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Neutering Boars

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JellyBelly

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I rang my vet to ask how much it is to have a guinea pig neutered...and i was told it ranges from £40-£60 (why such a large range!?) and...

They only like doing it for medical reasons because it is a high risk operation.

I rang two other vets, one said £60 and one said £45.
How much is normal?
Is it high risk?

The cheaper vet sounded more understanding and couldn't believe my own vet wouldn't netuer to prevent babies!

I want to hear everyones neutering stories....good or bad x
 
It can depend on the size of your piggy as obviously larger pigs will need a little more medicine for their nap!
But certainly not that much of a difference in price. :-\

I personally would go with the vet who has the most experience with neutering Pigs. My vet is great and it costs £40
So clearly the more expensive vet doesnt nessessarily mean better.
Maybe ring your local RSPCA or guinea pig rescue and see if they have a confident vet which they can recommend?

Also independants and chains like pet doctors will have different prices depending on the size of car the practice manger wants! ;D naughty sally!
 
If the vet doesn't want to do it because he thinks its high risk then I wouldn't use him. There is, of course, a risk, as with any op but there are lots of vets that won't put it as a High risk one. Anaesthetic is much safer now and better controlled, the 'risks', in my opinion, are in the aftercare if a pig is in pain after the op and no one notices or deals with it. Our nurses syringe feed any bunny or guinea that doesn't eat within a certain time. Guinea pigs are much happier when they get home though and usually start eating at once :)

I've had around 50 boars castrated and no problems save for two of them getting post op abscesses which are easily dealt with :)

Prices also depend on the equipment at the practise, top of the range equipment will cost top prices...

Are you in the South East by any chance , those prices sound familiar :)
 
Yea Kent, i think thats in the South East aint it?

I'm scared now after reading a few horror stories. Maybe i won't get another piggie or will try another female? Hmmp :(
 
Yep, thats the South East!
Horror stories? Why don't you adopt a castrated boar from a rescue? GBH have castrated boars looking for homes usually and Jackie is very nice and will help you out- may even be able to recommend a good vet.

GBH @ Guinea Pig Rehome ... just one of the 'soon to be castrated' boys Jackie has :)
 
It only cost me £33 to get star neutered. The vet who told you he wouldn't do it, is probably unexperienced with neutering guinea pigs, always ask them how many they have performed and ask what their success rate is. Some vets know nothing about guinea pigs.
I've had 2 male guinea pigs neutered with absolutly no problems what so ever.
 
If a vet knows what they are doing there should be no problem. There are always risks associated with anaesthetics but that is the same for any animal.

My vet was telling me that she neutered her dad's guinea pig and the pig has never been happier with all his girlfriends!
 
It cost me £30 to have my boar neutered and now he is a happy chappy living with his girldfriends :) I rang lots of vets for quotes there was a huge price difference across the city between £20 to as much as £75. The best thing to do is ask around and find a vet that has done many guinea pig neuters. My friend and her husbands are both vets and after talking with her I found out it is a lot harder to do a neuter on a guinea pig than any other animal due to a hernia ring that is close to the neuter site. I can always ask her to help find a good vet that has a good success rate with piggies in your area.
 
Horror stories like abcesses and hernias :(

I thought i would try my local RSPCA (who don't have any neutered boars) but i may just get a female from them and get a neutered male from elsewhere to join the group.
How does that sound?
 
that's a great idea,take your time with the introductions though, to get them used to eachother.
keep us updated
x
 
Yea my two are quite layed back but i have got spare hutches if i need them! x
 
I can't remember the exact amount but it was between £35 & £40. This price included the operation and a 24 pain injection for afterwards. My vet does not prescribe any antibiotics post op so perhaps you should ask them what the price includes.

I think the most imprtant thing though is making sure they have experience in doing the op and have a good success rate.
 
Why don't you take your guinea along and let them choose their new friend? Even pairing boars and sows isn't always straightforward. Try a spot of speed dating :)
 
JellyBelly said:
Horror stories like abcesses and hernias :(

I thought i would try my local RSPCA (who don't have any neutered boars) but i may just get a female from them and get a neutered male from elsewhere to join the group.
How does that sound?
Click to expand...

I'm a bit confused - do you already have this boar or were you thinking of getting one to join a female you already have?

If you have a sow already and don't want to put a boar thru neutering, I would get another sow. Unless you can bear to wait til a rescue has a neutered boar.

I have only ever had one boar neutered. Basil was done in April, did absolutely brill and then got a post op infection which became apparent three weeks post op. He was on Baytril, it cleared up, then it reappeared this week and is being washed out daily. All the while he has been absolutely fine in himself, though, and he LOVES his female buddies.

As the last post said, taking her to choose her new buddy is a good idea!

Hope it all works out for you whatever you do...
 
I have two sows already, they have been together since they were born.
I planned on getting a boar and having him neutered to go in with my sows.
However after reading some stories-like your own popper, i may get another sow.
I am going to look at guineas at my local RSPCA on Sat so could get a sow from there and then maybe at a later date go further afield for an already neuterted boar.
Hope that makes sense now!
 
I would get a boar who has already been neutered so you don't have the worry that comes with putting them though the operation. I've not had a guinea pig done, just chinchillas, one went well but it was still sad seeing him all quiet after the op. The other died under the anesthetic. I know this may not happen much but all the same I would rather get an already neutered one.

I don't know if introducing another sow is the way to go as you have two which are company & three could well be a crowd! Leading to two of them cuddling up together & one being left out. A neutered boar would work much better I'm sure as in the wild they live in a herd of one boar with up to nine sows.

Check out the photo gallery section on here, there is a post by Piggybaker entitled My Herd, she has 11 sows & one boar & says that now the boar lives with them they all get on well, so maybe if you do want another sow, do this after you have introduced the boar.

Your best option will probably be to take your girls along to the place you get the neautered boar from so you can see how the introduction goes. :)
 
Jackie at GBH has lots of boars either castrated or about to be castrated.
 
JellyBelly said:
I have two sows already, they have been together since they were born.
I planned on getting a boar and having him neutered to go in with my sows.
However after reading some stories-like your own popper, i may get another sow.
I am going to look at guineas at my local RSPCA on Sat so could get a sow from there and then maybe at a later date go further afield for an already neuterted boar.
Hope that makes sense now!
Click to expand...
Yes, perfect sense! Sorry, it was prob me being a bit slow!

The piggie on the rescue site looks very cute. Whatever you do, I hope it all works out well.
 
He looks lovely JellyBelly :smitten: Most rescues do home check, I couldn't see anything on there that said if they do?

Anyway, good luck with persuading your OH to drive you. Llet us know what happens O0
 
It will be my first adoption! Well thats if i don't end up taking a piggie home from the RSPCA on Saturdat aswell!

I have emailed somebody who i believe helps with GBH rescue and they said it's near a train station so if my OH won't drive i could get a train........... It'll be about an hour on the train.

Unless i drive myself but i'm not very confident driving for that long (about hour and a half) as i only passed my test a month ago!
 
JellyBelly said:
It will be my first adoption! Well thats if i don't end up taking a piggie home from the RSPCA on Saturdat aswell!
Click to expand...

Lol! Now don't be getting too carried away JellyBelly! :laugh: The RSPCA do a home check so you wouldn't be able to take one home from there on Saturday.

It's good this place is near a train station just incase your OH won't help
 
he's gorgeous, I do like black guineas :) Jackie is really nice and knowledgable. I don't know what they're policy is on homechecks, maybe they could do one over the internet via email.
 
I am thinking of having my two boars neutered as they live alone - we tried them together but they don't get on. I'd like them to be able to go in with my girls (in two seperate groups). I must say it is a hard decision to make though, so I can understand some of the apprehension some people have on this topic. I am nervous about putting them through the op, but it is encouraging to hear you say you have had many done without problems Karen :)
 
Quote
(Lol! Now don't be getting too carried away JellyBelly! :laugh: The RSPCA do a home check so you wouldn't be able to take one home from there on Saturday.)

sian
my rspca didn't do a home check when i got charlie
 
Well from the conversation i had with the lady at the RSPCA it didn't sound like they do homechecks. She just asked if i had a separate hutch for a boar to go in as they 'are overrun'. I explained my intentions and she was quite happy.
All RSPCA centres have different policies i think.

I checked out the train journey, would be about 2 hrs-maybe too much for a piggie.
I might just pull myself together and drive.
I love black piggies!
 
JellyBelly

Which RSPCA are you going to? I think some do have different policies. The RSPCA I went to didn't do a homecheck either.
 
Just reread the post - you are Kent aren't you, is it RSPCA Medway you are going to?
 
I adopted my two boys from there! They didn't do a home check on me, but I do live in Essex so it would have been harder for someone to come and do one. Who are you interested in adopting?!
 
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