Neutering/Spaying Opinions on neutering boar so he can join sis and mom

[Gonzo]

We just lost Griffin, the father of our boar piggie Bandit and another sow, Whiskers. Whiskers lives with her mom, Mickey. Bandit is now alone.

As much as I'd like to get Bandit another friend, we're finding the loss of a piggie to be extremely painful, and would be just another heartache waiting down the road. Further, they are my daughter's piggies, and she will be going off to college this fall.

I am fully dedicated to taking care of them, as I have gotten pretty knowledgeable in their care after she brought home 'two males' from the pet store, and we ended up with three babies. One died about a month after birth due to a birth defect.

The most logical decision at this point seems to me to have Bandit neutered so he can join his mother and sister. I know there's a risk, but it's so sad seeing Bandit all alone now. Ironically, a neighbor has a 5 yr old boar we sit from time to time, and he's always lived alone in a small cage!

I'd really like to hear opinions on having him neutered. Maybe there's things I haven't thought of, but it seems so right to have him join the rest of his family again. Plus, I could merge their two cages, and give the three a really nice, large area! I'm looking down the road, too, to a (hopefully) distant day when another piggie will pass. We'd be in the same situation again if it's one of the sows, only then we'd have two lonely piggies! I'd definitely seek out the best vet I could find in the Atlanta area to neuter him.

 

[sophistacavy]

This is a tougie. I started a thread about neutering, and whether its worth the risk (for cavies), and I got a half and half response. Half of the replies said that it was too risky for such a small creature, and the others said that they have found extremely excellent vets whom they would trust with anything. So, I can't really help, sorry! Just letting you know that you'll probably get mixed responses.

I personally think that it is both a risky procedure, and one that is worth it. Especially in your situation (my condolences) I would say it is worth it, but at the same time, it doesn't remove the risk factor.

Good luck! Hopefully you'll be getting a more helpful response soon

 

[pigsmakemesmile]

I'm really sorry that you lost a pig. I know the pain of loosing such a dear little friend. I also see your dilemma wanting to pair them all up. It's a wonderful idea to have all together. However, I lost my pig this past August over what is normally a simple procedure. He didn't do well from the anethesia and went into total congestive heart failure hours after the anethesia. He had a super huge abscess on his face and despite antibiotics and flushings, it wouldn't resolve and required surgical intervention. The vet was new, and highly recommended..yeah right. New vet...dead pig ,I'll never do that again....going with a new vet in the practice. I still haven't gotten over it. I personally don't believe in neutering or spaying pigs and believe in housing only same sex simply to avoid putting the little one through a procedure and at the same time, preventing pregnancies. I can only recommend getting the little fella a younger boar. Having him share a divided cage could create a problem with an unspayed female. I just feel it's not fair to subject an animal large or small through a procedure for the sake of housing male and females together. The animal has no say in what's being done to its body, the procedure is risky, finding a very well experienced, qualified small animal vet can be hard. There's also discomfort to the animal. I have 5 boars. Through trial and error they're all paired up however I do have one who is alone but shares a divided cage so he can smell and communicate with the others without them fighting and hurting each other. I'm not an expert, I don't agree on neutering. However others do and have their reason. I try and think from an animals perespective. I understand your reasoning in avoiding getting another pig to prevent the pain and heartache of loosing something you so much love. I cherish each and every moment I'm with them. I feel honored that God gave me the responsiblilty to care for them. I didn't get another pig after Chubbs died. I'm just not ready to. Until then, I'm just enjoying the pigs I have and am thankful I had the opportunity to care for Chubbs whom I acquired from a rescue with his brother whom I still have.
Good luck

 

[Gonzo]

My biggest concern is definitely putting him through the pain and risk. However, I also know that it's probably the least invasive surgery that can be performed on a piggy. I know of a really good, experienced Vet that only handles exotic pets. They don't even see dogs or cats. I plan on speaking with the vet to get their opinion. If they feel a 90% chance of no complications is likely (and I know there's NO guarantees!), I would definitely consider it. Anything less than that is too risky in my opinion.

While I don't like spaying or neutering either, the fact is, if all the pet shops were required to spay or neuter their 'products' like most cats and dogs are required, we wouldn't have the problem with so many piggies living such miserable lives in the hands of people who shouldn't even be allowed to have pets! I can't even stand to go into a pet shop now. If I have to, I hurry past the pens lest I break down in tears.

I just don't know how long Bandit can handle being alone. When we would put them together on the floor with the girls (with a divider between them), he would obsess over the females. It would drive him crazy to be in sight of them all the time, I would think.

I'm wondering if he was neutered, if he'd still chase after the sows, or if he'd mellow out like cats and dogs do? I've also seen reports that sows will bully neutered boars, as they somehow know they've lost their mojo. lol

Hopefully I'll get some more opinions. I'd really like to hear from others what their experiences have been with neutering. In the end, I've found that these kinds of choices make themselves self-evident after you ponder them long enough. I just don't want Bandit to start pining away, or get depressed. That's probably just as risky as neutering him, or introducing him to another stranger in his life. Who knows?? Too bad we can't read their little minds!

 

[Jennicat]

Our rescue neuters a majority of our males, and we have neutered males as old as 5 years of age (that one was done due to medical reasons, but the piggie was fine, regardless). We have a very low rate of complications (we didn't have any abscess last year), and we have only had 2 deaths related to neutering, both due to veterinary error by an unexperienced vet. The same vet learned tremendously from the experience and now neuters our pigs with minor problems.

 

[tehdoc809]

Very risky indeed. However, If the vet has enough experience and a low loss rate.. very low because there are indeed no guarentees, It could work. We are going to have our boar neutered hopefully sometime next month so he can finally be housed with our sows who he desperatly wants to get too. We think he is starting to get depressed because we know he can smell them, they are just across the room, but we can't move them because there is no other room big enough for a CC cage. And we want him to be happy and our original plan was to house them together, we just didn;t know it would take this long to get the money for it because it was more expensive then we thought it was going to be.

 

[clotho]

If you can find a vet who has done lots of neuter operations on guinea pigs and has a great success rate, I don't see a problem with you going for it if your piggie is in good health.

I see your reasoning behind wanting to put the piggies together and you need to do what is best for your situation. Getting another piggie when you don't truly want one is not a good option.

Please remember that if you do neuter him, he needs to be kept away from the girls for 3-4 weeks after the surgery to make sure all his sperm are gone. Here is a page to read through with lots of good information and thought provoking questions:

Guinea Pig Neutering, How to Neuter your Guinea Pigs

Another option would be to create a divided cage that he can live in - next to the girls - he can see them , smell them, but not get to them. You would need to make sure the cage was VERY secure and the male's side had a lid on it because males have been known to climb over grids to reach a female in heat.

 

[NicholsS10]

This is what I posted on sophistacavy's thread about neutering, maybe it will help with your decision. It's a long, personal story, so bare with me. I also just copied and pasted this:

First, I'll tell you how the story ended... HAPPY! My neutered boy lives with his 4 beautiful girls, and he's happier than he's ever been, and the girls are too!

I was looking into adopting a boy because whenever my girls went into heat, they all humped each other like crazy, so I looked into getting a "fixed" boy. Well, where I live, I couldn't find one! All the ones that would be a good match, weren't already neutered and I spent over a month looking. I finally decide that I would pay for the surgery.

I found a good vet that's done many successful neuters before and that was in my price range.

I then looked at unaltered boys, and fell in love with the saddest eyes I saw on petfinder.com! I went and met him. I was completely taken with him! He had a sad story: the family before me held him and loved him, but didn't know how to properly CARE for him. The result... nails growing into the pads of his feet, hair loss, and poor nutrition. But, he was sweet as can be. I filled out the application, was approved, and brought him home the next day.

I took him to the vet right away for a check up (I trimmed down his nails very short first). The hair loss was due to poor nutrition and stress... it was just barbering. He was a little underweight too. I eventually scheduled the surgery for 5 weeks later. Now I waited THIS long for the surgery because I wanted to bound with him first, so he would trust me. They way I could also determine any other health problems too, but their weren't any. He also gained weight.

Surgery day came and I was really nervous, but he was fine.

Despite my constant cleaning of his hospital cage, and living on softest towels I could find, he developed an infection.

His "private area" swelled up to the size of a ping pong ball almost over night (after about a week). I took him in right away. He got an x-ray, a shot of pain meds, and some antibiotics to clear the infection, but it didn't work. (I also applied vaseline three times a day since it got red from him dragging it around). 2 weeks after his neuter he went under the knife again.

It ended up being a concentrated infection, and he had to leave the wound open to let the puss drain out. I had to apply topical antibiotics and give him oral ones as well. I had to force feed him a couple times, it was scary, but he made it and pulled through like the little trooper he is!

By the time he recovered from that surgery, I was able to move him in with the girls, and he was the happiest pig in the world. He spent 30 minutes strutting, popcorning, and running around before passing out in a corner.

Everyday he popcorns, struts, and is affectionate with my girls.

So, the decision to neuter or not to neuter should not be taken lightly, and can only be made by you. Keep in mind that there CAN BE COMPLICATIONS, I did EVERYTHING I was suppose to do to the letter, and he still got an infection, sometimes it's inevitable. But the payoff for my pigs, was amazing.

I only hope that my story can help you with your dilemma.

 

[Gonzo]

I remember reading this in another thread, when I was searching. It's good info. I understand the risk, and if we decide to go through with it, I'm ready to do what's necessary if things happen to go the way yours did.

A few questions for people who have had their piggies neutered:

Do you know how long the recovery time is (assuming no complications)?

Do they haveuse 'cat-gut' stitches - the kind that just go away, or will stitches have to be removed later?

Do they have to wear the little 'lampshade' around their neck? Griffin (our piggie that passed away) wore one for about 30 seconds after the vet treated his eye poke. The stress of that thing, and the fact there's no way he could possibly eat caused me to remove it right away. He was bucking and jumping all over his cage, and I was really afraid he would choke himself or severely injure himself. I actually decided he'd be better off losing his eye from scratching it (which it turns out, he didn't do) than to injure himself.

I'm just trying to get as much info as possible before deciding. It's been about 5 days now since he lost his father. It's hard to tell his mental state, but he definitely seems less happy. No pop-corning or 'happy' chuttering that they used to do. :weepy:

 

[Jennicat]

Gonzo, every vet is probably different. Our guys come home fully awake and pretty rambunctious. We have to put them in smaller cages to keep them from running around too much and hurting themselves! Generally 1 week to 10 days will see the surgical incisions healed.

Our vet uses dissolvable stitches internally and surgical glue on the outside, so we don't have to go back in and have stitches removed.

None of our guys have had to use the lampshade. We give them pain medication for the first 2 days after surgery, and then stop and monitor for the 3rd day to make sure the area is not still giving them pain. I haven't had any pigs that needed it past the 3rd day, with the exception of my pig Hobo, who had an allergic reaction to the sutures and developed several abscesses that we had to keep treating. (That was 3 years ago). Hobo spent a lot of time chewing on his leg -- I think sometimes they can have a hard time figuring out where pain is coming from.

 

[Gonzo]

UPDATE: Opinions on neutering boar so he can join sis and mom

Bandit went to the vet yesterday for his neutering, and is doing great. I took him in about 9:30 am. The vet did a rabbit just before Bandit, and the nurse told me Bandit was awake and eating even before the rabbit woke up! I picked him up, and we were on our way home by 3:30 pm.

He's eating well. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, but I noticed his poos seem to get about 95% out, but hang on. The vet told me there might be a little swelling, and it should get better in a day or so. He's got lots of poos, so I know he's no blocked up or anything.

They used surgical glue exclusively. No stitches. I got pain medication for today, and they told me he wouldn't need it after today. And, the vet was VERY adamant about keeping him away from the girls for at least 3 to 4 weeks (suggested 4 to be safe).

Other than a feeling that he's looking at me like I betrayed him, everything seems fine. Maybe that 'look' is partly MY guilt, and partly the residual 'shell-shock' of his trip to the vet, the procedure, and the ride home. Another great benefit - they did blood work on him before surgery to make sure he's in good health, they checked his teeth, and trimmed his nails while he was 'out of it'.

 

[claire]

That's brilliant news that Bandit made it through the op. I've got my fingers crossed he recuperates well.

 

[Gonzo]

I don't think this has anything to do with Bandit's neutering - it's been over a week now, and he seems to have recovered nicely - but, he started acting very strangely yesterday.

His poos are pinched on one end, described on guinealynx as 'tear-drop shaped', and possibly a sign of dehydration. He's not acting himself. He stays in his igloo most of the time, but he is eating, both veggies, and some hay. But, he's not eating as much hay as he was before. We have recently started him on KM hay last Tuesday, but he seemed to eat that fine until he started acting different on Friday. Occasionally, he will make a strange grunting sound, and kinda lunge a bit, like he may have some pain.

We took him to the vet Saturday morning, and the vet didn't think it was bloat. He did give him an injection of reglan and dexpanthenol as a precaution. He also gave me simethicone to give him 3 times a day for a few days. The vet also did not think the condition was anything to worry about unless it persists, or gets worse.

If he wasn't eating or pooing, I'd be really scared, but it really seems vague. I even thought he may be pining or depressed because of the loss of his roommate Griffin a few weeks ago. We did notice that his cage - meaning, I guess, his poos and possibly urine - has a different smell to it than usual.

Just wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before, or had any ideas or suggestions. :sad: