My exotic vet suggested I have my girls be spayed to prevent any possible future problems. My previous guinea pig passed away from a fast growing (assumed to be cancerous) tumor near that area, so I feel it is probably best to prevent anything if I can, but I am also incredibly nervous to have the procedure done for both of my girls. As you all know, guinea pigs are small and the slightest scare or event can make them not themselves for a while. I don’t want to hurt them and make them hate me if it isn’t worth it. I also would have to separate both of them so they wouldn’t try to run or play which would further bother them. So I was just wondering what your thoughts were on full spaying with an ovariohysterectomy and any advice you all may have?
Hi!
How experienced is your vet with spaying operations in guinea pigs? It is still one of those areas where the risk/benefit ratio is currently somewhat in the balance.
Some hormonal/hard cysts can turn cancerous in later life and should be removed, and so should non-hormonal fluid-filled cysts that grow too large (these are by far the most common cysts, by the way). However, unlike with rabbits where ovarian cancer is a 100% risk, this is not the case in guinea pigs; it is only a minority that will turn cancerous and a small minority that will burst with fatal results (not necessarily the largest fluid-filled cysts). In a smaller number of sows the womb can go wrong.
However, a spaying operation is still a major operation and often depends on how good an operating vet and recovery care nursing team you have got access to. With a good vet, risks are massively reduced but they will be never fully zero. There is currently a stronger drive for preventative spaying for health reasons in the USA than there is in the UK; here in the UK, there seems to be more of a drive to remove just the ovarian cysts from the back in a less invasive way.
I am very lucky to have access to the same good and well practiced vet as
@furryfriends (TEAS) , who has spayed the sows of mine who needed to, mostly over large cysts but in one case to remove a potentially cancerous cyst in a 5 year old sow (Morwenna has just celebrated her 7th birthday a month ago. Her sister Mererid required an emergency spay 4 months later because her fluid-filled non-hormonal cysts suddenly put on a speed growing spurt; she is also still alive). My 700g Cariad required an emergency spay when her womb went suddenly wrong just months after a larger bladder stone removal op; however she sailed through both ops and lived for another 2 years to reach the age of 5 years. But I did lose my Heini aged 3 years to a burst ovarian cyst; out of 50-60 sows in my life so far thankfully the only one.
Out of the 8 spayed sows (two of them adopted already spayed from a now defunct rescue with a spaying policy using the same vet) I have had so far, I have only ever lost the first one to a misjudgement of the GA dosis years back in a make or break emergency op by local general vets (who hadn't accounted for a second even larger cyst and some considerable gassing in the gut caused by the cysts in their pre-op assessment) - things have moved on a lot since that happened more than a decade ago though. But - with a good vet - I haven't lost any more sows since then.
If you want to look into less invasive alternative options (hormone treatment, which can also effective in reducing a cancer risk) before making any decisions, then you will find the green guide link below interesting. Take your time and sleep on it; there is no rush. It is unfortunately not a clear cut decision; and - as I know only too well as a long term owner - the emotional burden when an elective operation is going wrong is a lot greater. It is always very much a weighing up of pros and cons in your very own personal situation having experienced what can go wrong when nothing is done, and always a leap of faith you have to take. I am tending to do more preventative spaying in cystic sows these days although that has had to be put on hold with the pandemic.
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
I hope that this will help you with doing your research and also help you with knowing what questions you want to ask your operating vet (i.e. how many successful/overall number of cavy spaying operations they have done so far) and how open they are to alternative treatments.
