AlphaUrd13
Junior Guinea Pig
I figured I'd keep some sort of journal of Leo's neuter operation and post op care and hope this helps others thinking of neutering their males.
This is Leo and he has a sister, mom and aunt in the cage and separated by a fence. He goes crazy whenever they're in season and even the older 2 girls are barely a year old so their hormones get him too excited and I wanted to reunite him with his family. Castration was my best chance:
He had his pre-op check-ups and he was healthy and ready for the operation. A few days later on a Sunday he had the operation and I picked him up and brought him back home. He was brought to me in a small cone collar and told me to keep watch so he doesn't lick the area and I did not like it not one bit but didn't know better so kept it on him for 2-3 hours.
and I kept watch and he manages to eat hay and pellets only if I brought it to his mouth, I realized he hadn't drank any water so I syringe fed him some water. When I picked him up he was constipated and had really hard poop below him (didn't take photos of that but it's very similar to a human's constipated poo : irregular shape, dry and looks like several chunks barely stuck together) and when I put him back to the cage he fought the collar and took it off.
I just went with my instinct and left him without the collar and kept watch... and boy was I glad I did that; he was revived and drank lots and walked around the cage lots and ate lots of hay till he fell asleep. Thankfully Wiebke assured me he didn't need the collar and the piggies' fast metabolism should take care of the healing process. Ehile I kept watch, Leo didn't seem all that bothered by the incision and his behaviour and appetite were the same as always, minor difference was that he was eating at a slower pace.
To my luck, one of the females started going into heat that same day and I got so scared that Leo would popcorn around and run and bite viciously at the fence that's keeping him away from the girls, hurting himself while he's fresh out the surgery. Surprisingly he didn't go crazy so I can assume it was the extra hormones that really made him suffer. What didn't change was the rumble strutting and peeking and usual flirting behaviour males have.
All this was simply day 1 of after surgery care (his poop went back to normal after I removed the collar btw, it was reaaally limiting his moves and made him too depressed to try to get up)
Day 2:
I thought I'd take some pics to compare the healing process and show the vet just in case.
I wasn't good at keeping him still so I'm sorry if these don't show the area very well but hopefully they can be used to compare with future pics the next few days. So far, Leo is matching the guide in this forum and the text-book example of how a neutering operation usually goes.
Behaviour-wise: He's still eating, drinking, pooping and flirting normally. I almost forgot that he had an operation the day before.
He had a bit more energy to popcorn and fight me during syringe feeding the antibiotics and pain killers (I added probiotic powder to his pellets to manage his digestion and will keep giving him a couple extra days after he's done with antibiotics) Other than that, day 2 was pretty much normal.
Day 3 was yesterday, and he had vet checkups to do and he was veeeery fiesty (he's originally a skittish piggie) that he needed 2 nurses to handle him and take his temperature, they told me he's healing very nicely and all is normal and they'll see Leo again in a week.
Now he's back home chilling with a nice booty view, day 4 seems quiet and uneventful as well with Leo and I'll keep you updated on Leo next week and hope this day-by-day log helps anyone who is looking into the subject and wants to know the post-op care in detail.
This is Leo and he has a sister, mom and aunt in the cage and separated by a fence. He goes crazy whenever they're in season and even the older 2 girls are barely a year old so their hormones get him too excited and I wanted to reunite him with his family. Castration was my best chance:
He had his pre-op check-ups and he was healthy and ready for the operation. A few days later on a Sunday he had the operation and I picked him up and brought him back home. He was brought to me in a small cone collar and told me to keep watch so he doesn't lick the area and I did not like it not one bit but didn't know better so kept it on him for 2-3 hours.
and I kept watch and he manages to eat hay and pellets only if I brought it to his mouth, I realized he hadn't drank any water so I syringe fed him some water. When I picked him up he was constipated and had really hard poop below him (didn't take photos of that but it's very similar to a human's constipated poo : irregular shape, dry and looks like several chunks barely stuck together) and when I put him back to the cage he fought the collar and took it off.
I just went with my instinct and left him without the collar and kept watch... and boy was I glad I did that; he was revived and drank lots and walked around the cage lots and ate lots of hay till he fell asleep. Thankfully Wiebke assured me he didn't need the collar and the piggies' fast metabolism should take care of the healing process. Ehile I kept watch, Leo didn't seem all that bothered by the incision and his behaviour and appetite were the same as always, minor difference was that he was eating at a slower pace.
To my luck, one of the females started going into heat that same day and I got so scared that Leo would popcorn around and run and bite viciously at the fence that's keeping him away from the girls, hurting himself while he's fresh out the surgery. Surprisingly he didn't go crazy so I can assume it was the extra hormones that really made him suffer. What didn't change was the rumble strutting and peeking and usual flirting behaviour males have.
All this was simply day 1 of after surgery care (his poop went back to normal after I removed the collar btw, it was reaaally limiting his moves and made him too depressed to try to get up)
Day 2:
I thought I'd take some pics to compare the healing process and show the vet just in case.
I wasn't good at keeping him still so I'm sorry if these don't show the area very well but hopefully they can be used to compare with future pics the next few days. So far, Leo is matching the guide in this forum and the text-book example of how a neutering operation usually goes.
Behaviour-wise: He's still eating, drinking, pooping and flirting normally. I almost forgot that he had an operation the day before.
He had a bit more energy to popcorn and fight me during syringe feeding the antibiotics and pain killers (I added probiotic powder to his pellets to manage his digestion and will keep giving him a couple extra days after he's done with antibiotics) Other than that, day 2 was pretty much normal.
Day 3 was yesterday, and he had vet checkups to do and he was veeeery fiesty (he's originally a skittish piggie) that he needed 2 nurses to handle him and take his temperature, they told me he's healing very nicely and all is normal and they'll see Leo again in a week.
Now he's back home chilling with a nice booty view, day 4 seems quiet and uneventful as well with Leo and I'll keep you updated on Leo next week and hope this day-by-day log helps anyone who is looking into the subject and wants to know the post-op care in detail.
