SECURING ANIMALS FOR OPERATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3415, 29 August 1919, Page 11

SECURING ANIMALS FOR OPERATION.

In the Canterbury Agricultural College' Magazine Veterinarian Surgeon A. A. Johnson, F.R.C.V.S., contributes a few notes on suitable methods of securing animals on the farm for examination or operation. He by no means, as he points out, exhausts - all the various different methods, but writes with the view that every farmer should bo conversant with one, at least, for securing each animal on the form. When deciding to examine manually, or to perform an operation upon an animal, tlio pat-ent must be secured so as to prevent injury to itself, to the operator, or to his assistants, and to enable the particular aeld of operation to he placed in the most convenient snd accessible position. bomo methods of restraint are abused, chief amongst them being “ the twitch, which, in its simplest form is merely a. rounded, pices of wood from Ift to several feet in length, and of varying thickness, with a hole at one end through which a piece of cord is passed to forpa a loop large enough to easily admit the hand. This is applied by seizing and drawing forward the upper lip within the loop, and the tissues are compressed by twisting the hand.©, thus producing a greater or lesser degree of pain, which* attracts the attention of.the horso from the operation or examination. , a no use of this instrument too frequently is productive of rervousness. and a horse is often very difficult to handle about the head if he lias experienced th is _ restraint _ many times. Another method is to deprive tho horse of the use of one fore limb by strapping one foreleg up: the leg is well flexed at the knee, a complete turn taken round the pastern with a stirrup leather and then around the forearm, buckling tight. lor young animals this is quite a good method, and after they have lunged a few times they will often allow themselves to be handled with ease and safety. In operations about the hind quarteis, or to enable manual examinations to be safely carried out without casting the horse, tho side line is a most valuaole means of restraint. This consists-of about 20ft of rope with a loop at one end. which is placed around the pastern of a hind limb, thence forward between the forelegs, across tho d ost and over tho opposite -shoulder down to tho elbow on tho same side as the secured limb, then passed around the first portion of the rope a few times and held firmly. Bv this means the hind limb .3 drawn forward, and the horse obliged to support himself on one hind leg, which is therefore rendered practically immobile for th° time being, and any examination of tho hind ouarters can lie safely carried out. The "same object can bo attained by nttin<r a neck rope or strap like a collar and drawing forward the hind leg to that. When it is necessary to force the horse to assume the recumbent position, there are many ways of procedure, soma being peculiar to certain districts. One of the most usual and probably the easiest method or eastino- is that designated “the double sido line.” 0 For this, about 30ft of rope is required which shou’d be strong, but pliable. This rope is doubled, and then tied m a single knot about 2ft or 3ft from the bend so ns to form a collar. For safety this should be secured to a rope surcmglv placed around tho chest like a girth ; pass the ends of the rope between the fore limbs, back around ths liincl limbs (above the hocks) from without inwards, cross beneath tno former rope on returning the free end to. nass through the collar or neck rope. After dropping each rope into the heels of the bind limbs, two or three assistants pull on each rope at a given signal, the. hind limbs are drawn forward, and the horse is easily thrown upon either side, the rones are then secured to the neck rope and the surcingle, and tho fore limbs may be tied by haltera

or by tho same rope. By replacing the knot of the collar picco on the withers the surcingle may be omitted, and the ropes do not then pass between the fore limbs. To cast the cow for examination or operation a very simplo method may be employed, and ifc i 3 usual to apply the noseclamps, which is an instrument applied to the septum nasi, which it compresses, and enables tho animal to bo more readily controlled, acting on the same principle as the nose twitch on the horso. A rope aboit 30ft in length, with a loop at one end, is taken and placed around the horns, then passed along the neck, around the base of ■which a turn is taken, then over the ■withers, making a turn round tho flanks. An assistant (or two) then steadily pulls on the end of tlio rope, which, as it becomes tightened, compresses the cow's body, and in about one minuto the cow lies down

(iiiotly, and tho legs can be secured if necessary by a halter. The ''double "side line," as described for casting equines, may also be used for cattle, but it is usually necessary to keep the ropes above the fetlock joints. In all cases it is necessary to firmly control the head. The dog must be carefully handled, owing to the liabality of injury from bites, and this can readliy be prevented by passing a strong tape around the jaws and tying behind the ears, thereby preventing the jaws being opened. An operating table is easily improvised, to which the dog may be secured in any position, by providing four pieces of looped) tape as hobbles and the fixing to two hooks placed at each end of ther table beneath its edge, or even by tying around the table legs.