# Help! Dog attack! Injured testicle, what to do?



## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Hi everyone, 
So last night my black belly ram was attacked by a dog. We didn't find the injuries until this morning, and they're pretty bad. He has a couple punctures in his neck, a quarter size chunk of skin in his front armpit missing, a half dollar size chunk of skin with a deep puncture on a rear leg, and most horrifically... half of the skin on his testicles is gone, leaving one completely exposed. 

I've cleaned out all the deep wounds with peroxide and applied blue cote to everything. I'm going to run to the feed store to pick up some penicillin and wrappings. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do for the testicle though. We're on a super tight budget, I don't know that we can afford a vet visit at all. Will the skin grow back if we can keep it clean and infection free? Is castration the best bet? Can you band a ram like a lamb? Ahhhh, what would you do?????


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Is he your only ram?
How hard would replacement be?
With such injuries ( for me personally) I'd have to weigh his worth vs medical care vs prognosis.
Lots of times with dog attacks there are internal injuries that aren't visible.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

He's our only ram, but it's not a big deal if we lose his baby making ability, we'd prefer not to put him down if there's any chance of treating him without spending the mortgage though. I'm willing to put in whatever time it takes to care for him while he heals. I didn't think about internal injuries... Ugh my poor ram. He's kinda become a pet, I'm a little attached to him


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

For most of the injuries it sounds like you have done all you can. He should heal just fine. Not sure about his testicles though, if it's that large of an area the skin probably won't grow back. You might consider having a vet just castrate him.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

cloverleaf said:


> what would you do?????


If you can't see a vet, then castration would be the best option IMO. And use some antibiotics too.
I had a cat get in a tom cat fight once when I was a kid who had the same problem. The infection wouldn't clear even with vet care, so castration was the best option. This was back in the late 60s, early 70s when cats weren't altered, but Peanuts had to be. Of course, we had the vet do it.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

To have him castrated, would we need a vet or can he be banded or something? Is there anything at all that can be done to help him with the pain? I gave him some treats, he's eating just fine and seems surprisingly ok. I'm fretting, though.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Thank you for all your replies btw, I'm so distracted I'm forgetting my manners


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

I don't see why you can't band him? People band bulls of all ages with calcrate bander. If they can fit in the tool then why not? If he is a pet then better without them anyways.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

If you can get em through a band then it should work...
Tetanus shot is really important.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Great, thank you. We were hoping to breed him, he's only a year and a half old and so pretty. At least he's alive though. I'll see if I can find a big enough bander at the feed store tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your help, it's nice to be able to ask questions like this somewhere!


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

I think if I had a valuable animal that had this injury, yet didnt want to spend money on a vet, I would probably try and remove the skinned testicle and close up what was left with a small hole for drainage on the bottom. Thats assuming there isnt enough tissue to close it over both testicles. He can still breed with one left, some skin glue can help close up remaining tissue,the edges can be debrided before placing edges together. Of course not everyone would be comfortable with doing this type of thing, but it would be hope of still breeding him in the future. If it doesnt heal up, then the bander it goes.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

What a horrible thing to go through! Keeping my fingers crossed he heals well.


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## ONG2 (Sep 22, 2010)

lasergrl said:


> I think if I had a valuable animal that had this injury, yet didnt want to spend money on a vet, I would probably try and remove the skinned testicle and close up what was left with a small hole for drainage on the bottom. Thats assuming there isnt enough tissue to close it over both testicles. He can still breed with one left, some skin glue can help close up remaining tissue,the edges can be debrided before placing edges together. Of course not everyone would be comfortable with doing this type of thing, but it would be hope of still breeding him in the future. If it doesnt heal up, then the bander it goes.


Lasergirl beat me to it. This is what I was thinking.. along with ...antibiotics, tetanus, and probiotics.


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## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

I have had some experience with dog ravaged sheep. I would not band an animal with an exposed testicle, yyou are asking for maggots. If that is your decision knife cut him. If you wants to save him as a ram, get some suture material and sew the scrotum closed. I once spent about 7 hrs sewing skin flaps on sheep together. Had good results.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Hmm... Well he's really pretty and all but not very valuable. If we can't breed him, it's alright, we'll just get a replacement for him later and keep him as a pet. So I don't think I wanna put him through trying to save the other testicle.

Ok I think I could handle the cutting, I once amputated a chickens leg that was too bad to save with great results, but I wouldn't have a clue what to do. Would I cut off just the testes or the scrotum too? The scrotum is in bad shape, only half of it left, it would just be a flap of skin hanging there if I left it. If I remove the sac too, do I need to suture him up? It seems like that'd be a big hole... How much blood should I expect? What risks should I pay special attention to like blood vessels to not cut or anything? Is there anything at all that can be done about the pain?

I can see what you mean about maggots, I'm home all day so if I need to clean it a lot or anything that's doable. How long would it take for it to fall off using the banding method?


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## farmmaid (Jan 13, 2003)

Do you know the owner of the dog? Ask for $ to treat your ram...............


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Stray unfortunately. Our area is very popular with the "lets let fido roam free and happy in the country" people. We have strays all over the place and have taken in a few. They cause so many problems, and the poor dogs suffer so much before they finally starve to death, are shot, or hit by a car. I hate people that dump animals.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

When castrating an adult animal we remove the lower 1/3-1/2 of the scrotum anyway. Then don't just cut the testical loose, fray with the knife by scraping, not a clean cut, it won't bleed as bad. Use lots of wound dressing and spray everyday with fly spray for a few days. Not a good time of year but what else can you do. Good luck....James


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Thanks jwal10. I have to wait until my husband gets home today to do the procedure, so I have approx. an hour left to finish my anxiety attack and put my surgeon face on. You guys are great, thanks.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Good news, we finally found a vet that can help us for a reasonable price! He said a ballpark figure of around 100, including meds and all! And we might be able to save the other testicle now, we'll talk to the vet more tomorrow. The only bad things are they can'
t see us until 8am tomorrow, and they're an hour and a half away. I'm so excited, we had called so many vets when one finally suggested these guys to us. Yayyyyy!


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

cloverleaf said:


> Good news, we finally found a vet that can help us for a reasonable price! He said a ballpark figure of around 100, including meds and all! And we might be able to save the other testicle now, we'll talk to the vet more tomorrow. The only bad things are they can'
> t see us until 8am tomorrow, and they're an hour and a half away. I'm so excited, we had called so many vets when one finally suggested these guys to us. Yayyyyy!


I know this might sound odd, but, what about using a sheep skin condom on your sheep? atleast for protection and such.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

farmgirl6 said:


> I know this might sound odd, but, what about using a sheep skin condom on your sheep? atleast for protection and such.


Ha! That might actually be a brilliant idea! If we weren't taking him to the vet tomorrow, I would try it out. We have it pretty clean for now I think until then.


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## cloverleaf (Feb 5, 2012)

Well we took him to the vet this morning. They weren't able to save the other testicle, it was ruptured. They ended up cutting everything off, all the way up to his body. They left it open to drain, he said it would get infected if they closed it up. He got some antibiotics, some creme stuff, and a tetnus shot. They also treated the other wounds that he had, man they were worse than I thought. A gash on his front leg looked small, but when they had him flipped over and he was struggling a little, you could actually see his elbow inside. They hydrolized (sp?) his wounds and applied an ointment. I didn't know what hydrolizing was, it's flushing it out with a hose and pretty good pressure. We have to do that twice a day until the wounds close to flush out any contaminates. The biggest concern now is infection, if we can keep him from getting infection and sepsis until everything closes up, then we're home free. We moved him to a small area with a deep layer of pine bedding to keep him as clean as possible. He has a tough few weeks ahead of him.

On a related note, I'm glad we went to the vet this time. It was only 125 after everything, which I think is really good, and the drive was nice. We definitely would have been in over our heads trying to treat him ourselves this time. It was kinda like a class for us, we paid close attention to everything and asked a lot of questions. It's one thing reading about how to do something online, but seeing it in person really gave us the experience we needed. Now, if anything similar happens (knock on wood!) we'll take care of it on our own. Everything that the vet did, pretty much anyone could do. The shots he got, all available at the feed store. I was expecting pain meds for him or anesthesia or something, but apparently they don't do that stuff for livestock. They just held him down, cleaned him up, took a razor, and started cutting. So considering that, if you know what you're doing, it's no different than having the procedure done by a vet if you diy. I do hope to gawd though that we will never have to deal with something like this again, which is probably wishful thinking. I was going to take photos of the whole process, but when it actually started I forgot.

Thanks for your help everyone!


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Is wonderful to hear you were able to get him to the Vet and very glad to hear he is on the mend!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

That's great new. I hope he continues to mend.


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## finnsheep (May 23, 2012)

cloverleaf said:


> Well we took him to the vet this morning. They weren't able to save the other testicle, it was ruptured. They ended up cutting everything off, all the way up to his body. They left it open to drain, he said it would get infected if they closed it up. He got some antibiotics, some creme stuff, and a tetnus shot. They also treated the other wounds that he had, man they were worse than I thought. A gash on his front leg looked small, but when they had him flipped over and he was struggling a little, you could actually see his elbow inside. They hydrolized (sp?) his wounds and applied an ointment. I didn't know what hydrolizing was, it's flushing it out with a hose and pretty good pressure. We have to do that twice a day until the wounds close to flush out any contaminates. The biggest concern now is infection, if we can keep him from getting infection and sepsis until everything closes up, then we're home free. We moved him to a small area with a deep layer of pine bedding to keep him as clean as possible. He has a tough few weeks ahead of him.
> 
> On a related note, I'm glad we went to the vet this time. It was only 125 after everything, which I think is really good, and the drive was nice. We definitely would have been in over our heads trying to treat him ourselves this time. It was kinda like a class for us, we paid close attention to everything and asked a lot of questions. It's one thing reading about how to do something online, but seeing it in person really gave us the experience we needed. Now, if anything similar happens (knock on wood!) we'll take care of it on our own. Everything that the vet did, pretty much anyone could do. The shots he got, all available at the feed store. I was expecting pain meds for him or anesthesia or something, but apparently they don't do that stuff for livestock. They just held him down, cleaned him up, took a razor, and started cutting. So considering that, if you know what you're doing, it's no different than having the procedure done by a vet if you diy. I do hope to gawd though that we will never have to deal with something like this again, which is probably wishful thinking. I was going to take photos of the whole process, but when it actually started I forgot.
> 
> Thanks for your help everyone!


I am really glad that he's doing well.

I'd be a wee bit cautious though about thinking that "everything the vet did we could do". Do bear in mind that your vet went through eight years of school post high school- including four years of actual medical school- and probably had years of experience besides. Livestock owners are used to doing many things on their own, but most do not have the knowledge and experience to diagnose and properly treat every single case. In emergencies, when a vet cannot be had, you need to know how to deal with cases, but even with such basic things as suturing you need to know some things to do it right. With relatively minor skin tears and such, it's probably not a big deal, but when you are dealing with things like ruptured organs and torn muscles, it is a vet job.

If you plan on suturing yourself in the future, do get suture materials, not curved quilting needles and thread! It's stronger, less likely to tear and cause infection, and the needles are so much sharper. Learn how to properly tie sutures- it's all in the knotting- and practice before an emergency. Simple interrupted sutures work well for many applications. Don't forget the needle holders. Learn how to hold the needle and holders properly- yes, it makes a big difference!

Do learn everything that you can from every situation, but don't assume that you can deal with the same sort of problem should it happen again...maybe you can, but not necessarily. 

I am not a big fan of antibiotics being so readily available sometimes because so often people self-treat, use the wrong type of antibiotic, the wrong dose, or even use antibiotics for issues that have nothing to do with bacterial infections, like allergies or viruses. The doses that they have on the vial are usually too low for serious infections too. They have to be used with care. 

A yearling ram is probably way too old to banded. Can it be done? Sometimes, but by far cutting is the best way to go. Many sheep (and cattle and goats) are banded far too old. It's not an ideal system even for babies, but it is convenient, so it is quite popular. On young lambs, the scrotum bottom is removed entirely, and the testicles are pulled out one at a time until the cord breaks. On older rams, the bottom of the scrotum is also removed, but generally the cords are tied off or crushed with an emasculator before cutting, to avoid hemorrhage. The cords are usually too big to pull! The incision is left open to allow the wound to drain. Crypt castrations are sometimes partially sutured to facilitate healing, but much is still left open. 

The callicrate banders are an unsatisfactory way to castrate and testicles are very prone to slipping. I can't tell you how many bulls my vet and I have had to re-cut because of botched bandings with this very instrument. 

Analgesics have to be used with caution when it comes to sheep, as they can be sensitive to both local and general anesthesia. If pain control is a concern, especially for inflammation, you can talk to your vet about aspirin or banamine dosages. DO NOT GUESS on these- very dangerous if too much is given, and ineffective if too little is administered.

If you choose to castrate older animals yourself, make sure that you know how to arrest bleeding, where the blood vessels are (it doesn't take long for a sheep to bleed to death), and have things on hand to tie off/crush the blood vessels. It seems simple, but it isn't always in older animals. 

Sheep are superb at hiding symptoms of illness (stoic things that they are) and it is critical to spot symptoms early, especially for infections.

Don't forget to keep the sheep tetanus and other clostridial vaccines up to date.

You did a great job handling this situation and best wishes for a swift recovery and no systemic infection! Keep learning! And maintain a good relationship with your vet. He/she is your best resource and as they are hard to come by, you are fortunate to have a good one. Ask if you have questions and have him teach you how to do these things, and call if you have questions about diagnosing, dosages, etc. Most are very willing to work with you, but they generally don't enjoy having to come over to look at an animal that they can't do anything for, when it could have been treated if they were called 5 days ago...it's a tough job and they really do want their patients to do well!


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