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Advice on Spaying a six year old piggy

@VickiA thank you for this advice! This is my first time experience of post op care, so want to do as much research prior so it goes as smoothly as possible. I'll give those guides a read. And Honey does not use the ramps in the cage so would it be okay to leave these alone and give Willow that space to get away?
In terms of work my contracted hours are only 8, so my work place is very flexible if I need to sack off my overtime. Usually how long should I take off work? Obviously it's different for every pig, would a week be sufficient in most cases?
 
dannif_piggies said:
@VickiA thank you for this advice! This is my first time experience of post op care, so want to do as much research prior so it goes as smoothly as possible. I'll give those guides a read. And Honey does not use the ramps in the cage so would it be okay to leave these alone and give Willow that space to get away?
In terms of work my contracted hours are only 8, so my work place is very flexible if I need to sack off my overtime. Usually how long should I take off work? Obviously it's different for every pig, would a week be sufficient in most cases?
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Is she is not using the ramps, you can leave them. I would consider switching to having the hay on newspaper on the fleece for the first two days if you have hay trays or hay corners with an edge. Leave your two bonded girls together as much as possible.
 
Wiebke said:
Is she is not using the ramps, you can leave them. I would consider switching to having the hay on newspaper on the fleece for the first two days if you have hay trays or hay corners with an edge. Leave your two bonded girls together as much as possible.
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Okay thank you for your advice once again, I really appreciate it!
 
I can't add further to the advice given but I wanted to wish you and Honey all the best. I hope the operation goes smoothly
 
Lady Kelly said:
I can't add further to the advice given but I wanted to wish you and Honey all the best. I hope the operation goes smoothly
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Thank you so much, I will be booking to operation this afternoon once I have finished at work, I'm sure I'll keep this thread updated. Thank you for everyone's support 😊 Let's keep our fingers crossed!
 
dannif_piggies said:
@VickiA thank you for this advice! This is my first time experience of post op care, so want to do as much research prior so it goes as smoothly as possible. I'll give those guides a read. And Honey does not use the ramps in the cage so would it be okay to leave these alone and give Willow that space to get away?
In terms of work my contracted hours are only 8, so my work place is very flexible if I need to sack off my overtime. Usually how long should I take off work? Obviously it's different for every pig, would a week be sufficient in most cases?
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A day or 2 off work should be enough. But it just depends on the piggy.
My slowest spay recovery was from Poppy who, after 48 hours was making no effort to feed herself, and was entirely reliant on syringe feeding. So on day 3 and with the vets blessing I lessened the volume offered and had herbs and grass out with her so she could nibble on her favourite foods as well as the syringe feed. And I left longer between feeds to make her less “full”. By day 4 she was feeding herself with just a bedtime “top up”. Think she’s got a bit of a “victim” mentality.
My fastest recovery was Holly - collected from vets at 5pm. Syringe feed at 7pm, again at about 10.30. Got up at 1am and she was chomping on hay, reluctant to take the syringe feedbut took some. Got up again about 4am. She had about 1ml only, hand fed her veg and herbs and she went back in the cage and ate pellets in front of me. And she completely refused any syringe feeding after that. Holly is Little Miss Feisty and hugely independent. So no surprises there really.
I think as long as you’re prepared with syringe feed, herbs, treats etc and you accept that you’re going to have a couple of disturbed nights doing feeds until she’s better then you and she will be fine. They look very sorry for themselves but only for a very short period of time.
 
VickiA said:
A day or 2 off work should be enough. But it just depends on the piggy.
My slowest spay recovery was from Poppy who, after 48 hours was making no effort to feed herself, and was entirely reliant on syringe feeding. So on day 3 and with the vets blessing I lessened the volume offered and had herbs and grass out with her so she could nibble on her favourite foods as well as the syringe feed. And I left longer between feeds to make her less “full”. By day 4 she was feeding herself with just a bedtime “top up”. Think she’s got a bit of a “victim” mentality.
My fastest recovery was Holly - collected from vets at 5pm. Syringe feed at 7pm, again at about 10.30. Got up at 1am and she was chomping on hay, reluctant to take the syringe feedbut took some. Got up again about 4am. She had about 1ml only, hand fed her veg and herbs and she went back in the cage and ate pellets in front of me. And she completely refused any syringe feeding after that. Holly is Little Miss Feisty and hugely independent. So no surprises there really.
I think as long as you’re prepared with syringe feed, herbs, treats etc and you accept that you’re going to have a couple of disturbed nights doing feeds until she’s better then you and she will be fine. They look very sorry for themselves but only for a very short period of time.
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Thank you for this message, I guess I'll just have to take each day as it comes, she is a big eater so I'm hoping her appetite won't be lost too much 🤞
 
Today's the day 😷 I feel sick with worry 😰 Thank you everyone that's given me their advice and supported me through this decision, I actually don't know what I would've done without this forum... just got to keep our fingers and piggy toes crossed that everything goes as planned... and if she doesn't pull through, it wasn't meant to be. Somehow I think this is gonna be the longest day of my life... thank you once again guys, I'll post updates if anyone if interested ❣️
 
dannif_piggies said:
Today's the day 😷 I feel sick with worry 😰 Thank you everyone that's given me their advice and supported me through this decision, I actually don't know what I would've done without this forum... just got to keep our fingers and piggy toes crossed that everything goes as planned... and if she doesn't pull through, it wasn't meant to be. Somehow I think this is gonna be the longest day of my life... thank you once again guys, I'll post updates if anyone if interested ❣️
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All the best to you and your piggy, I really hope it all goes smoothly - everything crossed for you! Update us all later :) xx
 
Wishing you all the best today and a speedy recovery for your piggy x
 
DizzyD95 said:
All the best to you and your piggy, I really hope it all goes smoothly - everything crossed for you! Update us all later :) xx
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EJMA82 said:
Wishing you all the best today and a speedy recovery for your piggy x
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Thank you for your wishes...

Ive just dropped her off, got out the doors and burst out crying, I just hope she's okay 😰 Thank you all once more ❣️❣️
 
Long story short, Honey hasn't had her operation today, there was an emergency case where they are trying to save a dogs life and so she will be having the operation on Monday, so the worry continues! I guess updates continue on Monday
 
I dear.
You get yourself all psyched up and then nothing.
Well - we will just have to hold you in thought all weekend and on Monday.
Hope they managed to save the dog.
 
Merab's Slave said:
I dear.
You get yourself all psyched up and then nothing.
Well - we will just have to hold you in thought all weekend and on Monday.
Hope they managed to save the dog.
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Yeah, longest 4 hours of my life and it's got us anywhere, but never mind, I can't be annoyed, if it was my dog I would want it to be prioritised over Honey, just need to be understandable in a scenario like this... and they said they could be still operating on the dog until 4, so it seems pretty bad 😰
She's now sitting munching on some hay, her poops were a bit soggy, think she's had too many veggies 😂 wasn't expecting the vets to have fed her veggies until after her operation but looks like they fed them to her whilst she waited 😂
 
Relax and enjoy your weekend together.
The poor dog sounds like its needs are greater. I respect any vets who prioritise emergencies and the pull on their resources. I’d far rather surgery was delayed rather than rushed at the end of the day.
 
VickiA said:
Relax and enjoy your weekend together.
The poor dog sounds like its needs are greater. I respect any vets who prioritise emergencies and the pull on their resources. I’d far rather surgery was delayed rather than rushed at the end of the day.
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They definitely were, no doubt about that, as cliche as it is, everything happens for a reason..
 
Guys idk if this is just me worrying, but since honey for home, her bum just seems to be wet.... when I picked her out her carrier, she was rather wet on her underside and I assumed it was just where she had sat in her urine and didn't have much room to move or whatever, her poops were soft but put this down to too many veggies in a short space of time... Ive just come to check on her and picked her up and her bum is dirty, and she's rather wet... I've now lightly blow dried her off, so I can see if she gets wet again... should I be worried?
 
dannif_piggies said:
Guys idk if this is just me worrying, but since honey for home, her bum just seems to be wet.... when I picked her out her carrier, she was rather wet on her underside and I assumed it was just where she had sat in her urine and didn't have much room to move or whatever, her poops were soft but put this down to too many veggies in a short space of time... Ive just come to check on her and picked her up and her bum is dirty, and she's rather wet... I've now lightly blow dried her off, so I can see if she gets wet again... should I be worried?
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Had the vet given her some pre-med injections already before the op was cancelled? If she had lots of sub-cutaneous fluids and a sedative that might make her pee a lot and not bother getting up? Last weekend when Puggle was ill with bloat she was soaked with pee after the vet gave her 10mls of sub-cutaneous fluids and a sedative/painkiller injection...
 
PigglePuggle said:
Had the vet given her some pre-med injections already before the op was cancelled? If she had lots of sub-cutaneous fluids and a sedative that might make her pee a lot and not bother getting up? Last weekend when Puggle was ill with bloat she was soaked with pee after the vet gave her 10mls of sub-cutaneous fluids and a sedative/painkiller injection...
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They mentioned nothing to me, however they may have, I'm not sure, I'll give them a call and find out, I'm quite concerned though, she's not herself but she doesn't seem too bothered if you get me? Maybe it's just stress of the day and too many veggies?
 
PigglePuggle said:
Had the vet given her some pre-med injections already before the op was cancelled? If she had lots of sub-cutaneous fluids and a sedative that might make her pee a lot and not bother getting up? Last weekend when Puggle was ill with bloat she was soaked with pee after the vet gave her 10mls of sub-cutaneous fluids and a sedative/painkiller injection...
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Just phoned the vets. She was given metcam and a post op pain killer, I guess this could explain it, been advised to just keep an eye on her, and it's more than likely the veggies as the vet said the medication should now be out of her system, lord I hope this isn't a start to a downward spiral
 
Keep an eye on her. If a spay has been recommended due to cysts then it could be that they are causing her to leak urine. This is what happened with my bumble
 
Lady Kelly said:
Keep an eye on her. If a spay has been recommended due to cysts then it could be that they are causing her to leak urine. This is what happened with my bumble
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Possibly, but this would've all occurred during the 4 hours she was at the vets. Would it be possible that the medication she was given and given her lack of urine control? Her poops seem to be looking a little better which is good! Gonna just keep and eye on her, if it is the cysts causing her to leak urine, at least there's only 2 more days until they're got rid off!
 
dannif_piggies said:
Possibly, but this would've all occurred during the 4 hours she was at the vets. Would it be possible that the medication she was given and given her lack of urine control? Her poops seem to be looking a little better which is good! Gonna just keep and eye on her, if it is the cysts causing her to leak urine, at least there's only 2 more days until they're got rid off!
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I've never known pain relief to cause these symptoms. However, when cysts cause problems they have to start at one particular moment and it could be coincidence. I'm far from an expert in these matters but I would monitor food, output and weight over the next couple of days and any big changes then seek a vets opinion
 
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