neutering

[Quavers]

sorry if this is in the wrong place :-\

ive been thinking longand hard about this and have decided to get Joey neutered so that i can adopt a girl or 2 for him as hes sadly by himself :'( after calling a few vets i finally found one that will neuter Guinea Pigs question is how do i know the vet is Guinea Pig educated i really dont want to place my little Joey in a vets arms that doesnt actually know their bum from their elbow : how long after neutering will i have to leave it until i adopt and roughly how big will the hutch have to be for 3 Guinea Pigs i was thinking 5ftx2ft?

x

 

[daftscotslass]

I would ask the vet how many male neuterings they have done and any problems they have seen as a result. Make sure they use a safe anaesthetic (gas, not injectible) like isoflurane or sevoflurane. Ask what they provide in the way of aftercare - will they give you some antibiotics and painkillers home?

I would keep him away from girly pigs for at least 3 weeks if not a bit more just to be safe.

 

[karenrgpr]

I would find a rescue that has castrates done and go and check theirs out. Unfortunately I know of a vet that does lots of castrates but doesn't expect them all to pull through and has stated that its the norm! I've had around 60 castrates done now and not one death or complication.

There are so many variations on doing the op its best to find one that has a good record which should be around 100%, you should only expect to lose a pig if it has underlying problems that can't be detected and these could happen under any op.

I would ask for him to be given painkillers before the op so he is comfy when he comes round. I don't give antibiotics unless there's a problem but do keep them clean, also my vet uses glue and the wounds are very 'closed'. Make sure the nurses know about syringe feeding guineas if they don't start to eat- often they're out of the vets hands after surgery so know your nurses too I take mine a packed lunch in a box marked Post Op as well as giving goodies for them pre op in case they are last on the list or something.

If you let us know where you are then someone can probably recommend a vet

Your cage size sounds good, bigger if you think you might want to add to your herd though

I leave my boars 2 weeks before putting them with a sow and so do other rescues on here. 4 weeks is the 'medically impossible' time I was told by my vet.

 

[Quavers]

i live in Northumberland I'm roughly 20 mins away from Newcastle so at a push i could travel there but i feel it could be a little stressful especially before an op. thanks for the advice i will quiz the vets that are willing to neuter just so i feel comfortable with them.