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Neutering/Spaying Guinea will be having his surgery on the 15th!

Melissa123

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After realizing I had enough space for a 3x4 in my living room we have decided to go with Guinea being neutered instead of Cookie being spayed.
My vet has done tons of successful neuters on guinea pigs so I know he will be in good hands.
I do know he will be on an antibiotic and pain meds. I also have probiotics for him as well.

I just had a few questions for you experienced in this subject. I will be asking my vet everything as well, just have to get a list ready. :)

How long should he be separated from Cookie after his neuter? I've heard 2-4 weeks

I know I will have to move him to a smaller cage during his recovery- would a 2x4 be small enough? He is in a 3x4 with a 2x3 upper level at the moment. I will be using white towels so I can monitor everything better.

What is normal and what isn't after a neuter? This is my first and I don't want to miss anything!

Any other questions or concerns that I should be asking her?
 

spudsthepiget

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I've had both of my boys neutered; the first few days, they were both tired and slept most of the day. Then they slowly became more active and back to normal. I even saw Guinness on top of the pigloo halfway into his recovery.

My vet told me to keep them seperated for 10 days, but I'm sure that varies from vet to vet.

For both of their recoveries, I had them in an old store bought cage, just so I could be sure they wouldn't try to run around and pull their stitches out.

Like anyone, they'll need to rest a bit afterwards. If you don't think the incision is healing, if it might be infected, or he doesn't seem to be getting back to his old self, call the vet.

Hope this helps!
 

Hhbean

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We had all 4 of our boys neutered and they did great for the most part. Keep an eye out for an abcess or any swelling. We had one of our guys get an abcess almost 2 months after his surgery but it cleared up and I'm happy to report he is have a great life with his lady love! Your vet might not use stitches on the outer incision, mine used the glue so the boys wouldn't chew on it. We waited 21 days before introducing them to the ladies to be on the safe side.
 

Melissa123

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We had all 4 of our boys neutered and they did great for the most part. Keep an eye out for an abcess or any swelling. We had one of our guys get an abcess almost 2 months after his surgery but it cleared up and I'm happy to report he is have a great life with his lady love! Your vet might not use stitches on the outer incision, mine used the glue so the boys wouldn't chew on it. We waited 21 days before introducing them to the ladies to be on the safe side.

I believe she will be using glue- as that's what she used when my other boy had his bladder stone removal surgery. That's def on my list, though! Will watch out for swelling and such.

Do you have 4 separate pairs with a male and female in each? Were your boys not doing well together? This is why I got Guinea a girlfriend- I've tried him in 3+ groups and every time he was a huge meanie to the other boys. I am excited to finally see him with another piggy! Cookie is very mellow and sweet by herself and with us- so fingers crossed she will do wonderful with him. I know he will be much happier with the company.

Thanks so much for your input! :)
 

Melissa123

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I've had both of my boys neutered; the first few days, they were both tired and slept most of the day. Then they slowly became more active and back to normal. I even saw Guinness on top of the pigloo halfway into his recovery.

My vet told me to keep them seperated for 10 days, but I'm sure that varies from vet to vet.

For both of their recoveries, I had them in an old store bought cage, just so I could be sure they wouldn't try to run around and pull their stitches out.

Like anyone, they'll need to rest a bit afterwards. If you don't think the incision is healing, if it might be infected, or he doesn't seem to be getting back to his old self, call the vet.

Hope this helps!

You mean 10 days from your other male, I'm guessing right? That's way too soon with a male and female pair.

He really isn't much on doing zoomies and is pretty a lazy piggy. ;) His day consist of pooping/peeing, eating/drinking, sleeping, and wheeking for food.

He really does miss having a cage mate. He sits right by Fozzie and Gizmo's grids and watches them all the time. I have their cages connected so he does get some type of contact with them, though.
 

spudsthepiget

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The vet actually told me to wait 10 days before introducing them to females. But every vet gives different advice.
 

Melissa123

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The vet actually told me to wait 10 days before introducing them to females. But every vet gives different advice.
Interesting! I will be waiting much longer just in case ;)
 

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We have a total of 10 piggies(4 boys and 6 girls) and some of the boys live with 2 girls. We had tried all 4 boys in a massive cage and it just didn't work. Then we took in Winston's female(Fluffy) that he had lived with since he was a baby(until he was 9 months old and they found out he was a boy and had to come live with us). So, Fluffy and her cage mate Yancy lived upstairs and the boys lived downstairs. Winston caught Fluffy's scent on me and cried so much and kept searching for her. We decided to go ahead and have him neutered so he could live with her. Around the same time Annabelle came to live with us and Roger would stick his nose up in the air like a dog catching a scent. So, we went ahead and had him neutered. Huey and Sheldon shared a split cage but guess what....our vet asked if we could take in Butters and Diamond(girls). Then we took in our final piggy Josephine.
Since it's hard to keep up with 6 cages we decided to have Huey and Sheldon neutered. Sheldon paired up with Butters and Diamond(after he let Butters know she couldn't boss him like she did Diamond). Huey now lives with Josephine, who is starting to come out of her shell, due to Huey being such a laid back guy!
 

Melissa123

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The day is fast approaching! Nervous- but I do know he will be in great hands!

This is the list of questions I have for her. If you'd like to add anything I that forgot it would be much appreciated. :)

Questions about Guinea's neutersurgery for Dr. Ingrid :)

How long should recovery be?

Will there be an antibiotic for him? (didn't notice it on the invoice)
Would love one if possible for a better/fast recovery. :)

How long should I wait to intro him with Cookie?
I've read 2-5 weeks, but that's quite a time difference!

What should I look out for- What's normal and what's not?

Is it possible to order Critical Care Fine Grind through you? I can't find it anywhere and it's much easier to use than the normal grind. I don't plan on using it- but I always like having it on hand when needed. I could donate my half used bag of the normal grind that I already have if so. ;)

I still have pain meds from when Guinness had his bladder stones (other vet gave them to us) can I use this instead of getting more from you? It is the same you would be giving- Buprenorphine and I still have over 1 ml left over. If so, what dosage- with Guinness it was 0.2 ml.
What is the shelf life on this medication- had since April.

Will post-operative visits be covered if something goes wrong?

Will you be using glue or sutures?
 

pinky

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The day is fast approaching! Nervous- but I do know he will be in great hands!

This is the list of questions I have for her. If you'd like to add anything I that forgot it would be much appreciated. :)

Questions about Guinea's neutersurgery for Dr. Ingrid :)

How long should recovery be?

Will there be an antibiotic for him? (didn't notice it on the invoice)
Would love one if possible for a better/fast recovery. :)

How long should I wait to intro him with Cookie?
I've read 2-5 weeks, but that's quite a time difference!

What should I look out for- What's normal and what's not?

Is it possible to order Critical Care Fine Grind through you? I can't find it anywhere and it's much easier to use than the normal grind. I don't plan on using it- but I always like having it on hand when needed. I could donate my half used bag of the normal grind that I already have if so. ;)

I still have pain meds from when Guinness had his bladder stones (other vet gave them to us) can I use this instead of getting more from you? It is the same you would be giving- Buprenorphine and I still have over 1 ml left over. If so, what dosage- with Guinness it was 0.2 ml.
What is the shelf life on this medication- had since April.

Will post-operative visits be covered if something goes wrong?

Will you be using glue or sutures?

The vet I used did not prescribe an antibiotic, even though I requested one. She said she never had an abscess develop from a neutering.... Of course, my male did develop an abscess approx 3 weeks after being neutered. It was weird because I kept the incision very clean and changed his bedding twice a day and it still happened. I'd insist on an antibiotic and give him a probiotic, too. My vet said 3 weeks before introducing him to the girls but it ended up being longer since he was being treated for the abscess. All vets differ on what they cover. My vet did not charge me for any of his follow up appointments related to the abscess. I paid $125 for the neutering and the meds for the abscess. As far as pain meds, you need to weigh him for the proper dose. I'd bring the pain meds in with you when you take him in for the surgery and ask about the dosage. My vet used glue. It's better because there are no sutures to be removed. Good luck!
 

Melissa123

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@pinky , thank you! Fingers crossed she does give an antibiotic- she is pretty good at listening to my concerns and always addresses them. I already have a probiotic as well for him- that's why I didn't include it in the list ;) I will def be bringing the medication in for her to double check everything. Thanks again! :)
 

Melissa123

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One more day! He has been getting extra cuddles from us <3
 

Melissa123

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Update: While dropping him off today I asked all of my questions. I got to the antibiotic one and she said he shouldn't need one and that is would most likely do more harm than good. I am trusting her judgment on this. She told me out of all of her neuters, not one has had an infection. So, I am all right with this. :)

Vet just called me to give an update! He did wonderful while he was under and is just now starting to wake up.
While he was under I had her look at his molars- and I am glad I did! He had a spur starting. She was able to trim it up a bit. :)
 

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Melissa........happy that your boy did well! You are absolutely going to love having a neutered male. My Chester was always a pretty mellow fellow, but he has proven to be an exceptional big brother.

Just keep him in a fairly small space for the first couple of days to limit his activity. He will likely be very lethargic from the anesthesia, and will just want to be in a quiet place and sleep it off. Don't be concerned if he doesn't eat or drink much for the first 24 hours. OTOH, he may be ravenous from having not eaten.

Chester had never been away from home when he was neutered, and when I picked him up at the hospital, he was cowering in a corner. Pretty soon he was happily sitting on Mom's chest in the clinic, munching on celery leaves and telling me about his adventure.

My two young guys are very hyper and tense( 6 months old), the two 3 1/2 year olds I adopted are very laid back. The difference besides age is the adopted are fixed. How old was Chester when you got him fixed?
 

Melissa123

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Melissa........happy that your boy did well! You are absolutely going to love having a neutered male. My Chester was always a pretty mellow fellow, but he has proven to be an exceptional big brother.

Just keep him in a fairly small space for the first couple of days to limit his activity. He will likely be very lethargic from the anesthesia, and will just want to be in a quiet place and sleep it off. Don't be concerned if he doesn't eat or drink much for the first 24 hours. OTOH, he may be ravenous from having not eaten.

Chester had never been away from home when he was neutered, and when I picked him up at the hospital, he was cowering in a corner. Pretty soon he was happily sitting on Mom's chest in the clinic, munching on celery leaves and telling me about his adventure.

Apparently he got a little excited at the beginning of the anesthesia. My vet said, "He was trying to impress all of us girl!" Hahahaha :D We all had a good laugh about this..

He is home now. Still kind of out of it- but is eating hay and some pellets.

I can't wait to have him with Cookie- my vet thinks I should wait 6 weeks before introing them. I was leaning for 21 days (3 weeks). She did say I could try sooner than 6 weeks but beware. Not sure how long I will be waiting now :/ I def don't want any pregnancies, though! How long did you wait to intro with your female?
 

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Some people avow that neutering doesn't change behavior, but I adamantly disagree. They are ignoring an established medical and physiological fact that testosterone is the hormone of desire AND aggression. How could removing the source of testosterone from one's body not reduce aggressive behavior? My vet says that it takes about a month for the testosterone to be out of their bodies.

I don't believe that all dominance behavior is aggressive behavior. You could have a dominant guinea pig that's not necessarily an aggressive one. Females guinea pigs, after all, show dominance behaviors and they do not have the testosterone levels that males do.

I don't think it's a good idea to say that neutering will change a pig's behavior, in that you don't want someone to have their pigs neutered with the intent of having their males get along together, only to find that they still don't get along. In my experience it's the individual personalities of the pigs that make or break a guinea pig relationship.

There are always some pigs that seem to be more aggressive, and those perhaps would benefit from neutering.
 

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Update: While dropping him off today I asked all of my questions. I got to the antibiotic one and she said he shouldn't need one and that is would most likely do more harm than good. I am trusting her judgment on this. She told me out of all of her neuters, not one has had an infection. So, I am all right with this. :)

Vet just called me to give an update! He did wonderful while he was under and is just now starting to wake up.
While he was under I had her look at his molars- and I am glad I did! He had a spur starting. She was able to trim it up a bit. :)

Hopefully your pig won't be their first one to abscess. Keep a close eye--pigs can abscess up to a year after their neuter.

I don't believe that an antibiotic would do more harm than good. Properly administered safe antibiotics are very safe.
 

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My previous guinea pig, Oreo, was neutered when he was 2 years old. He was always a hyper, energetic pig and got very aggressive towards other pigs. After the surgery he calmed down remarkably.
I'm glad Guinea's neuter went well! I'm sure he can't wait to be with his new girlfriend.
 
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