• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Can't neuter Guinea pig because of risks

  • Thread starter Thread starter DM231019
  • Start date Start date
D

DM231019

Hello, I have a male guinea pig named Winston and a while back we had adopted a female guinea pig hoping to neuter Winston soon after breeding them for the first and only time. She had four babies, the cutest little pigs, and we called a vet that specializes in neutering and spaying guinea pigs. He had left us a voicemail stating how dangerous it is to go through with neutering and spaying guinea pigs and we decided we didn't wanna take the risk of losing Winston or Penelope (the female pig). Is it best we give away Penelope to a loving home and adopt Winston a male guinea pig instead?. Thank you so much for all responses in advance.
 
JJspig555 said:
Hello, I have a male guinea pig named Winston and a while back we had adopted a female guinea pig hoping to neuter Winston soon after breeding them for the first and only time. She had four babies, the cutest little pigs, and we called a vet that specializes in neutering and spaying guinea pigs. He had left us a voicemail stating how dangerous it is to go through with neutering and spaying guinea pigs and we decided we didn't wanna take the risk of losing Winston or Penelope (the female pig). Is it best we give away Penelope to a loving home and adopt Winston a male guinea pig instead?. Thank you so much for all responses in advance.
Click to expand...
You have more chance of your male and female getting on than 2 males. As far is I'm aware neutering isnt dangerous atall really if you have a good vet who is experienced at doing it. I'm getting my boar neutered next friday.
 
If you have the space you could keep Winston and a male friend, and Penelope and a female friend seperate?
It’s really up to space money and time. Please never breed pigs in the future, unless you are very experienced... 😁
 
Neutering with a healthy piggy and a good vet is usually a very safe and routine procedure. Our little husboar Theo would definitely recommend it, he loves having 4 lady friends, I also panicked and fretted until I was physically sick before and during his operation, but we took him to the vets at 8.30 in the morning, they phoned before 1pm it was all done and he'd woken up and had a syringe feed from the nurse, then we picked him up that evening. He was a bit sleepy and out of sorts for about 24 hours, then he was fine in himself but walking a bit funny for another 24 hours, then he was all better and climbing on his house roof to flirt with his future wives in the next door cage 3 days post-op like nothing had happened :)
 
Hi and welcome

Please try to find a vet who is confident with operating on guinea pigs - a good vet is key to operation success! Guinea pigs sadly have and still don't feature much in a general vet's curriculum in many countries, so knowledge and operation skills with small furries can vary enormously.

You should find the information in this guide here helpful and interesting. Only one of your pair needs to be neutered. It is generally boars, as most vets find neutering easier than a more invasive spaying operation, but there are some dissenting voices.
Please be aware that there has to be a 6 weeks post-op wait with boars. The little surprise baby in my avatar is the last gift from a supposedly over 5 weeks post-op boar (not one of mine, I hasten to add).
The guide does contain links to recommended vets in several countries. Perhaps you have one of them within your reach?
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths And Facts

My very first own guinea pig was a neutered boar back in the 80ies, who was still going strong when he died aged 6.
I've always had neutered boars when I came back to keeping guinea pigs. I currently have got 9 boars; 8 of them are neutered and the 9th will be as soon as he reaches the minimal weight my vet is happy with for operating.
I have and have had several spayed sows; the oldest was 5 years when she was spayed and am currently saving up for another spaying operation for an ovarian cyst sometime next year before it can go wrong.

PS: What has happened to the babies? Please be aware that you need to separate any baby boars from mother and sisters at 3 weeks of age or you are facing the next round of pregnancies with an even higher risk of fatality than the usual 1 in every 5 births going wrong even with the best of care. It is one of the main reasons why we are a strictly non-breeding forum.
 
I don’t want to give you a lecture but any discussion about intentional breeding is banned on this forum.
I am not sure why you chose to breed from Penelope but that decision carried risks that you were prepared to take.
I’m assuming that you have separated them to prevent future pregnancies? And what happened to the babies? If there was a baby boar could he be paired with Winston? Could baby sows be paired with Penelope?
In the right hands neutering of boars is very safe. If Winston is neutered he would be safe to live with Penelope after 6 weeks. Spaying a sow is a much bigger operation and only usually carried out on health grounds. So if you plan to keep them together then neutering Winston is the way forward.
 
With a vet accustomed to doing guinea pig neuters, it is a pretty safe procedure (realistically probably carrying less risk than breeding did for your female.) I would shop around for a vet who is experienced with small animal surgeries before making any decision about adopting out Penelope or acquiring a new friend for your boy.
 
I have Finn and Lara in separate cages. They are indoor piggies.

I have never considered breeding because I am not experienced and I wouldn’t know what to do. I would leave the breeding up to the professionals who know what to do in a more humane way.
 
The story behind Lara was that she was unwanted by a friend so I was appointed Lara’s pet parent by my friend. Long story short, I didn’t want to see Lara without a home so I took her in, bought her a separate cage for $100, gave her cuddle pouches she loves, and many cuddle toys to play with.

My Finn has always got his three servings of veggies per day so Lara soon got the same. Lara has never had veggies according to this friend who gave her to me. My friend told me she didn’t even know guinea pigs ate veggies.
 
@JJspig555 It's completely up to you, but I get attached to pigs quite easily and would prefer to keep them if I can.

All surgeries have risks, of course, but you can limit the risk by using a good guinea pig surgeon.

My Flint was neutered by my great guinea pig vet at the beginning on August and you would have been hard to see the stitches they were that neat and small. Other than him not eating alot on the night after the surgery he has been completely fine.

I'd recommend ringing round a few different vets to ask how well neutered pigs have recovered after having surgery by them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top