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My Guinea Pig Is Having Her Uterus Removed Tomorrow

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LizzyHoy

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Hello, my guinea pig (Denise) is having her uterus removed tomorrow (for medical reasons, not for neutering purposes). I'm nervous but she is relatively young (2.5 years) and in good general health, so I am hoping that the operation will go well.

Does anyone have advice for how to care for her afterwards? I have had one piggy operation before - Toni had a lump which was removed from her tummy area. In that case I got her a towel to sit on so it was soft whilst her stitches healed. She healed very well and quickly, despite being oldish (5 years old). She also left her stitches alone, though I'm not sure if Denise will manage to do that.

Denise lives with another guinea pig. They are good friends but Denise is the submissive one - will it be ok for them to be in the cage together when Denise gets back from having her operation?

Thank you!
 
I hope Denise comes through well. She should be OK to stay in with her cagemate, just keep an eye on her initially. When my boy got neutered (medical problem here as well), I did leave him in with his male cagemate & it was fine. I think they might do better healing while living the same way as pre-op.
 
Hello, my guinea pig (Denise) is having her uterus removed tomorrow (for medical reasons, not for neutering purposes). I'm nervous but she is relatively young (2.5 years) and in good general health, so I am hoping that the operation will go well.

Does anyone have advice for how to care for her afterwards? I have had one piggy operation before - Toni had a lump which was removed from her tummy area. In that case I got her a towel to sit on so it was soft whilst her stitches healed. She healed very well and quickly, despite being oldish (5 years old). She also left her stitches alone, though I'm not sure if Denise will manage to do that.

Denise lives with another guinea pig. They are good friends but Denise is the submissive one - will it be ok for them to be in the cage together when Denise gets back from having her operation?

Thank you!

My Cariad has been through a full emergency spay when her womb went wrong; she was only 700g and over 4 years old. Thankfully, she had a very good and smooth recovery, even though this op did come in the midst of major ongoing bladder issues and only months after a bladder stone operation after her calcium absorption went suddenly haywire.

What you can do to prepare for post-op care:
- have her on vet bed, light fleece or a light towel, which you change frequently (at least once daily, the same also goes for any cosies) during the first few critical days.
- Check on her at least once during the first night to make sure that she is not gnawing on her operation scar. This is VERY rare, but you need to see an out-of-hours vet asap if it happens. Have the number ready and also ask your vet how soon after the operation she can have painkiller again (it is part of the operation cocktail).
- have everything ready for syringe feeding, so you can step in if and whenever necessary. Your determined round-the-clock care can make all the difference if things don't run smoothly. You can find all the necessary tips as to how much/how often in our detailed guide. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-syringe-feeding-guide.115359/
- weigh daily at the same time on the feeding cycle instead of just weekly.
- it usually takes about 2-3 days for the body to settle after a major operation. You should hopefully see a steady improvement with every passing day. The scar should knit fully within 10-14 days.
- contact your vets promptly as soon as you notice a deterioration, noticeable discomfort or if there is persistently no appetite/further weight loss or no/very slow recovery.

Cariad with her fresh operation scar:
upload_2015-8-3_12-48-21.jpeg

10 days later:
upload_2015-8-3_12-51-23.jpeg

With her husboar Bryn (who was lovely with her despite being normally a dominant pig) in the hospital cage - the stimulation/support during the vet trip and post-op helped her massively. You will have to ask your vet how they stand on "paw holding (i.e. companion) piggies" while she is with them.
I returned Cariad and Bryn to their group as soon as she was back to eating fully and was well on the way to recovery on day 3; she was much happier for it. You will need to keep an eye on bullying/feeding though. If necessary, feed them separately, but the same foods.
upload_2015-8-3_12-50-34.jpeg

Wishing you all the best!
 
:D Wishing Denise a trouble-free operation and speedy recovery following. Sending healing wheeks from my nine girls! :tu::tu:
 
Thank you very much for all your good wishes :)

Denise's operation went well and she's now back home. She's a bit doddery and 'out of it' but she's just had a piece of cucumber and is doing well. The vet showed me a picture of her uterus and there was a lump in one of the horns/tubes. It was perhaps the size of a small pea, and looked bigger than her ovaries. So I am hoping that this was the cause and we won't have any more problems now it's been removed. They don't know whether it was a cyst or a tumour; they are keeping hold of the sample for me so that it can be sent for testing if I decide to do so. I'm really pleased that I decided to do the surgery and that the cause of the problem seems to be have been found!

Denise's friend is leaving her alone to rest, though I did remove her from the cage when Denise was munching her cucumber as I don't think I could trust her not to steal it!
 
Wishing her a good recovery! Make sure that Denise is also eating hay, which should make up to 80% of the daily food intake; I put a heap of it on some newspaper near Cariad's hidey, but I also syringe fed her for the first half day until she was happy to move around and tuck in by herself.
 
Wishing her a good recovery! Make sure that Denise is also eating hay, which should make up to 80% of the daily food intake; I put a heap of it on some newspaper near Cariad's hidey, but I also syringe fed her for the first half day until she was happy to move around and tuck in by herself.

Thanks for the advice here and earlier in the thread, it's very helpful! She has been eating hay as well, I put some nearby her when she went into her hidey house so she didn't have to come out to reach it.
 
My piggy also had a full spay last year due to Pyometra (See my gold plated piggy thread in chat) & essentially it is post op care that is crucial in getting a piggy through this very serious op. I did syringe feed Petal & also hand fed her hay whilst sat on my lap. Apart from the first night where I sectioned off a bit for her in the C & C cage, she rejoined her companions the next day. I would keep an eye on them though, I've had one piggy that was bullied straight after an op & I had to re-bond them all :)
 
As far as I can tell she is doing really well. She has been eating and I have seen her drinking. She's got a check up tomorrow with the vet. I'm proud of her!
 
i'm pleased to hear the op went well and she is recovering well. good luck for the check-up tomorrow :)
 
Glad she's come through the op well! Sending lots of healing vibes, hope her recovery is a smooth one :D
 
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