A client had trailed and brought in his very large swine for castration onsite at Tanglefoot. As the clinic’s Practice Manager, I spend most of my time in an office behind a computer, but an extra set of hands was needed for this appointment. So I changed out of my ‘office’ clothes and put on some ‘work’ clothes to help Dr. Holly hold the male pig once it had been sedated, to help prevent it from moving or flinching during the procedure.
This relatively simple procedure to remove the testes turned out to be significantly more challenging by the fact that the boar would not sedate. Despite multiple efforts and increasing the amount of sedative several times, he seemed determined to remain intact!
Even with another staff member trying to hold the pig still using ropes while we were standing outside the trailer, the stubborn pig kept moving around inside the trailer, along with Dr. Holly and her incredibly sharp scalpel blade, putting them both at risk.
After 20 minutes, and with all three of us getting very tired from our efforts, I was sure we were going to have to give up and try again another day. But Dr. Holly was determined, and she would not give up.
Finally, the animal stopped flailing long enough to allow for a couple of quick yet precise incisions, and a few sutures later, the hog was untied and left to recover. It should be noted here, the pig had been given injectable pain control, and Dr. Holly performed a local block to freeze the testicles, ensuring he was not in any discomfort throughout the procedure.
Tired but proud of the effort, Dr. Holly emerged victorious from the back of the trailer. A short time later, while cleaning up and getting our heart rate and blood pressure back under control, Dr. Holly turned around with a testicle in each hand and a huge grin on her face and said, “Look, everyone, I’ve got huge balls… literally!”