Calcium chloride for Male Dogs

Non-surgical fertility control…new solutions are coming into view.

Calcium chloride neutering for male animals

The use of intratesticular injections of calcium chloride for sterilization of male animals has been documented for decades. It is safe, convenient, inexpensive and non-toxic to those handling it.    Calcium chloride is a desiccant that necrotizes testicular tissue in male animals.

Is calcium chloride neutering permanent?

Testicular and epididymis pathology was performed on 14 dogs 3-30 days post injection.

  1. The testis showed inflammatory response with mineralization, fibrosis, and tubular degeneration leading to necrosis.
  2. Epididymides showed similar inflammation, mineralization, and fibroplasia leading to necrosis of the tissue.
  3. No data currently suggests that a regeneration of tissue occurs once a dog is castrated with calcium chloride in ethyl alcohol.

Does calcium chloride reduce testosterone?

According to research (http://www.actavetscand.com/content/56/1/62), the reduction of testosterone has been shown to be significant.

Is calcium chloride safe for employees or volunteers who may come in contact with it?

Only pharmaceutical grade ingredients are used for non-surgical castration.  However calcium chloride (commercially sold as pickling salt), in ethyl alcohol (commercially sold as drinking alcohol), is not caustic and can be safely cleaned off of hands with soap and water.

How affordable is calcium chloride castration?

The two ingredients that make up this compound, calcium chloride and ethyl alcohol, are too common to be patented.  The ingredients are low cost and are as available to a veterinarian in a developing nation as they are to a veterinarian in the UK or the USA. The availability brings a ground breaking solution to the places where it is needed most and it helps to level the playing field between underserved communities and those with greater resources.

In a dog requiring an average 1.5 ml calcium chloride per testicle, the cost of calcium chloride, needles and syringes, drugs for sedation, a rabies vaccine, parasite treatment and a tattoo that shows the dog has been neutered can cost under USD$4.  The cost of drugs for sedation varies between drugs, and the cost of the rabies vaccine reflects the prices in the many programs offered to non-profit organizations.

What are the benefits to using calcium chloride in remote area programs?

Globally most free roaming dogs are male, with an 80 percent to 20 percent ratio of males to females noted in Zambia.  Programs providing spay/neuter surgeries do not come close to meeting the level of need that exists in underserved nations.

Because the dogs are mildly sedated only for a few minutes, recovery  is shortened, therefore programs may be extended into times of year in which surgery would often be avoided.

In programs in which animals are normally transported to and from the clinic site, the male dogs and cats can be neutered in their own communities, saving space on crowded transport vehicles.

 

 

Dr H and Vanessa assist with non-surgical dog sterilization

 

SpayFirst performs non-surgical sterilization and neutering on cats and dogs

Calcium chloride: a video for veterinarians.  This video shows the use of compounded calcium chloride dihydrate for non-surgical castration of male dogs.  Use of compounded drugs must be carried out in accordance with state or province regulations and with a valid Veterinary Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) in place.  Technique modified from earlier research by Kuladip Jana, Prabhat K Samanta and Raffaella Leoci.

 

Non-surgical sterilization can stop the suffering. We can turn fear into compassion and make a lasting difference for animals and the communities they live in.

 

 

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