This is the first time I've dealt with this sort of thing so I'm learning as I go. I had my yearling gelded on Thursday. It went smoothly. The vet said to lunge him 20 mins a day for 5 days to keep the swelling down and then he should be good to go. Well on Saturday I came out to exercise him and his sheath was SO swollen and there was a small amount of blood on his back legs. He is super sore and stiff. I took his temp (it was normal) and when I didn't get through to the vet that did the procedure, I texted my journal vet pics and she wasn't concerned. Just said to exercise him more and get him trotting. I only  got a couple steps of trot in over a half hour of walking in the arena. He's so stiff and sore he can't coordinate his little back legs to trot! 

Suday it was the same thing. I walked him around for an hour and couldn't get more than a couple steps of trot. Took his temp again and it was still good. I saw that he was still bleeding a little bit so I called the clinic that did the surgery again and this time spoke to them. Once again they weren't concerned. 

 This morning he's no better. I know the vets aren't worried but I feel SO BAD for the little guy! He's extremely laid back and just doesn't move around a whole lot in his pen normally so I don't think he's getting the circulation and drainage he should. I'm going to take him on several shorter walks today but is there anything else I can do!? I have some Bute less pellets, would those do anything? Help!

Poor little fella, All I can say is make sure hes in a large pen so that he can move around, dont have the water and feed/hay to close together so that way he's going to have to move around, and just do what you are doing as in hand walking him as much as possible, the little bit of blood is normal. The bute less is not worth it, I would get him on real bute so it will get the stiffness out and then he'll want to move around on his own, go to your vet and get some bute paste for him as soon as possible. 

Bump

Run cool water (water hose)  in the area for a few minutes, low pressure- don't spray it just run it at a lower pressure 

Just went through this exact thing recently. After a week of being swelled up ( I was sick and pretty bed ridden for a few days right after the procedure), I got to seriously hustling my colt, riding another horse and getting the colt to move out in the pasture for about 30-40 minutes trotting and loping, then 20 minutes of hydro afterwards. I also hydroed in the mornings too, so 2x day hydro, worked once a day. Did this for 5 days straight. Then rode him on the 6th day (about two weeks post surgery) Also gave him Bute and Uniprim for a week while working him. He's still very minorly swollen, but no longer at the concerning point like he was. 

Note for future use---  when you have a major procedure done on any animal, consult an almanac. They never know anything was done.  

Make sure he's in a large pen so that he can move around.

basketball legends

I had a colt almost bleed to death then have a ton of edema and lost two almost three awesome bull calves the two times I went by the almanac. 

We've gelded a lot of colts.  They have all been different and vets have had different opinions on after care.  Some say stall rest and hand walked a couple times a day, others say turn out 24/7.  Most recent vet put the colt on SMZ's for 7 days, to help with swelling and reduce any risk of infection.  We've always just made sure it wasn't fly season and left them turned out to self exercise and cold hose at least twice a day.  Bute helps bone/structure, banamine helps tissue, if you are going to give pain meds, give banamine.  Minor bleeding is good, you dont want the incisions to close up too soon, they need to drain.  5-7 days seems to be the peak of swelling in all we've done and are usually normal at about 2 weeks.

In all the years that I have colts castrated I have never used the almanac, always have done the castration during the cooler months so I know that there would be no problems with heat and flys, always kept in a large pen, kepted clean and hydro hosed to keep it draining and never had any problems. I knew of a few that did go by the almanac and didnt turn out so well. I just think if taken care of and using common sense you will not have any problems anytime you decide to castrate, but of course all my babys were right there with me I didnt board so I always could keep an eye on them 24/7 and I did use bute when if/needed and it did/does work. I even had 3 older studs castrated one of them was a 8 year old and never ever had a problem. I kept the 8 year old on bute for a few days because of his age I was worry that he would stiffen/stock up on me since he was so much older and he did just fine.

bingo, no magic needed. 

just skill

Totally agree with you streaky Sox, and......it’s not magic

we wean, castrate, plant, prune, etc by the moon whenever possible. Not always an option but first choice if possible and of course, the best vet possible

agree with another post, should see improvement after day 5 to 7, increase movement and hydro in the meantime. Best wishes 

Just my thoughts on the almanac . When I was showing dobermans, I took the female I was going to keep from a breeding I did to the vet for her ear crop. This vet was amazing with ears & did all the show dogs in calif who had cropped ears. When I picked up Thea he said she bled quite a bit but he felt the moon wasn't right. I was like, well ok. Later on I found out why thea bled so bad. She had vonwillabrans which is a hereditary bleeding disorder in dobermans. The clotting time is not normal.  And yes she was tested & it was confirmed she had it. So while the vet who cropped her was a wonderful vet & the best at what he did, his theroy of the moon wasn't right & thats why she bled was total b.s. I have never had a problem with gelding any of my colts. The last one I had done last year was a yearling, which I prefer to wait until they are 2, but his little friends talked to much, so I talked to my vet & she decided his age was fine. Sure he swelled a little, but there was no problem. He was turned out with his buddy & never stalled. I don't like stalling one after being gelded. I agree with others they need to be turned out into a safe, confined area. 

While at the vet pick you up some SMZ to put in his feed or PEN G to give 5 shots of 20cc over 5 days and some Fura Zone to put on surgery site after gentle hydro treatment.   This will give your horse some help on healing. 

NO FORCED EXERCISE .. walk him like a buddy and just mosey around 1-2 times a day .. <30mins

You are dealing with preventing an infection and increasing blood to the area of the endema .. only the body can diminish the endema in the area it is due to surgery. 

Good common sense advice below .. 

Can you bring him back to the vet and have them check the castration site? I know you said you've called them multiple times and they don't seem concerned, but at some point I'd be like I am not comfortable with how this looks, I want a veterinarian to look at it.. and they should look at it. Usually, yes, they would have a fever with it.. but never say never.  

My vet even marked his calendar. He dealt mainly with horses off the track. I plant by the calendar and everything else. My horses don't swell or bleed or anything. Japanese Airlines uses a system called biorhythms that is based on the moon very much like the almanac.  They have the safest flying record of any airline in the world. You should read about it. Not quite the same but very interesting. 

How is your colt now?

Random- but I have VonWillebrands disease, too. I have to base surgeries, dietary needs to keep my iron up, etc based on a woman's time of the month.... isn't that kinda like the moon cycle?? Should I be consulting the almanac for myself?? LOL