Help For Male Piggie Due Castration Op Next Monday Please!

[suepen]

Good afternoon all,from a gloriously warm,and very sunny Cornwall.I was hoping someone might be able to help me if they possibly could? Our male piggie Shadow,is being neutured next Monday 13th April. He will be having his op sometime in the morning,and I am collecting him at about 5pm,that evening. I intend to bring him home and put him in his cage,and leave him in peace and quiet to recover,with his usual food and water supply. Does anyone have experience of how long it takes piggies to recover fully from this op,is there anything particular to watch out for,bar infection and suchlike.Do they have disposable stitches or will he have to go back to have them removed? Finally,once his bits have had the chop,would it be possible to introduce him to our female piggie Willow,who hasn't been spayed,and who is two and a half years old,and has never had any dealings with our little chap at all,bar seeing and smelling each other through one or the other's cage bars,( they both live in seperate cages you see),when I take one or the other out! Sorry to have made such a novel of this ladies and gents,but want to make sure,our little piggie is getting the best possible care when he comes back home.Thank you.all.

 

[Wiebke]

For information on the operation, you may find our "castration explained" thread helpful - but be warned that the pictures are rather graphic!

Ideally, your boy should just bounce back and carry on as normal, but some boars can rather struggle from the general anaesthetic. Using either a general vet with lots of experience in guinea pig neutering or a specialist with practice in small furry operations will go a long way towards minimising this risk, as well as the risk of post-op complications like abscesses.

Please ask your vet when you pick him up post-op how soon he can have painkillers again, in case you need to see an out-of-hours vet.

Please have hand feed, probiotics and vitamin C handy in case you need it, so you can step in as soon as you notice that your boy is not eating and drinking fully. Your care in that respect can really make a difference!
Weigh your boy daily at the same time in the feeding cycle for the first two weeks. Check on him at least once during the first night to make sure that he is not pulling/gnawing on the operation scars.

Keep him on light vet bed, fleece, towels or cosies, so you can notice any major bleeding. Change at least once daily during the first 2-3 days. The wounds should knit fully within 10-14 days. These days, the operation scars are very small and usually glued.
Check the groin area daily for any sign of swelling (abscess or much rarer, hernia) or any changes in his genitals. Please have him also seen asap if he is lethargic, not picking up or losing his appetite suddenly/losing weight (which is often the sign of an internal infection).

Abscesses can happen weeks or even months after an operation; keep checking the groin area every few days.

Your boy will 100% safe to meet girls after 6 weeks post-op wait. I have the surprise baby courtesy of a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post-op boar (not one of mine!), just to prove that particular point. It can really happen as late as that!

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-castration-explained.70606/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/
http://www.guinealynx.info/postop.html