CHENNAI: It takes 10 attendants and four veterinarians minimum to handle a moo-heavy emergency. And that’s not counting a hydraulic lift-cum-operation table that can accommodate up to 1.5 tonnes — at a recently constructed Cattle and large animal operation theatre in the city.
The facility, set up at a cost `11 lakh at the Blue Cross of India in Velachery, has already been privy to close to 40 surgeries since March. This includes patients ranging from cows and buffaloes to calves, heifers and pigs. Incidentally, a majority of these surgeries on cattle were neither to remedy hit-and-run accident cases or illnesses.
“The most common surgery we do on cattle is to remove foreign bodies from the stomach of the animal, like plastic, metal and garbage in general. It’s called a rumenotomy (emptying of the first stomach or rumen),” says Dr R Siva, chief veterinarian, Blue Cross. To give us an idea of how serious the problem is, he adds, “Some cattle are brought to us after consuming up to 50 kg of plastic.” In fact, there’s a section of the surgical theatre dedicated just to showcase interesting items that have been discovered after similar surgeries. “So far this covers everything from nails and glass pieces to a gold pendulum!” offers Siva.
The highlight of the operation theatre of course is the aforementioned hydraulic lifting and position operation table that is six feet long and four feet wide. A member of staff let’s on that this was originally meant for cars, but was modified on request to suit the cattle requirement!
The cattle and large animal operation theatre has been sponsored as a part of the CSR initiative of the Bank of Maharashtra, and will be inaugurated by zonal officer R C Mishra today.
Cattle surgeries cost anywhere been `5,000 and `7,000 per patient. To contribute, contact 22354959.