Beans&Toast
Adult Guinea Pig
My vet and I have agreed today that it would be sensible to spay Toast. I'm really having second thoughts though and would appreciate your opinions on this as I'm terrified about it. (I apologise in advance as it's quite a long read)
For over a year now Toast has been having hormonal issues. She will have really strong seasons, stay in season for a week or more, come in and out of season quickly, basically more often than not she has very iratic seasons and it has quite a knock on effect on her. She also shows signs of being in pain from this, she shakes her body, almost looks like a rumblestrutt, but it's like she's twitching from the pain if that makes sense?
She has had problems with bloat and her teeth too. For about a year she seemed to get bloated for no reason at all, which caused dental issues if it got bad because she would stop eating, resulting in needing her teeth burred down under aesthetic (gas). Medication has got the bloat under control now so it's not happening as often and it's not as severe (but still happens when in season.)
However as time has went on it seems to be that it's her hormonal issues causing bad bloating which seemes to cause dental issues over time and it's just a vicious cycle. Every time Toast comes into season she loses 40-50g over night as she's in pain from suspected cysts (I assume) and stops eating, which eventually results in over grown teeth. Her teeth are burred and she's fine until her next couple of seasons come around and we're back to square 1. (Toast is very sensitive to even the slightest of dental spurs)
The last time she had her teeth done was 26th May and after that she was doing amazing, no bloat and no dental problems until around 16th June when she came into season, she was so aggressive I had to separate her from Beans for 3 days. She lost a lot of weight over night and then the bloating started.
Once she comes out of season it takes a few days, sometimes a week, for the bloat to settle back down and she'll be okay for a while, until her next season.
Does it make sense to everyone else that her hormonal issues could be the route problem for the bloating and dental problems?
There's a few reasons why spaying is worrying me:
Firstly, Toast can't have the injectable aesthetic that would normally be used for ops. She's had it twice for dentals and it completely floors her, resulting in severe gut stasis and takes her over a week to recover from it.
My vet switched to gas (can't remember the actual names of them) for her dentals and she's had no issues with this type, she comes around from it quickly and hasn't had any bloating issues afterwards. However, my vet has said he's not too happy about having to use gas for a spay as it's not as effective and reliable as injectable aesthetic, which she can't have.
Secondly, Toast is a very nervous animal. She gets so stressed if someone makes a noise that she doesn't recognise or someone pets her that she doesn't know. She's so anxious that she's on Amitriptyline, which has helped mellow her out a bit but she still can't handle a trip to the vets on her own without getting bloated from the stress of it.
So I worry how she'd handle a spay?
And thirdly, I have a feeling that if she did handle the actual op, the recovery would be the issue. I'm worried that she'd end up bloated, resulting in more dental problems. Or if she developed an infection because there's a couple of antibiotics she can't have as she reacts badly to them.
Basically, I do think spaying could solve her other problems as they all seem to come at the same time. She'll get bloated once she comes into season, usually resulting in dental issues (her teeth are fine right now). I'm just so worried about putting her through this. She's about 4 1/2, 5. She's on a lot of medication and is a very stressed animal.
I have every faith in my vet, he spayed Beans and she absolutely sailed though it. She was home, eating, running and jumping about within 2 hours of the op. But Beans is different, she's like a little warrior pig. Toast is the exact opposite, she's very needy and sensitive to everything and just a nervous little pig.
What does everyone think? I'd never forgive myself if I went ahead with this and she didn't make it.
For over a year now Toast has been having hormonal issues. She will have really strong seasons, stay in season for a week or more, come in and out of season quickly, basically more often than not she has very iratic seasons and it has quite a knock on effect on her. She also shows signs of being in pain from this, she shakes her body, almost looks like a rumblestrutt, but it's like she's twitching from the pain if that makes sense?
She has had problems with bloat and her teeth too. For about a year she seemed to get bloated for no reason at all, which caused dental issues if it got bad because she would stop eating, resulting in needing her teeth burred down under aesthetic (gas). Medication has got the bloat under control now so it's not happening as often and it's not as severe (but still happens when in season.)
However as time has went on it seems to be that it's her hormonal issues causing bad bloating which seemes to cause dental issues over time and it's just a vicious cycle. Every time Toast comes into season she loses 40-50g over night as she's in pain from suspected cysts (I assume) and stops eating, which eventually results in over grown teeth. Her teeth are burred and she's fine until her next couple of seasons come around and we're back to square 1. (Toast is very sensitive to even the slightest of dental spurs)
The last time she had her teeth done was 26th May and after that she was doing amazing, no bloat and no dental problems until around 16th June when she came into season, she was so aggressive I had to separate her from Beans for 3 days. She lost a lot of weight over night and then the bloating started.
Once she comes out of season it takes a few days, sometimes a week, for the bloat to settle back down and she'll be okay for a while, until her next season.
Does it make sense to everyone else that her hormonal issues could be the route problem for the bloating and dental problems?
There's a few reasons why spaying is worrying me:
Firstly, Toast can't have the injectable aesthetic that would normally be used for ops. She's had it twice for dentals and it completely floors her, resulting in severe gut stasis and takes her over a week to recover from it.
My vet switched to gas (can't remember the actual names of them) for her dentals and she's had no issues with this type, she comes around from it quickly and hasn't had any bloating issues afterwards. However, my vet has said he's not too happy about having to use gas for a spay as it's not as effective and reliable as injectable aesthetic, which she can't have.
Secondly, Toast is a very nervous animal. She gets so stressed if someone makes a noise that she doesn't recognise or someone pets her that she doesn't know. She's so anxious that she's on Amitriptyline, which has helped mellow her out a bit but she still can't handle a trip to the vets on her own without getting bloated from the stress of it.
So I worry how she'd handle a spay?
And thirdly, I have a feeling that if she did handle the actual op, the recovery would be the issue. I'm worried that she'd end up bloated, resulting in more dental problems. Or if she developed an infection because there's a couple of antibiotics she can't have as she reacts badly to them.
Basically, I do think spaying could solve her other problems as they all seem to come at the same time. She'll get bloated once she comes into season, usually resulting in dental issues (her teeth are fine right now). I'm just so worried about putting her through this. She's about 4 1/2, 5. She's on a lot of medication and is a very stressed animal.
I have every faith in my vet, he spayed Beans and she absolutely sailed though it. She was home, eating, running and jumping about within 2 hours of the op. But Beans is different, she's like a little warrior pig. Toast is the exact opposite, she's very needy and sensitive to everything and just a nervous little pig.
What does everyone think? I'd never forgive myself if I went ahead with this and she didn't make it.
. Hugs to you x