ACUTE CORTISOL RESPONSES OF LAMBS CASTRATED AND DOCKED USING RUBBER RINGS WITH OR WITHOUT A CASTRATION CLAMP

Objective To measure the plasma cortisol response in lambs castrated a nd docked by three different methods (ring castration and tail docking , ring and clamp castration and tail docking; ring and clamp castratio n and ring tail docking) for 4 h after treatment. Design A physiologic al study with controls. Procedure A rubber ring was applied to the scr otum. Then the castration clamp was placed, distal to the ring, on eac h spermatic cord such that there was no overlap of the crush lines. Re sults There were no differences in the cortisol secretion of the lambs castrated and tail docked by the ring only and by the ring plus castr ation clamp methods. Using the castration clamp in addition to the rin g on the tail had no effect on cortisol secretion. Conclusions Using t he castration clamp did not appear to reduce the cortisol response to ring castration and docking, as demonstrated elsewhere, because the ar eas of uncrushed tissue between the two castration clamp crush lines a llowed nociception from ischemic scrotal tissue to be transmitted cran ially via undamaged nerve fibers.