An evaluation of stress responses, simplicity and cost of pinhole castration as an alternative technique for male dog sterilization

Pinhole castration is a novel minimally invasive procedure for calf or kid castration. We evaluated stress, simplicity and costs of the technique in mongrel puppies (N=15). The puppies were divided into three groups: control i.e. not treated; second surgical castration and third pinhole castration. Stress was monitored by daily recording of rectal temperatures and assay of plasma cortisol concentration. Testicular histopathology was used to evaluate effectiveness of the method. Material requirements, costs and length of pinhole or surgical castration cases were compared. Surgery provoked higher febrile and cortisol responses than pinhole castration, however, the responses took longer to resolve in the pinhole treated animals. Each pinhole procedure required: xylazine 2% (0.2ml), syringe, needle and suture (10cm). Surgery meanwhile, required: xylazine 2% (0.2ml), 2 syringes, suture (15cm), razor, surgical blade, antibiotics, antiseptics, cotton and 1 ml ketamine (50mg/ml). Material cost for a surgery case was about thrice a pinhole case. Average time for pinhole was 14 minutes while surgery took about 35 minutes. We concluded that, compared to standard surgical castration, the pinhole technique is, less stressful, quicker, simpler and is a cheaper alternative for male dog sterilization. The technique should, therefore, be popularized in veterinary schools and practices for wider application.