HOUSTON -- A doctor told a jury Wednesday that a baby whose mother is on trial for the removal of his genitals will never lead a normal life, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Harris County prosecutors said Katherine Nadal, 28, was high on drugs when she mutilated her then-5-week-old son, Holden Gothia, in March 2007 at their apartment on El Dorado Boulevard in Webster.

Nadal's attorneys said their client didn't harm her son and blame the attack on the family dog: a 7-pound, black-and-tan miniature dachshund.

Dr. Kevin Patrick Lally, chairman of the pediatric surgery department at the University of Texas Medical School, led the surgical team that operated on Holden at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Lally told jurors that Holden was near death and lost about half of the blood in his body when a major vein was severed. He said Holden was in "incredible" pain while being injured.

He testified that he had treated numerous dog bites and Holden's injuries were not consistent with one. Lally said the injury appeared to have been created by "something sharp."

Lally said Holden's injury may prevent his left leg from developing normally because of lost blood flow. He said the left leg could end up being as much as 6 inches shorter than the right leg.

Holden will have to have hormone injections for his entire life and will never be able to conceive a child, Lally said. He said extensive reconstructive surgery is also needed.

During the doctor's testimony, a photograph of the baby's wound was passed around for jurors. As they looked at it, Nadal began crying at the defense table.

Also on Wednesday, Patches DeShazo tearfully described to jurors the day her infant nephew was mutilated. Rushing to the hospital with her her family, she learned the baby's genitals had been severed.

She said Nadal did not appear upset, but later appeared to be intoxicated as she tried to walk down a hospital hallway.

DeShazo choked up as she described going to Nadal's apartment the next day and seeing a bloody comforter on the bed.

Crime scene investigator L. R. Verbitskey showed the comforter to the jury.

He also described finding partially washed bed sheets in the apartment's washing machine the next day.

Verbitskey made a second trip to the apartment a week later when DeShazo noticed a pair of shears missing from a kitchen knife block. They were found in a basket in the apartment bathroom.

Nadal was the only one home with her son when he was injured.

The defense said in opening statements Monday that no knife or cutting instrument was ever found and that Nadal's story has been consistent from the first day.

Prosecutors said Holden's blood was not found on the dog and there was no evidence that it ingested human tissue. Holden's severed body parts were never found.

Holden survived and is now 2 years old and is living with a paternal aunt and uncle. He was said to be happy and healthy.

Nadal and Camden Gothia have given up their parental rights.

It is not known if Holden will receive the surgery needed to reconstruct his genitals. The procedures could cost millions of dollars and Medicaid has said it will not cover it because it is considered to be cosmetic.

Nadal faces up to life in prison if convicted of injury to a child, a first-degree felony.