Bulls Horns Are Growing Into His Eyes.

I got called out to work on this bull because both of his horns were growing into his face near his eyes. This would have been a straightforward job. If I had access to a good working chute, I could have restrained him, tied his head to the side, and trimmed both horns. But I don’t usually get called when things are easy. In this case, there wasn’t a working chute available, and the existing pens weren’t capable of safely restraining a 2,000-pound bull. So I chose a different approach. I lightly sedated him, trimmed both horns, and then reversed the sedation. The entire process was calm, controlled, and low stress for both the bull and everyone involved. When I describe cases like this, people sometimes imagine a dangerous, dramatic event. Others will say, “Why didn’t you just rope him and tie him to a tree?” Let me clear the air on that. I’m not a cowboy. I’m not going to rope and wrestle a 2,000-pound bull. I’m a nerd. I know anatomy. I know pharmacology. I know animal behavior. My job is to use that knowledge to make procedures like this as safe and as low-stress as possible. Watch how calmly this big guy goes down, gets his horns trimmed, wakes up, and walks right back to join the herd. #TheWildlifeVet #DrSamWilkinson #Veterinarian #Cattle #Vetstudent