Neutering

[Guinea moar dragon]

Hi our 2 year old boar has recently been left alone as his cage mate has passed away. He is coping very well but we are keen to get him a new friend for his long term health.

We sought some advice yesterday and were advised to have him neutered and get a couple of females to keep him company. We are quite happy to do so as we love the idea of having more piggies in our heard.

Has anyone had any success/disasters when it comes to neutering? We are concerned about what's best for our boy. X

 

[Eriathwen]

Ive had 4 of mine neutered, and 2 came to me already done. The worst thing I had happen to my boys was a little razor burn on their belly and reacting to the sutures but nothing terrible. They all healed and recovered lovely, like nothing had even happened! It just took the one who had the suture reaction a couple weeks longer to heal up. He was the same one with the razor burn and was a satin so likely just a little more sensitive than the others.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi our 2 year old boar has recently been left alone as his cage mate has passed away. He is coping very well but we are keen to get him a new friend for his long term health.

We sought some advice yesterday and were advised to have him neutered and get a couple of females to keep him company. We are quite happy to do so as we love the idea of having more piggies in our heard.

Has anyone had any success/disasters when it comes to neutering? We are concerned about what's best for our boy. X

You want a good operating vet with guinea pig experience for neutering but it is well worth travelling further for the highest success rate in this country (as close to 100% as any vet can get) and total peace of mind.

I have my four of my own boars neutered at the Cat&Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton who also see as many guinea pigs in a week as they see cats and rabbits.
When I came home with my boys, it was like nothing had happened and they have all made a perfect recovery. They didn't even need a post-op check because of the operation method used in order to prevent any risk of infection. The clinic also uses a gas for GA that is much friendlier for guinea pigs so you don't get the usual vetergesic grogginess and loss of appetite.
They have also successfully spayed a number of my sows, which is a bigger operation.

The prices at the clinic are pretty reasonable in comparison to the level of care and experience you are getting there as due to your location you will have to travel quite a distance anyway to see vet with a good neutering record.

I know that @anyar.dris used them as well (we once met in the clinic's parking lot) when she was living in your general neck of the woods. She may have more vets to recommend.

Here is our information pack on boar neutering: A Guide to Boar Neutering Operations (Considerations, Post-op Care & Complications and Success Story)

Cat & Rabbit Care Clinic - Northlands Vets

 

[anyar.dris]

Hi. I can recommend University Vet Practice in University of Liverpool. Our local vet (Wern Vets Ruthin) is great with our guinea pigs, but since we are familiar with one of the vets in UVP Liverpool (Kristina Hunter) and has treated our past piggies amazingly, we trust her more for more complicated issues. We did go to other vets like Derwent Valley Vets in Matlock (Ellie Whitehead) and Cat & Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton (Simon and Kim Maddock) in the past and I can recommend them all. It's just that UVP is the nearest to us, hence we go there now.

 

[Lorcan]

I had Mourne neutered about 18 months ago. I love boars, but he wrecked the previous chance at bonding with my other boar and I wasn't convinced he would play nice with another one, so neutering it was.

He was fine. Refused to eat anything but basil and hay for a few days, doesn't like syringes, doesn't like anything in them, doesn't like Metacam, doesn't like Baytril. Other than him being difficult (it's how he is in general) he absolutely sailed through it. No issues with the anaesthetic, no issues with the sutures. Didn't even need the second post-op check in person, I emailed a couple of photos over to the vet and they said on seeing those they were happy with how it was looking.

I'm in the wrong neck of the woods to advise on vets, though.