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Loss of appetite post neutering

Piggy foster mum

Piggy foster mum

Junior Guinea Pig
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Two bonded boars between the ages of 6-12 months that I’m currently fostering were neutered 3 days ago. They are not really eating much and barely drinking. Until today they were both pooping and weeing but today I put them in the run outside and they sat all afternoon in the same spot and didn’t eat, drink or poop. I’ve given them both some water and recovery food via a syringe, which they fought that mad to have. They now both had coriander, cucumber and lettuce and eaten a bit of hay. They have also fallen out with each other almost like they don’t know who the other one is. Badger, the less dominant one is now behaving like the dominant one bit was also sniffing the other one% I don’t know whether they can smell different after neutering or the anaesthetic or what but it’s like they’ve had a personality change. They seem depressed like they’ve lost their buddy even though they are together. They are still in the same cage (I put a partition in at night).
has anyone else had anything like this. I’ve tried to be patient but I’m worried I will lose them if they don’t start drinking on their own.
 
Have they got sufficient pain relief?
how are their wounds looking?
 
They had 2 days of metacam and yes their wounds look ok, not swollen or hot or weeping. They don’t seem in pain
 
Our vets usually give up to a week of metacam post op to assist not only with pain but also with swelling. Loss of appetite and lethargy can be an indication of pain. I would suggest giving some metacam to see if they perk up a bit while you are deciding in your next steps.
Why are they being neutered as a pair? Did they get on before?
 
I don’t have anymore metacam left as they only gave me exactly 2 days dose for the two of them. Yes I thought the neutering was a bit weird but it’s because if one dies in the future they can be easily paired with another girl. They are bonded boys although they are bickering at the moment. Yes maybe they are both sore still and blame each other
 
Piggy foster mum said:
Two bonded boars between the ages of 6-12 months that I’m currently fostering were neutered 3 days ago. They are not really eating much and barely drinking. Until today they were both pooping and weeing but today I put them in the run outside and they sat all afternoon in the same spot and didn’t eat, drink or poop. I’ve given them both some water and recovery food via a syringe, which they fought that mad to have. They now both had coriander, cucumber and lettuce and eaten a bit of hay. They have also fallen out with each other almost like they don’t know who the other one is. Badger, the less dominant one is now behaving like the dominant one bit was also sniffing the other one% I don’t know whether they can smell different after neutering or the anaesthetic or what but it’s like they’ve had a personality change. They seem depressed like they’ve lost their buddy even though they are together. They are still in the same cage (I put a partition in at night).
has anyone else had anything like this. I’ve tried to be patient but I’m worried I will lose them if they don’t start drinking on their own.
Click to expand...

Please keep on weighing daily at the same time and step in with syringe feeding as soon as necessary. Contact your vet clinic promptly.

It sounds like your more dominant boy is not quite doing well if the other is testing the waters as to whether he should take over.

Tips For Post-operative Care
Neutering operations: Considerations, post-op care and a successful recovery example
 
Both boys have eaten some of their pellets mushed up in warm water. They ate it off a spoon, it must taste better than recovery food because they hated that.
 
Badger went back to the vet today and she’s happy with his wound, temperature and chest but gave some more pain relief. He’s had lots of cuddles and I’m aiming to put them back together with a partition soon.
 
The boys are almost back to their usual selves but they are not getting along. They were totally fine before being neutered And now the non dominant one wants to be the dominant one. I separated them to be in cages next to each other and I don’t know if this was right. I wanted badger to have some time to fully recover from his op. They have bonding sessions with us keeping an eye on them and they still don’t like each other. Has anyone experience anything similar or has any tips. I’ve read the bonding guides but there’s nothing specific to neutered boys or is it nothing to do with the neutering. I just wondered whether neutering does something to the testosterone or something. Just want the little boys to love each other once again. We don’t know exactly how old they are because they came from a cage of 15, assumed to be young as when they came to us they didn’t really have balls but they started to drop and appear more not long before they were neutered.
 
The neutering itself won’t change their relationship in the sense that all neutering does is stop them from being able to make babies.
If they are young and just coming into their teens (which if sounds like if you were only just noticing testicles), then it’s likely they just aren’t compatible.
What are they doing to say they arent getting on?
What you can’t do though is carry out bonding sessions - for boars it’s all or nothing - they either like each other and live together or they don’t. If after a trial separation, they then don’t go happily back together, then their bond isn’t working.
 
They are living in the same cage now but just staying out of each other’s ways. much less teeth chattering is going on and if they feel threatened they cuddle together. I have no idea what is going on but they seem ok.
 
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