In 2012, about 1.3 million boars were surgically castrated, most of them without anaesthesia. Castration is performed to avoid the occurrence of boar taint and aggressive and sexual behaviour. There is a growing concern about the welfare of the piglets and the Swedish Board of Agriculture is working to find efficient and functional alternatives to castration without anaesthesia. The aim of this study was to obtain an overall picture of the latest research about the alternatives to castration without anaesthesia, with focus on vaccination against boar taint, and how they affect the welfare of the pigs. The alternative methods that are available today are Surgical castration with anaesthesia and/or analgesia, rearing entire males and vaccination against boar taint.

Castration of dogs holds many reasons and opinions, therefore methods, traditions and rea-sons vary. The approaches have during time changed from mostly Surgical castrations to also including hormonal treatments. Castration is used to control the dog's reproductive abilities, for medical reasons and to possibly rectify problems of behavioral nature. How common a particular method of castration is in a country is highly dependent on the country's traditions. In Sweden it is most common with castration for medical reasons, such as possible elimina-tion of diseases, for example, benign colorectal tumors.

In this work we have compiled results from various studies concerning medical conditions that may possibly be avoided by castration and the effects that may occur after castration of the healthy bitch. The work is a literature review but it also includes a summary on the age recommendations for castration of the healthy bitch, castration before or after the first heat and the castration method most commonly used of ovariohysterectomy and ovariectomy. The summary is based on a questionnaire answered by personnel from 20 veterinary clinics and animal hospitals evenly distributed throughout Sweden.The summary showed that ovariohysterectomy was the most common method of castration and the recommendation in age ranged from 6-12 months. Regarding castration before or after the first heat 75% of the veterinary clinics and animal hospitals answered that they recommended castration after the first heat. Literature study shows that there are both advantages and disadvantages of castration of the healthy bitch and that it therefore is important that each bitch get a personal and individual evaluation before a decision is taken concerning a castration..

The aim of this study was to measure the castration coverage and the attitudes among people towards castration in an area in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, where a castration program has been running for a few years. Another aim was to review the literature to examine the link between castration coverage and rabies prevalence. Two areas (Area 25 and Area 23) in Lilongwe were studied through standardized household interviews. In Area 25, a non-governmental organization had been castrating dogs weekly to twice weekly for free for 3 years. In Area 23, no official organization had done castrations, and this area therefore acted as a control in the study.

Pseudopregnancy is a condition that is estimated to affect 40 % of all female dogs. Common symptoms are decreased activity level, weight gain, mammary enlargement, milk production, nesting behavior, anorexia and maternal behavior. The symptoms are displayed during metoestrus. Prolactin is one of the causes behind pseudopregnancy, but the full process is not yet known. Due to the fact that the condition affects that many bitches and often is recurrent, it is relevant to examine how the condition affects the bitch?s behavior and performance.

Pigs kept for meatproduction are often surgically castrated to prevent aggression and boartainted meat. Castration without analgesia and anesthesia is painful and causes a lot of stress to the pig. There are alternatives such as to surgically castrate the male pigs with analgesia and/or with anesthesia, immunocastrate or keep them as intact males. In Sweden the most common practice is to surgically castrate the pigs before they are seven days old. The impact on the pig is that the incision causes pain and stress, which may lead to changes in behaviour, reduced appetite, reduced growth and a higher risk of infections.

Active immunization against gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is an alternative to Surgical castration of male pigs to avoid boar taint. The aim of this study, including 128 pigs, was to evaluate the effect of a GnRH-vaccine Improvac® on performance and on social and sexual behaviour. Male pigs were assigned to three treatments; Surgical castration at four days of age, immunization against GnRH and no castration. Vaccination was performed eight and four weeks before slaughter. Surgically castrated male pigs had significantly lower daily weight gain during the suckling period than entire male pigs (235 vs.

BACKGROUND Until 1988, it was forbidden to neuter male dogs in Sweden without a veterinary medical cause, so there is clearly no long tradition of this procedure in healthy dogs. According to the website of The Swedish Kennel Club (SKK), February 11, 2011, there has been an increase of castrated male dogs in Sweden. They see this increase as worrying, especially in cases of the less common breeds, where it is most important to maintain the gene pool. The SKK expresses concern that castration is used as a tool to influence the personality of dogs, instead of training and education of the dog. They write that castration should be preceded by a discussion initiated by the veterinarian, where the pros and cons of castration are weighed against each other.

The study investigates the use of collection and treatment wagon for piglets in relation to castration. The importance of good and ergonomically designed tools in pig stables can probably reduce the risk of suffering from musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). During the last 20 years the number of pig farms has decreased and at the same time the herd sizes and the number of pig keepers have increased (Statistic Sweden (SCB) 2007). As a consequence, the pig keepers have more pigs to take care of, treat and neuter and spend more of their daily work in these large confinements. This also means that the repetitive work e.g.

Background:In Sweden there are several thousand surgical procedures performed every day. The treatment is expected to be efficient, profitable and safe. Despite that, complications occur in 3-16 % of the surgical procedures. To prevent this, WHO has developed a surgical safety checklist containing safety issues to give the surgery team an opportunity to a last control that everything has been properly done. The profession of the surgical nurse focuses mainly on patient safety especially regarding hygiene and sterility.Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate and describe the perceptions of the perioperative nurses regarding WHO: s surgical safety checklist.Method:To test the suitability of the method a pilot study was performed where tree operating room nurses were interviewed and the data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis.Results: Four categories emerged; Increased patient safety, enhanced team spirit, good planning, stronger professional role.Discussion: The result from the study showed positive perceptions regarding the surgical safety checklist, a fact known from earlier research.Conclusion: The results of the pilot study showed that surgical nurses had good support in their work when the surgical safety checklist was used..

This degree project aims to evaluate alternative methods to the unanaesthetized castration of piglets. Castration of piglets is performed to prevent the development of boar taint. Boar taint can cause great financial losses for the pig manufacturer. Unanaesthetized castration of piglets is not regarded to be satisfactory from an animal welfare perspective and the procedure will for that reason be outlawed in the near future.Several alternative methods are used in countries all over the world with promising result. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if this methods could be applied in Swedish pig production.A literature study has been combined with interviews; field studies, questionnaires and a small study on male pig production.To be applicable to and applied in Swedish pig production the alternative method must be financially accepted by the manufacturers but also accepted from an animal welfare perspective.Castration is the only way to guarantee a meat free of boar taint.

The aim of this study was to investigate the intraoperative surgical stress response in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy and to compare acepromazine and medetomidine as premedications. 15 dogs diagnosed with pyometra were used in this study. Blood pressure and heart rate were used as parameters to measure surgical stress response. The surgery was divided into four phases. Phase 0 was the period 10 minutes before the skin incision, phase 1 was skin incision and opening of abdomen, phase 2 was manipulation of uterine horns, ligation and transection of mesovarium and phase 3 was ligation of cervix, removal of organs and closing the abdomen. The results showed that phase 2 was the most intense phase of surgical stress, regardless of which premedication the dogs received. When acepromazine and medetomidine were compared the results showed that within phase 3, all dogs that were given medetomidine had higher blood pressure compared to dogs that were given acepromazine. The dogs that were given acepromazine had higher heart rate than the dogs that were given medetomidine in phase 0, phase 2 and phase 3. .

The castration of piglets is performed routinely all around the world. Most castrations are done without anaesthesia and analgesia, despite the fact that this procedure has been proved to induce acute pain and stress for the piglets. The procedure regarding castration of piglets is currently a hot topic of debate and an important political issue. The underlying issue is the boar taint which are highlighted in the heating of the meat after slaughter, which in turn can lead to reduced meat sales as it can be perceived as unpleasant for many consumers. The purpose of this study is to examine alternative drugs which may be selected in order to replace the practice of castration of piglets without anaesthesia, in light of improved animal welfare.

Introduction: On the surgical wards in most hospitals in Sweden patients with different surgical needs are cared for. Patients with gastrointestinal conditions are, for example, nurtured alongside patients with urological disorders or patients in need of observation for head trauma. When the nurse, in addition to these patients, have to care for patients with palliative care needs can be perceived as problematic for nurse and patient alike.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore nurses' perceptions of care for patients with palliative care needs on an acute surgical ward, based on a person-centered perspective.Method: A focus group interview was conducted with the strategic selection of nurses from two acute surgical wards in a county hospital in western Sweden. The data from the interview were analyzed with qualitative directed, deductive content analysis with person-centered care as a theoretical framework. The theoretical background shows that person-centered care includes partnership, participation and structured documentation.Results: The results of this study show that even a fourth category, organization, emerged and needed to be reported.

Hundreds of thousands of piglets are castrated without anesthesia in Sweden every year so that we may be guaranteed meat without boar odor. The smell appears while cooking meat of boar and is described as urine- and sweat-like. High levels of androstenone and skatole are considered the main factors behind boar odor. Skatole is a metabolite of the amino acid tryptophan, which is formed in the colon of all pigs. Androstenone is a steroid hormone that is released from the Leydig cells in the testes of boars.