Launi's Gelding Ordeal

DreamCatcher Rabulaun

(Rabu Farwa x FV Farrubi)

born 5/16/2005, chestnut arabian

On Nov 23rd I woke up thinking it was time to have Launi gelded. It wasn't a sudden decision, just the day I finally made it. I'd been contemplating gelding him for some time. It had been a war of emotions because Launi has a rare pedigree grouping & was the last known breeding stallion of his particular sireline. I knew I was doing a disservice to his bloodlines if I gelded him. On the other hand, I had dreams of riding him & having him as my best friend. He has such a big personality & we suit each other so well that I knew we'd have fun, & it's been a long time since I've "clicked" with a horse so well. If gelded I could take Launi everywhere with me & no longer have to read the fine print "No Stallions Allowed". Nov 23rd was just the day I realized having fun with him was more important to me than breeding his pedigree forward. I called UCDavis & got an appointment for the next morning.

Launi is so good sometimes that he surprises me. He's always been a challenge & I never know when he's going to be agreeable or when he's going to challenge me. Tue's morning he was an angel. He hopped right in the trailer, in the dark & we were out the drive by 6am. Two hours later we were at UCD. Our appointment was for 9am & upon arrival I was told Launi's surgery had been bumped to 2pm. It was going to be a long day. I had opted for surgery on the table under general anesthesia because Launi was well developed & I wanted to be safe. We hung out in a stall with vet students coming & going, drawing blood & prepping him for surgery. Word came that we were scheduled for 12:30. I found out a llama had bumped us from our 9am slot. Imagine that, Launi bumped by a llama!

Launi's a big boy for an arab.

At 4 yrs he's already 15.3 & hit the scale at 1067lbs, & he carries no extra weight because he's in a growth spurt again. His surgical vet is an endurance rider & he was very impressed with Launi. And I think a little surprised as well because when he came to talk to me after surgery, he kept saying Launi was a BIG boy. Fortunately I'd made the decision to have Launi gelded at UCD under surgical conditions. He required quite a few stitches to close off the abdominal/scrotal opening, as well as the seminal cord. I would have lost him if I'd chosen to have him done locally, laying on the lawn as is the usual procedure. Unfortunately for me the vet recommended Launi staying overnight. So I left UCD at 4pm to return the next morning.

I was at UCD by 8:10 the next morning. I couldn't wait to get Launi home. He had some minor swelling but was in otherwise good shape. He was only too happy to hop in the trailer to get home. For the next few days I hand walked & lunged at a trot to keep the swelling down & to keep the incision site draining, neither of which happened. Poor Launi swelled a little more each day. When I got home from work on Mon he was so swollen his penis couldn't retract completely. In a panic, I called his UCD resident vet. She insisted that I take him to a local vet to be opened & drained. No way was I doing that & I told her I had no local vet. I asked if I should give him antibiotics & she said he'd been on them all week already. WHAT?! I informed her Launi had been on NO antibiotics & she got rude, insisting that I had been given antibiotics to give him. I was so mad she's lucky she's was 80 miles away. Needless to say we were on the road by 6am Tue, heading back to UCD.

When the resident vet came out, I informed her that I had the discharge orders & there was NO mention of antibiotics. At that point she became contrite & apologized because she's spoken with the surgical vet & learned that no antibiotics were prescribed. She was extremely, overly nice that day. Because very few new geldings come back with complications, 3 vets & numerous students came to see Launi. It took an ultrasound to find a trapped pocket of fluid. It seems Launi had healed inside more rapidly than normally happens, not allowing drainage. Not only did the vets have to reopen his surgical site, they elongated it so the fluid that was building in his sheath could drain. The surgical vet said the penis & sheath needed to be massaged into place to force drainage & correct positioning. He was skeptical that Launi would allow that at home without sedation. I assured him that I would have no problems because I had been doing that very thing Mon night. Sometimes Launi can be amazing at his cooperativeness. We left UCD just before 11am, this time WITH antibiotics, bute & instructions to lunge at a trot for 15 mins 3 times a day, followed by cold hosing. I was to do whatever it took to keep the incision open. Now, 4 days later, Launi is healing normally & is no more swollen than any incision should be. Of course now that he's feeling better, he's back to his ornery, challenging, lovable self.

Poor Launi, not only was he castrated, he had to have an episiotomy!