• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Boars and sows after neutering

Status
Not open for further replies.
daisyd

daisyd

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
248
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Surrey
Hi,

I've book my 2 boy piggies in for castration in a couple of weeks. The surgery’s told me they could be paired with a girl 10 days after the op, but I've read on here 3+ weeks. Is 10 days too soon?

Obviously there's no rush so I won’t introduce them till I'm happy all is well etc... But I'm really nervous about the surgery and hope the vets are competent...? What are other peoples neutering experiences?
 
10 days! That's very dangerous advice they're giving. Standard advice is 4 weeks but most people wait 6 weeks to be absolutely safe. It's worth asking the vets how many piggies they've neutered and what sort of stitches they'll use, etc. - there is a risk with any op, so best make sure you've ironed out as many things as possible.

There have been some horror stories on here of neutering gone wrong, I'm sure others can advise you of the best questions to ask but my first one would be, how many times have they done the op before and what is the survival rate.

Luckily Vikki has now found a good vet near us and has had a few neutered with no probs (fingers crossed) but it's not a very common procedure for most vets (nowhere near as common as cats, dogs etc). I don't want to scare you - just make sure you're making an informed decision.

They will need careful care after the op too - best to keep them on vetbed or similar to keep the wounds clean, as they can sometimes need flushing / cleaning.

Good luck with your boys

Sophie
x
 
The surgery I've booked in with do the guinea pigs for Guildford Rabbit Rehome so have done a few before (more than any other surgeries in g'ford). I had a long chat with a vet nurse there who sounded very knowledgable, it was just the 10 days comment that made me do a double take.

I also e-mailed a different surgery that was recommended to me a while back and they gave me some conflicting advice. They said I shouldn't feed for 4 hours before surgery, whereas the one i've booked in with said its important to feed right up to surgery to keep the guts going...? Not sure how much of a difference it makes either way but would like to know if one is right or wrong...?
 
It's good that they've done lots before.

I hope someone else can advise re: feeding, with most animals you would starve for 12 hours or more before an op so that their stomach is empty when they have an anaesthetic, so they don't vomit and choke. But - guinea pigs can't vomit, so it doesn't affect them in the same way. I've not heard of starving for 4 hours, but I agree I would think it's best to keep the guts moving - hope someone else can shed some light on this, would like to know the answer myself!

Sophie
x
 
daisyd said:
I also e-mailed a different surgery that was recommended to me a while back and they gave me some conflicting advice. They said I shouldn't feed for 4 hours before surgery, whereas the one i've booked in with said its important to feed right up to surgery to keep the guts going...? Not sure how much of a difference it makes either way but would like to know if one is right or wrong...?
Click to expand...

Dear gods that's a fright!

Many mammals are starved prior to surgery to reduce the risk of vommiting whilst under anaesthetic. But then, most mammals vets operate on are carnivores, that have a more resilient digestive system and cope reasonably well with no food for a short time.

As piggies can't vomit as such there's no risk there. And as they're herbivores, they depend on an almost constant transit of food from mouth to back end. Add to that they have insanely delicate digestive systems, and you start to realise starving them for any length of time isn't a great idea. When you consider the anaesthetic can and will slow the whole body, including digestion, the advice to refuse food for four hours before goes from misplaced to dangerous, in my opinion.

I've been through the hell and heartache of post op gut transit problems, and that's *with* making sure they've been fed up until being booked in. Although how much they've been fed after being booked in is always a great unknown...

As for 10 days before going in with girls, that's far lower than I've ever been advised. To be on the safe side a minimum of four weeks is a good idea. Gives plenty of time for the wound to heal, and for any swimmers that might have been hiding to stop swimming!
 
I have never starved guineas before castrates and have never been advised to do so it is essential to keep the guts moving in a guinea and as already stated they do not vomit so it is unnecessary to starve them. Our Vets peform the surgery within 2 ours of them being taken in and always feed right up until the surgery.

Minimum 4 weeks but we usually wait six after castration before introducing to girls.

Check on what sort of suture they use I have had two guinea pigs here react to Chromic suture (catgut sort) which is the suture of preference with most cvets as it has the shorted dissolving time. Vicryl is far better although it takes 6 weeks to dissolve it is far less likley to cause a reaction. ven though a vet might tell you they are more likely to get an infection with Vicryl due to the nature of its surface I have had two guineas abscess with chromic and none with vicryl what ever the op has been.

Check on:

what sort of suture they use I have had two guinea pigs here react to Chromic suture (catgut sort) which is the suture of preference with most cvets as it has the shorted dissolving time. Vicryl is far better although it takes 6 weeks to dissolve it is far less likley to cause a reaction. ven though a vet might tell you they are more likely to get an infection with Vicryl due to the nature of its surface I have had two guineas abscess with chromic and none with vicryl what ever the op has been.

what sort of anesthetic they use should be isoflurothane (sp? its too early in the morning) gas.

Do they remove the fat pads (often if the replace them it is a source of infection)

Do they stitch the hole which the testies descend through to ensure there is no risk of herniation? (Not sure if this is routine practice but my vet does it and it sure puts my mind at rest after previous experience)


I have been very lucky in finding a local vet very competant with guinea castration and have had no problems what so ever thus far after not neutering and for a year due to having several post op probs with abscess and one herniation with the last vet with a few boys I had done close together. Well worth the wait and the research to find a good vet, they guineas come home within 4 hours of going in and have all been bright and perkyu and eating again Bernie is 3 weeks post op with no complications and Max is 1 week post op with no sign of complications and we have another two booked in tomorrow. Vet also managed to operate on a small three week old baby who had a herniated belly button and again surgery went very well and the guinea is recovering nicely. A good vet is hard to find I waited a year before I found one I was sure about and thankfully it has paid off.

If the surgery has been performed well and the guinea kept on clean vet bed post op it should not be necessary to flush the wound unless it becomes infected a clean healing wound should require no further maintainance other than regular checks.

Your guinea will have to remain indoors for 24 hours after anesthetic as they are unable to maintain their body temperature but we always keep ours indoors for at least for the first week to be able to keep an easy regular check on them an also you can clean out frequently easily.

I hope this helps having been through the worst of castration where after a long battle with herniation which unfortunately resulted in the loss of a piggy but also knowing that with a good vet a castration can be very successful I know what a worry it can be. Best to find out as much as you can about how they will perform the procedure before your piggy goes in.

I have had the heartache of when things go wrong but also the absolute joy of seeing a boy who had no hope of living with other boys running happily with a herd of wives and interacting with other piggies. A solitary life is not one for a piggy although there are the few who enjoy their own hutch. I only perform neutering surgery when I think it is essential for the guineas well being so do have two lone boys here who live in sight, smell and sound of other guineas and are happy doing so.

I wish your boys the best of luck and hope all goes well.
 
Well I've e-mailed the surgery with all the questions you have recommended, hopefully I'll get a good response!

Thanks vikki for the excellent advice...
 
Here are my answers from the vet...

1. I use a chromic suture for ligatures around the cords. This has much
better knot security than vicryl and I have never seen any reactions. I
tend to use tissue glue to close the skin so there is no reaction there.

2. I don't remove fat pads.

3. I do the castrations 'closed' which includes the tunic around the
testicle. There is therefore no need to stitch the hole closed and no
risk of herniation.

4. We have had a good success rate with this procedure. Without tempting
fate we have not lost a guinea pig during castration yet! There is
always a risk with any anaesthetic however.

I hope this helps you. If there's anything that's not clear please let
me know. If you think of anything else please contact us, or ask during
your pre-op check on Friday morning.

Think I'm going to keep the apointment as they wouldn't have been recomended by a rescue centre if they'd had lots of post-op problems, just fingers crossed all goes ok...
 
When i had Kenickie neutered they told me he could join the girls the next day. I was shocked! its just lucky I'm on this forum. I wouldnt of put him in that quick anyway as he might of been sore but i wouldnt of waited as long as needed if i didnt know.
 
Apollo and Spie both had their castration 3 days ago. The surgery all went well (they weren't starved) and the cuts are healling excellently so far. A big thank you to everyone who gave me advice prior to the op. Hopefully this post will help others in finding a good vet.
 
Last edited:
Had to go back to the vets today... Spirit has had an allergic reaction to the chromic stitches used and has a massive lump on one side! The vet said she's not worried its infected or herneated and he seems to be healing really well otherwise, but gave him some antibiotics just incase theres any infection.

She said the stitches are designed for use on dogs and cats and g'pigs commonly react to them but other types of stitching aren't strong enough to use... Have many other people had guineas react to the stitches? It seems utterly stupid to use something where this reaction is 'likely' to happen! {:|

Other than this Apollo and Spie are doing really well tho...
 
Update?

Hi daisyd,
Do you have an update for us?
I have booked Tiger in for his op this Friday and am scurrying around finding out all I can about likely problems @)

Hope things turned out ok.
 
Hi Tigerrr,

Things were a bit up and down after getting my boys done, but ultimately they are both fine, here is a link to my post when they both develped complications.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=32785

The problem was the vet used chromic suture, not vicryl. She now uses vicryl for guineas and has done several since mine without any problems.

There are pics at the end of the linked post of my boys with their girls. They're so much happier now I would go thru it all again so they can be as content as they are now... but it was pretty distressing when things started to go wrong.

Good luck with your boy, in the majority of cases they are fine!
 
Just some extra info to add on to this! This should be helpful to those wondering how to determine if the vet is experienced enough to be trusted to neuter guinea pigs....

----------

The neutering procedure should be kept very simple. They key info you want from the vet is:

- Roughly how many guinea pigs the vet has neutered;
- The success rate of surgeries the vet has performed;
- An exlanation of the most common risks with the surgery, and how likely (or unlikely) they are to occur.

Specific questions to ask include the following - if you only ask to questions, I recommend you ask number 1, 5 and 6.

1. What anesthetic is used?
Answer: Isoflurane or Servoflurane.
No injectable anesthetics.

2. What are you pre-operative procedures?
Answer: Subcutaneous fluids and 5mg / 0.2ml Rimadyl.

3. What other medications might you need to administer during the surgery?
Answer: If breathing becomes noisy, 0.2ml Frusemide (diuretic).
Additional fluids are only necessary for significant blood loss, which is highly unlikely to be a problem during neutering.

4. Do you put the fat pads back in, after removing the testicles?
Answer: No.
Replacing the fat pads can lead to bruising, it is unnecessary.

5. What suturing material do you use?
Answer: Vicryl or Mersilk.
No catgut or chromic stitches, these tend to cause reactions.

6. What do you do to bring the guinea pig around from the anesthetic, and how soon will you feed him?
Answer: Flush the guinea pig through with oxygen then let him wake. He should be eating within 15-20 minutes of waking from surgery.
No need for any drugs to "speed up" the recovery period.

7. What is the immediate post-operative care you give?
Answer: 5mg / 0.2ml Rimadyl and subcutaneous fluids if necessary.

This pretty much covers the main points of a safe neutering procedure. The vets answers may differ slightly, as long as you are comfortable with the explanations given and the vet has neutered guinea pigs numerous times with a good success rate, then it is up to you.


This info is based on advice from Vedra at the CCT, and ties in with the general advice found on Guinea Lynx.
 
Hi There!

I got my two boys done in August 2009 and I was told by the vet that they can still produce sperm for up to a month afterwards!

Be very careful!!
 
i had my guinea ralphie done 3 wks on friday he developed a big abscess 11 post op which needed to be drained he is still on baytril until next monday which he would have been on it for 13days in total 0.4miles the problem is another abscess came on the other side so i went back the vets he said keep him on the baytril until next monday has planned as long has he is eating drinking weeing and pooing which he is then dont worry but he seems to have lost weight on his back end i have weighed him his weight is ok 1026grams but he is thinner on his back end which i am a little worried about the vet said last week when i took him back it was due to the stress of having the op etc,,,but can guineas lose weight on there back end after a neutering?the abscess is still there around the size of a large grape which doesn't seem to be going down the other side which was drained is healing nicely now...:{:{:{:{
 
Hi Claire

First of all hope all is well with Ralphie Baby looking forward to seeing him fri.
Only neutering trouble i had was with Darcy he had incision open up and had bit of trouble but it settled with antibiotics.He fine now.On the weight side Darcy did lose weight an dgo thin on the back when he had bladder stone problem.He soon put the weight on when he recovered,just give Ralphie foods you know he really likes.We are all thinking of him
Love Hen xxoxo
 
Hi Claire

First of all hope all is well with Ralphie Baby looking forward to seeing him fri.
Only neutering trouble i had was with Darcy he had incision open up and had bit of trouble but it settled with antibiotics.He fine now.On the weight side Darcy did lose weight and go thin on the back when he had bladder stone problem.He soon put the weight on when he recovered,just give Ralphie foods you know he really likes.We are all thinking of him
Love Hen xxoxo
 
kidsgrovecaviemad said:
First of all hope all is well with Ralphie Baby looking forward to seeing him fri.
Only neutering trouble i had was with Darcy he had incision open up and had bit of trouble but it settled with antibiotics.He fine now.On the weight side Darcy did lose weight and go thin on the back when he had bladder stone problem.He soon put the weight on when he recovered,just give Ralphie foods you know he really likes.We are all thinking of him
Love Hen xxoxo
Click to expand...

his weight was before being done on the day 1300g and now he is 1046g but the vet said every animal loses weight after a op been back the vets today with him and they have put him on different antibiotics and drainned a little of the puss with a needle while i was there he has been bedded on fleece the whole time and has been in the livingroom since it was done that is were he is going to stay now..also a sow need a emergancy c-section today has she was unable to give birth on her own she had 4 babies....
 
Glad to hear about Ralphie and that he's still fighting and so are you. Hes been on my mind!

How does he seem in himself Claire? ie: eating and stuff?

Also Mork is now almost 9 days into the recovery - would I have noticed by now if he had a similar problem? There isnt a lump of any kind at the moment. Could I still expect one do you think?
 
ralphies absess came over night at 11 days post op he is fine in him self little quiet but eatting drinking normal and weeing and pooing think i maybe all the stress from the op and absesses he is suffering from one thing the antibiotics has cleared up is he has an over active gland which seems to have got better with the antibys...has yours lost any weight?also i have to clean the sows wound everyday what is best to use salt water or hibiscrub??
 
He's put weight on actually. Hes put on 30g since last Tuesday. Considering he was a very poor eater for a few days I was really surprised when I weighed him yesterday. he does seem to have a HUGE appetite last 4 days or so and he's eating so many pellets.

I will keep my eyes on him every day and hope hope hope he doesn't get any absess.

I have no idea about cleaning wounds Claire I'm sorry. I hope someone can help you with that one.

x
 
Hi Daisy,
I've had two boars neutered and the experience was very different in each case. My first boar, Critter, was scared and confused after the surgery, and so climbed out of the box to sit in my arms. So, if you have a tight relationship with your pig, hold him close and let him experience all the familiarity of those who love him. But I digress...Critter came out of it in very good shape. The vets did an exceptional job avoiding the nerves that control bowel, hind end. His personality stayed strong and he was a lively pig to the end. My second experience was not as positive. He lost some control of his bowel and back end and lost his zip. This was so disappointing to us all and he was listless and sad afterwards. I would say, be sure to talk the vet and make sure that they understand guinea pig anatomy before going under the knife. Bill & Mae
 
I've just stumbled across this thread and am so pleased I did. I've got Sgt Pepper booked in for his procedure on Wednesday (feeling quite anxious about it).

I took the advice from the forum and rang round lots of vets and asked lots of questions (some were quite 'put out' that I was asking them in the first place!)

The vet confirmed that he did not have to be starved prior to the procedure as they said it was important to keep everything moving as normal for piggies.

I know that the previous posting on this topic was some time ago, but pleased it was still there for reference. Keeping everything crossed for Wednesday! :)
 
Best of luck! This is a "sticky" i.e. permanent thread that always stays at the top of its section.
 
Good luck to Sgt. Pepper for his neutering on Wednesday :)
 
Hi guys, sorry if a similar question has been found elsewhere but I couldn't find anything.

There's a rescue boar who is being rehomed to my mum, and he was neutered today, all went well, he's apparently eating and pooping like nothing else :) (Never thought I'd be happy to hear that :)))

We know it's four weeks until he can be paired with the awaiting sow, but how long will it be until he's able to travel to his new home? Thanks all.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top