Capon procedure question.

[Mia_]

I have seen a few threads on Capons and did not want to hijack anyone's thread. How is the capon procedure different from ovaroectomies in rats? It looks to be very much the same. I have done a lot of those and in the process, [rant] found out what a useless and abusive practice to do the whole spaying procedure. Why do we do it? We don't want our animals to have missing patches of fur on their sides, so we put them through an extensive, invasive surgery that takes them 7-10 days to recover from, instead of overnight. [/rant] Back to the topic, is there anyone with enough knowledge of both procedures to comment?

 

[Stacykins]

The HUGE difference between the two procedures is that spaying rats is done to prevent mammary tumors, thus hopefully prolonging their lifespan and to keep them from breeding. You can keep a spayed female rat with an intact male, if you so choose.

Cockerels are caponized to reduce rooster aggressive and so they grow differently so they can be EATEN. Rats aren't spayed to be eaten.

You know, my sister had her female rats spayed at the vet's at a young age to prevent mammary tumors when they get old. 7-10 days are your recovery time? It sounds like you are doing the procedure yourself, which is likely why it is cruel since you don't have the proper experience, anesthetics, or pain relievers for post surgery. My sister's rats had one tiny incision and were back to normal within a day.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
Having a male "fixed" is much more humane and easier on the animal, but for some reason many pet owners seem to think spaying is "fine" while neutering is "cruel."

But back to the subject, yes, it's to have a better eating bird. But it's not used so much now that we have Cornish X's.

 

[Mia_]

When I did the surgery on the rats in the afternoon, the recovery time was overnight, when I did it in the morning, they were all good by the afternoon. When I got my cat spayed, the vet said 7-10 days.

The HUGE difference between the two procedures is that spaying rats is done to prevent mammary tumors, thus hopefully prolonging their lifespan and to keep them from breeding. You can keep a spayed female rat with an intact male, if you so choose.

So, I cannot keep my capon with my hens?

I would expect that you would see a "HUGE" difference in the procedure for an ectopic pregnancy, and a woman getting her tubes tied.

It sounds like you are doing the procedure yourself, which is likely why it is cruel since you don't have the proper experience, anesthetics, or pain relievers for post surgery.

Cruel? Having an 6-12 hour recovery time? Let's see. I worked for one of the best vet schools in the country. I was doing the surgerys for 5 different researchers because I was the best at it and had the quickest recovery times. There were inspectors from AALAS that came in and watched me do the surgery. If I was doing anything incorrectly, since the school could lose it's certification because if it, I really would have heard about it.

Again, are there people with knowledge of both procedures that would care to comment?

Edited to add:

Yes, the procedures I am referring to are for very different reasons. The surgery on rats was to make them post-menopausal and the surgery on the rooster is because we cannot have roosters. When leasing land, they allow steers not bulls, and geldings not stallions.​