but I don't like to see animals in pain. I am so sorry you lost your tup, he sounded really cute.
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Is metacam lisenced for sheep? Not sure what painkillers are, but it may have been part of the reason why it was not readily given.
So sorry to hear about your ram, especially as he was so friendly. :-*
Allison
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Not sure its licensed but have heard it used on several times and yes I too get a quizzical look from my vet following a difficult assisted lambing when I request a painkiller but he's getting used to me now :D
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ok one of the two rams that were castrated by the vet died last night no sign of blood loss. guessing it could have been stress. any ideas.
Could have been completely unrelated - without a post mortem you can only speculate unless there were specific symptoms.
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Was the ram vaccinated? It is possible that a clostridial infection was the cause of death but as others have said we can only speculate.
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thanks folks pretty sure it was not any infection. I agree i would have wanted a whole heap of pain relief.. to late now for a pm.
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I know its not rams (and by the way, Im so sorry to hear of your sad loss), but when my baby billy goat Toby was castrated by the same method, he took ages and ages for him to come round from the knock out drops the vet gave him. I have to say though, that both the boys were given antibiotics AND painkillers at the same time so that they didnt have too much discomfort afterwards. Once round (after me crying my eyes out with relief!) both boys were absolutely fine, no bleeding at all. I never want to witness the proceedure again though, the noise alone made me feel quite sick. Im glad that my hubby kept his distance, he would have been in a terrible state!
I dont know much about sheep, but could he perhaps have had a weak heart or something like that? Once again, so sorry for your loss.
Mary.
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Really sorry you lost him :-[
I had my two goats done surgically (as a result of a bodged burdizzo job) at 5 months, with painkillers, and apart from some evident discomfort the next day, they were as right as rain in no time.
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Is metacam lisenced for sheep? Not sure what painkillers are, but it may have been part of the reason why it was not readily given.
So sorry to hear about your ram, especially as he was so friendly. :-*
Allison
No metacam is not licenced for sheep, it's for my arthritic dog, but the vet who prescribed it told us her Mother has taken it for years with no ill effects. I expect 'they' will get round to licencing it when it suits. Over the years I've used it on sheep who have lived to a ripe old age.
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It's licensed for pigs and horses according to wikipedia
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now the second one has a broken front leg. this is now becomming very expensive.
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:( more bad luck :( hope you can get it sorted without too much trouble.
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its in a caste and the vet thinks it will heal ok.
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just had the bill. for the emergancy call out on a sunday £36 plus treatments.
so for a vaccination. two castrations two locals for the sheep. pain killer and anti inflamatories plus the plaster caste and examination and the two visits £134. even with the loss of the first ram lamb i think thats very reasonable.
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Well, that could have been a lot worse!
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castrations are dangerous, we just do them so much we take it for granted. we had a scare with a mature stallion being gelded this year. he took a long time come round and was crashing round stable for 30 mins with 2 adult men trying to hold him (he was 11hh) and ended up very cut and bruised.
everyones heart was racing, and im pretty sure the vets were s****g themselves incase he conked out, cos i certainly was.
sorry to hear bout the ram. i presume he was castrated late as he had breeding potential?
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he was going to be meat. however he was to friedly well all three boys were. so the kids and the wife wanted them as wethers. i won't be using that method again. ringing from now on a lot less dangerous and whole heap less messing about. we have four geldings to be done next spring which will be a lot of fun.