Anesthesia question

[Jane_G]

It looks like Cookie will have to be knocked out to trim her teeth. Is there anything I can do to help her once she's home? Are there any side effects that anyone has experienced? I know that with cats, they are very woozy afterwards. Is this also true with guinea pigs?

I have plenty of Critical Care left, so feeding her won't be a problem. I just worry about her since she's still fairly young.

Thank you for any suggestions.

[Cavy Carnage]

All animals are woozy after anesthesia. Most don't want to be bothered and will just find a dark quiet spot to sit. Just make sure you have plenty of places for her to hide. Keep the room where she is as quiet as possible but offer her all her usual things. Depending on how soon after her anesthesia you pick her up she may also be wobbly on her feet. The next day she should be moving around and withing 2 days back to her usual self.

[pigsforlife]

Buttercup was totally out of it after she had her op to remove her toe. It took her a couple of days before she was back to her bratty little self! The best advice I can give you is handfeed her as much CC as she will take. This will jump start her gut and hopefully make her recovery much quicker. Ask for painmeds afterwards as well.

[Ziggy&Herald]

I've not had experience with GP's. I know they probably need to eat the same day after surgery because they can't go as long, but cat's we usually just give water until the next morning. But as I said, I know GP's have to keep up eating so, I would probably do the CC and just keep her quiet.

[aqh88]

Guinea pigs shouldn't go more than 4hours without food. Don't let anyone including a vet tell you to withhold food. The main reason you do for cats and dogs is to avoid throwing the food back up especially while under anethesia. Like horses and many other herbivores guinea pigs can't throw up.

Everytime I've picked up a pig after surgery they've been completely alert. My vet does keep them for awhile, surgeries are done in the morning and you can't pick up until after 5pm in the evening or sometimes the next morning, but they still seem to recover quickly from it. I'd be more worried about sore mouth from the teeth trimming than the after effects of anethesia. Aside from cc you can soften the pellets with water and chop up her veggies until she's eating and chewing like normal.

[CF#5]

Originally Posted by aqh88

Guinea pigs shouldn't go more than 4hours without food. Don't let anyone including a vet tell you to withhold food. The main reason you do for cats and dogs is to avoid throwing the food back up especially while under anethesia. Like horses and many other herbivores guinea pigs can't throw up.

There's a delicate balance in the length to withhold food, but this isn't really correct. There's a relatively new fasting protocol for guinea pigs prior to surgery. Guinea pigs can't vomit, but they can have food stuck in the esophagus that hasn't yet reached the stomach. I've had a pig aspirate food while waking up from isoflurane after a successful surgery while in recovery, only to choke, gag, have a heart attack, and die right there. It's relatively uncommon, but not rare enough to be surprising when it happens.

Your vet and the anesthesiologist should swab out as much food and liquid from the mouth and throat as possible prior to surgery. It's generally a good idea to fast a pig 6-12 hours prior to surgery, and should be discussed with the surgeon. When possible, surgery should be done at a specific set time so the pig never has to go longer than 12-18 hours total without eating.

[Jane_G]

Thank you for all the replies. We just got back from our vet appointment. She examined her mouth and the tooth spurs were gone! We figure it was probably done during the actual examination, either yesterday or today. Her tongue seems to be healing and other than that, Cookie seems fine.

She instructed me to watch her eating over the next few days and watch how much she is eliminating and what it looks like. No more Critical Care unless she stops eating in which case, I will bring her back in.

When we got home I gave her some cilantro and she sucked it down. There doesn't seem to be anything bothering her anymore, which I am very happy about.

Hopefully things will stay calm.

[mommyoffive]

Thats good that she's eating well. Most hospitals will not release a small pet until they have eaten at the vets and if they havent then they will send you home with some crit care.