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Castration Yesterday

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Guineapig_8

Junior Guinea Pig
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My baby was castrated yesterday, the wounds look fine and the vet assures me everything went fine. I'm just a bit worried that hes not eating enough, a lot of threads on here seem to say their guinea pig was eating normally within a few hours? He's eating herbs from my hand and his favourite veggies but isn't going for his hay or nuggets by himself. Does this sound normal for this point? I've given him some critical care this morning but not sure if its necessary.. have also been giving Bupravet and metacam so wondering if that's what might be spacing him out.
 
Keep an eye on his weight and make sure the site of op looks healthy enough. Don't go by before weight though
 
Guinea pigs require a high fibre diet so if he isn’t eating hay for himself, then you will need to syringe feed him until he eats for himself. Syringing him won’t stop him from wanting to eat his hay, but it will ensure his system stays working properly until he feels better.

How often is he being given the metacam and at what dosage? They metabolise their meds quickly so it would be useful to know how often he gets his pain relief
 
I've had piggies that have gone back to eating straight away after surgery but my first boar I had neutered didn't. He was fairly quiet and still so I made up some critical care which he lapped up from a spoon and that seemed to kick-start his appetite. I only did it the once then he was back to normal but some piggies do need a helping hand to get there
 
My skinny pig boar went straight back to eating after he was neutered. However, I recently had Milo neutered and had to syringe feed him critical care for about 24 hours before he got his appetite back.

I would step in with support feeding if he is refusing his hay and nuggets.
 
Guineapig_8 said:
My baby was castrated yesterday, the wounds look fine and the vet assures me everything went fine. I'm just a bit worried that hes not eating enough, a lot of threads on here seem to say their guinea pig was eating normally within a few hours? He's eating herbs from my hand and his favourite veggies but isn't going for his hay or nuggets by himself. Does this sound normal for this point? I've given him some critical care this morning but not sure if its necessary.. have also been giving Bupravet and metacam so wondering if that's what might be spacing him out.
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Hi!

Please weigh him daily at the same time and step in with topping up/syringe feeding if your boy is not eating properly. You can find tips on how you can improvise in the emergency guide if you do not have any recovery formula at home.

Please take the time to read these guides here; they will talk you through post-op care in the days after an operation, the specifics of what to look out for after a neutering operation (possible complication but also how a problem-free recovery should run) and emergency care with tips on what you can do with what you have got handy in case things go really badly wrong. A
All guides are very useful to bookmark and to use as a resource in the coming days and weeks:
Tips For Post-operative Care
Neutering operations: Considerations, post-op care and a successful recovery example
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
Guineapig_8 said:
My baby was castrated yesterday, the wounds look fine and the vet assures me everything went fine. I'm just a bit worried that hes not eating enough, a lot of threads on here seem to say their guinea pig was eating normally within a few hours? He's eating herbs from my hand and his favourite veggies but isn't going for his hay or nuggets by himself. Does this sound normal for this point? I've given him some critical care this morning but not sure if its necessary.. have also been giving Bupravet and metacam so wondering if that's what might be spacing him out.
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How is he doing now? I'm having my baby done soon and to be honest a bit worried. Has he perked up?
 
Thanks everyone. He's not doing very well, his wounds like fine but his appetite has completely gone and he's barely moved. Most worryingly his sides were heaving and his heart beat was making his whole body pulsate by this evening. We've taken him to the vets who are keeping him over night. They dont think it's an infection (no high temp or signs around wound) and suspect maybe it's the pain although agreed that the meds hes on are at the maximum dose. They agreed to try baytril, feed critical care and are keeping him in the incubator to keep warm. I'm so upset that yesterday morning we had such a healthy happy pig and tonight we have one that's in a really bad way. I've no idea what has gone so wrong :( Praying the baytril works miracles over night or that they figure out what is wrong with him. Has anyone else had this experience? Know what might help that we could suggest to the vet?
 
Guineapig_8 said:
Thanks everyone. He's not doing very well, his wounds like fine but his appetite has completely gone and he's barely moved. Most worryingly his sides were heaving and his heart beat was making his whole body pulsate by this evening. We've taken him to the vets who are keeping him over night. They dont think it's an infection (no high temp or signs around wound) and suspect maybe it's the pain although agreed that the meds hes on are at the maximum dose. They agreed to try baytril, feed critical care and are keeping him in the incubator to keep warm. I'm so upset that yesterday morning we had such a healthy happy pig and tonight we have one that's in a really bad way. I've no idea what has gone so wrong :( Praying the baytril works miracles over night or that they figure out what is wrong with him. Has anyone else had this experience? Know what might help that we could suggest to the vet?
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Really sorry to hear about this.
My vet said to me that there is a high chance my boy Finn won't make it through the surgery so I never went through it. For Lara, my vet won't get her fixed unless she has medical issues. Therefore, my boy Finn and Lara live in separate cages.
While I was looking for a younger boy roommate for my boy Finn, my friend dropped a girl piggie Lara for me to look after, so I took her in because I didn't want to see her homeless.
I contemplated on getting my boy fixed but I didn't want to lose him so I left him attached. I love him too much, and I am afraid I might lose him. They live in separate cages and that is the best I can do.
 
Guineapig_8 said:
Thanks everyone. He's not doing very well, his wounds like fine but his appetite has completely gone and he's barely moved. Most worryingly his sides were heaving and his heart beat was making his whole body pulsate by this evening. We've taken him to the vets who are keeping him over night. They dont think it's an infection (no high temp or signs around wound) and suspect maybe it's the pain although agreed that the meds hes on are at the maximum dose. They agreed to try baytril, feed critical care and are keeping him in the incubator to keep warm. I'm so upset that yesterday morning we had such a healthy happy pig and tonight we have one that's in a really bad way. I've no idea what has gone so wrong :( Praying the baytril works miracles over night or that they figure out what is wrong with him. Has anyone else had this experience? Know what might help that we could suggest to the vet?
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I am sorry to hear this. He is in the right place though to get help.

How often is being given pain killers?
 
I'm so sorry things have gone down this route. With knowledgeable vets there is always a small risk but these kind of scenarios are rare. Perhaps they could try different pain relief such as tramadol for a few days to see if that makes a difference
 
Guineapig_8 said:
Thanks everyone. He's not doing very well, his wounds like fine but his appetite has completely gone and he's barely moved. Most worryingly his sides were heaving and his heart beat was making his whole body pulsate by this evening. We've taken him to the vets who are keeping him over night. They dont think it's an infection (no high temp or signs around wound) and suspect maybe it's the pain although agreed that the meds hes on are at the maximum dose. They agreed to try baytril, feed critical care and are keeping him in the incubator to keep warm. I'm so upset that yesterday morning we had such a healthy happy pig and tonight we have one that's in a really bad way. I've no idea what has gone so wrong :( Praying the baytril works miracles over night or that they figure out what is wrong with him. Has anyone else had this experience? Know what might help that we could suggest to the vet?
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Oh my goodness that's awful news. Praying he pulls through, keep us updated
 
Guineapig_8 said:
Thanks everyone. He's not doing very well, his wounds like fine but his appetite has completely gone and he's barely moved. Most worryingly his sides were heaving and his heart beat was making his whole body pulsate by this evening. We've taken him to the vets who are keeping him over night. They dont think it's an infection (no high temp or signs around wound) and suspect maybe it's the pain although agreed that the meds hes on are at the maximum dose. They agreed to try baytril, feed critical care and are keeping him in the incubator to keep warm. I'm so upset that yesterday morning we had such a healthy happy pig and tonight we have one that's in a really bad way. I've no idea what has gone so wrong :( Praying the baytril works miracles over night or that they figure out what is wrong with him. Has anyone else had this experience? Know what might help that we could suggest to the vet?
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So sorry to hear your piggy isn't recovering from the op like expected. We had this issue with one of ours, and unfortunately after 3 weeks of antibiotics, and pain meds he didn't pull through. Similar situation with the wound healing well and no signs of infection or otherwise, ours got better after two weeks and then went down hill once the baytril was finished. It was suggested that ours might have has an internal tracking infection that isn't always obvious externally but really badly affects gastric mobility. Might be worth suggesting it to the vet, ours was put on stronger antibiotics too late unfortunately.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you and your boy.
 
Sorry to hear your boy is so poorly after his op, most neutering ops go smoothly but sadly there are always a few piggies who get complications or react badly to the anaesthetic drugs. Hugs and healing wheeks, hope he will be ok, by getting him straight back to the vet you've given him the best chance x
 
Thanks everyone, the vets have just updated us that they were about to do some xrays and he sneezed a lot of blood and they are concerned that he has a very bad infection (had lots of middle ear infections over a year ago which they think must have been under the surface for a long time and the anesthetic aggravated the airways. Basically not looking good and they dont feel able to do do xrays because they dont think hed survive any stress or anesthetic. Theyre going to try and get a conscious xray to see how bad it's looking.. I cant believe it. Has anyone else had this sort of thing happen?
 
I am sorry to hear this. I hope they are able to find out what is happening and get him well again.
I don’t have any specific advice but just wanted to offer my support.
 
That's very tough news, poor little man. Thinking of you and him
 
So sorry to hear this news.
Hope the vets can treat the infection and pull him round.
Holding you in my heart
 
Thanks everyone for your support, sadly Frank died this afternoon. Xray showed massive infections in his ear, brain and lungs as well as lots of bleeding. Something he wouldn't recover from. They believe that the ear problems were a ticking time bomb and this ending was inevitable but the operation/ anesthetic triggered it all off. We are absolutely heart broken and cant believe how quickly this happened and how badly things went.

Frank was a really fun and lovely pig who made our lives so much brighter.
 
Oh what sad news. I am truly sorry for your loss
RIP little fella.💕🌈🐾
 
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