Neutering/Spaying Steve neutered in San Diego

[TCTrun]

Today I had my piggie Steve neutered at Turquoise Animal Hospital in San Diego. I called around to several vets, and most of them wanted around $300-$350 for a neuter. Highway robbery if you ask me. I was a little nervous, since I have heard mixed things about Turquoise. I will post later on how Steve is doing, but so far he's walking around with obviously very little pain and eating a lot! Dr. Atkinson did his neuter. I had previously read Cavyspirit's page on neutering, and my experience with Dr. Atkinson was like checking off all the right boxes on that page. Pre-examination? Check. Isoflurane anesthesia? Check. Extra sutures to ensure inguinal ring is structurally sound? Check. Antibiotics? Check. Pain meds? Check. Best of all, the checkup was $50 and the neuter was only $100. My previous vet (I'm not going to her anymore) wanted $350! Dr. Atkinson was very friendly and knowledgable about guinea pigs. He said he has owned them in the past. I was also told that he has done guinea pig, rabbit, and rat neuters in the past. Overall, I had an extremely positive experience. I encourage anyone who needs a guinea pig neuter to do his/her own research, but I just wanted to share my positive experience in case anybody in the San Deigo area is looking...

 

[SeeSpotSit]

That's awesome news TCTrun! Thank you for sharing your positive experience. It's good to know Dr. Atkinson knows about piggies I'll keep his number close at hand. Good thoughts to your little man too!

 

[TCTrun]

Thanks! Little dude is annoyed, but he will thank me later when he gets three new female roomies!

 

[ILoveMillie]

Dr. Cote is also a great vet in San Diego. Ct Animal Hospital - Irene Mary Ct DVM - San Diego, CA I have heard nothing but good things about her!

 

[TCTrun]

Dr. Cote is the vet that charges $300 for a neuter plus $50 for a pre-checkup. I have heard that she is extremely good at neuters and has very rigorous aftercare, but $350 seems quite excessive! As far as I can tell, the only thing that she might do that Dr. Atkinson didn't is administer IV fluids during surgery. When you can adopt an already neutered piggie for $40, $350 sounds pretty excessive...

 

[bpatters]

TCTrun, you might want to post that positive review on Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Shelters, Veterinarians - Guinea Pig Zone so others will get the benefit of it.

 

[TCTrun]

Just a quick update to hopefully help anybody in the SD area. Steve is doing very well. He ate a little less than usual yesterday, but today he is eating quite a lot. He has not lost any weight at all! Dr. Atkinson called to ask how all was going. He offered to check out Steve to make sure he is healing well free of charge. Finally one more comment about Dr. Cote - She is very friendly and I have heard many outstanding things from several cavy owners.I do think she is a little pricy, but her office is in a very nice and probably expensive part of town. Also, she has given my piggies wellness checkups and done a very satisfactory job. As an added bonus, the first checkup forbade newly adopted cavy is free! I just didn't want to discourage anybody from taking their piggies to her...