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Bertie's op

  • Thread starter Thread starter cavy love
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cavy love

hiya
we have booked my little bertie in for castration on friday. i'm really nervous. it is really neccessary i'm afraid, cos he is on his own and the only friend he can have is a girlie. we checked and the vet has done 7 other succssful ones. our vets specialise in small animals which is good O0 is there anything special i should do for his post op care?, i'm sure the vet will tell me. i'm thinking of getting a vet bed is that right? how do you use them ? do you put hay on top?
 
dont know anything about the op sorry but i just wanted to say good luck bertie O0
 
Best of luck to Bertie :-*
Yes use vet bed, preferably white which will show up any bleeding etc...sure he will be fine though. Use a rack or similar to keep his eating hay in till he is a bit better :)
 
I'm a training degree vet nurse and i work at a practice at the moment which do a lot of guinea pig castrations about 10 + a week as we do work for a piggy charity. Anyway i assist with a lot of the ops. I can explain what we do:-

We gas the Piggy's with a anesthetic, this is done by putting them in a small box, and after they have gone to sleep we use a mask to keep them asleep.
We then shave the area which we operate on, and then they move into theater.
A nurse is monitoring then at all times.
The operation is a little harder with Piggy's as they can retract their balls into their body, this means that after taking them out the muscle must be stitched up to top the intestines from fulling out. (But don't worry the vet will know all this)
After their muscle is stitched we glue the skin as it is harder for them to chew this out then stitches, but this will be up the vet they may stitch the skin up.
After this they are cleaned up and woken up, he will be kept on a heat mat and monitored every 10 or so minutes until he is fully awake.

The operation doesn't take any longer the 30 minutes.

When you take him home you may notice that he isn't himself for the next 24hours, a little quieter. Feed him as normal, clean him in doors for the next 24 hours at least, in a quiet place. If you notice the wound is bleeding take to the vets asap. We do a check up 2 days later to check on how the healing is going, but again this depends upon the veterinary practice.

If you have again more questions, just ask and don't worry he will be OK. O0
 
Wow great explanation Becky, it's great to know we have someone else also to go to for advice... aren't we lucky to have so many knowledgeable people :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

Good luck little Bertie, you'll have a lovely girlie to be friends with in a few weeks :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Wow that's really helpful becky :) there were a few questions on prolapse and why it happens a while back so i guess you answered a few there. Its a help to me because one of my piggies have been neutered (not while i had him) so it's helpful to know what he went through, thanks x
 
Its OK anytime, if you have anymore questions just ask. Don't worry he will be fine. Let me no how it goes.
 
Is he going to be inside after the op? Vetbed and towels over the top is the best idea O0

Good luck! O0
 
aww thanks everyone! we are lucky to have so many knowlegeable and caring people on the forum. great advice! thanks, i have got 2 vet beds, and some syringes and critical care, just in case. i will let you know how i get on. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
becky, do you give antibiotics and pain releif or not? thanks hun :smitten:
 
cavy love said:
aww thanks everyone! we are lucky to have so many knowlegeable and caring people on the forum. great advice! thanks, i have got 2 vet beds, and some syringes and critical care, just in case. i will let you know how i get on. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
becky, do you give antibiotics and pain releif or not? thanks hun :smitten: oh yeah and i will definitely keep him inside. should i give him a snuglesafe heat pad, i have 1 and should i give him extra vit. c?
Click to expand...
 
At the vets i work at we give them a one off injection of metacam, which is a pain killer and an injection of baytril. This will cover them for a couple of days. Really don't worry he will be fine. Just keep your eye on the wound cause the bigest problem we have is the Piggy's chewing their glue/stitch's out. But to be honest I've only seen this a hand full of times.
 
thanks hun, i worry tooo much! sorry, he means a lot to me though, they all do. 2 last questions soooorry! should i put him on a heatpad? and should i give him extra vit. c? cos i've seen somewhere that you should? SORRY! xx0 ;D
 
Don't put him on a heat mat he ill only be able to leave the vets went he gets back up to the correct body temp, so if you then put him on a heat mat there is a chance he will over heat. As for the vit C to be honest i don't know, i can just say that I've never been told this, we are just told to keep the diet the same there is no need to change it. But i'll check this with a vet today for you.

I understand why you are worried, i do the same when it's my piggies, one of mine had a toe taken off a couple of months ago and i worried the whole time.
 
thanks hun! you are so helpful! i did wonder about him overheating. i'm sorry that i keep on lol! is your piggie better now? hugs :smitten:
 
Hi Cavy Love,

I agree with Becky re heat pad,but a vet bed would be fine.This will keep him warm enough and dry as well.

I always give a vitimin C supplement to poorly or post op pigs and piggies that are not eating normally.It helps to boost the immune system.

The supplement I use is Abidec,one drop per day.This is easy to use.

Hugs to Bertie from The Epsom Mob.
 
I spoke to the vet about the vit C, she said if the piggy is young and having a well balanced then there is no medical reason for this. However, it would not hurt if you wanted to.

We had a piggy in today who came in to be castrated. He was lovely friendly 6 months old. He was fine during the operaion and was eating again 2 hours later. Hope this puts your mind at ease.

Let me no how he is when you bring him home.
 
thanks, he's young and gets a great diet, homegrown organic food etc lol! thank you for checking, and that does put my mind at rest a bit. i wont bother with the vit. c then, he's very healthy! :smitten: thanks again
 
9 am so at least i dont have to wait tooooo long . I'm sooo worried :-\
 
Do you know what time you can get him back or do you just have to wait and see.

Try not to worry he will be fine, but i no why you would worry i worry about mine all the time.
 
ummm they said they'd phone around 3-4, but it just depends i guess. thanks, i'm trying not to worry. lol :)
 
Been think of you all day, let us know how he is as soon as you do. :smitten:
 
thanks guys. the op went well phew! he is REALLY sleepy and quiet, but ok, the wound looks quite sore, obviously. he's eating a little, but the nurse said he might stop when the pain releif injection (metacam) has worn off, so i'll keep an eye on him. They also gave him an injection of anti biotics too which is good. i am worried though, cos he isn't drinking, is this normal? should i leave it syringe feed him water ? We have fibreplex to give him 3 times a day for 3 days, and metacam to give him 1 time a day, adn he is going back for a check up on monday and i'm to phone if something goes wrong. so his cage is all soft, hay in a rack, towels down, vet bed and no spiky stuff and he's basically just sleeping. he seems to be fidling a bit with his wound, is this ok? thanks for your help, and i'll let you know how he gets on. :)
 
That's really good new I'm so happy :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

Leave him till about 10, if he has drank try syringing some water into him, but i would worry to much. The anesthetic will slow down his body for 24 hours, so he won't need to drink and eat as much as normal, plus more then likely he will just sleep. Just keep your eye on him playing with his wound, make sure be doesn't reopen it.

He sound like he is doing fine though. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
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