CASTRATION OF SMALL ANIMALS. 231 



Older boars are best castrated with clams or ligature. The opera- 

 tion can be performed in the standing position, though the animal's 

 head must be firmly secured, and its hind limbs fixed by passing a 

 couple of poles .between the legs, so that it can neither lie down nor 

 move to either side. The operation is, however, most conveniently 

 performed with' the animal lying on one side. No particular after- 

 treatment is necessary, but the animal should be placed in a separate, 

 cool, clean stall. The clams can be removed after twenty-four hours, 

 though they are generally left in position until they spontaneously fall 

 awa}-. Griin recommends castrating boars by ligating the spermatic 

 cord with a dry, thin catgut ligature. 



4. Castration of Cats and Dogs. 



Dogs bear castration well at all ages. The animal is placed on its 

 back, and the processus vaginalis opened as above described. In 

 young animals the spermatic cord may be simply snipped through with 

 scissors or scraped with a knife. The point of division is just above the 

 epididymis. In older animals ligation is preferable, as bleeding may 

 be prolonged by the animal licking the parts. Cats are similarly 

 treated. Some operators fix the animal by enveloping the fore-part in 

 a sack ; an assistant holds the hind legs. Scraping, twisting, or 

 ligation may be used. 



5. Castration of Birds 



is on the whole simple, though the operation requires some practice. 

 The cock is the bird most often castrated ; the bean-shaped 

 testicles lie in the abdomen. Operation is performed between the 

 second and third weeks of life, when the habit of crowing com- 

 mences and the comb assumes a red colour. An assistant holds the 

 bird on its back in his open hands, with its beak pointing towards 

 the operator, and presses down the feet wath his thumbs. The 

 feathers are plucked out or cut away for a distance of about f inch 

 in front of the anus, and a transverse incision about li inches 

 in length made through the thin abdominal wall. At this stage care 

 is required to avoid damaging the abdominal contents. The incision 

 is preferably made with button-pointed scissors, the thin abdominal 

 wall being raised in a fold with dissecting forceps, incised with scissors, 

 and the incision enlarged to the necessary extent. The operator then 

 passes the disinfected index finger of the right hand into the abdominal 

 cavity to the spot where, externally, the posterior angle of the scapula 

 may be felt on the ribs, meanwhile pressing the abdominal contents to 

 one side. At this point there lies, on either side of the vertebral 

 column, a firm body, the size of a horse-bean — the testicle — which is 

 first separated from the ribs by means of the bent finger, and then 

 drawn backwards through the wound where it is simply pinched off. 



