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Neutering/Spaying Is a guinea pig okay with this long of a fast time?

CavyLover1234

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We will be getting our guinea pig neutered later this week, and the vet said to not let him eat anything after 12:00 the night before and that they did not feed the guinea pigs food while the pigs were there.

That would be 16 hours without food or hay. Is that safe? It sounds like a long time for a guinea pig to go without food.
 

Princess_Piggie

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I'm by no means an expert, but it doesn't sound safe at all. That long without anything through a guinea pigs system sounds extremely dangerous to me. I think you need a weigh in here off someone with more knowledge like [MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION] or [MENTION=12813]CavyMama[/MENTION].
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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Is your vet an exotic vet or a cat/dog/sometimes sees small animals vet?
 

Rywen

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Yikes! My exotics vet said guinea pigs should never fast before surgery (or for any reason really). She asked me to put hay into Ferb's carrier before his neuter so he would keep eating right up until they took him into surgery. Then the most important thing after he woke up was to make sure he started eating hay again right away. I suggest looking for a different exotics vet to do the neuter.
 

CavyLover1234

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He sees exotics and other animals, and he says he has neutered about 15 guinea pigs, all of which have done just fine. I just learned about the fasting time, and it has me very nervous.
 

Starthecavy123

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That's what I thought to
 

CavyMama

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Guinea pigs do not vomit so there is no risk of aspiration while under anesthesia. No need to fast. Vets will advise owners of cats & dogs, no food before surgery but it doesn't apply to guinea pigs. Guinea pigs need to keep their gut moving. Fasting will cause digestion problems. It sounds like that vet is not cavy savvy and for a procedure like this, I would look elsewhere.
 

bpatters

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There's no point in fasting a guinea pig. The whole purpose in fasting is so there's nothing in the stomach that can be vomited up and aspirated into the lungs. Since guinea pigs don't vomit, there's no need for fasting. Also, guinea pigs are herbivores, and they MUST have food moving through their guts at all times or they'll go into GI stasis (the intestines stop moving). The contents of the intestines start to ferment and give off gas, which can lead to bloat, which is a medical emergency.

My vet says specifically NOT to fast a guinea pig before surgery except for one hour prior to.

If it were me, I'd be running out the door to look for another vet.
 

CavyLover1234

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Thanks everybody. :)

We canceled the appointment.
 
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