New here - post-op neutering wait

[Jane cheeseman]

When is it time for my male piggy to go back to family after nurturing vet said 4 weeks. Your opinion.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Absolutely not 4 weeks you must wait a full 6 weeks. It's more unlikely to result in pregnancy after 4 weeks but far from impossible as @Wiebke can testify when a sow she adopted had been put with a supposedly safe 5 week post neuter boar. Sure enough when the sow went home with Wiebke it wasn't long before she found the face of baby Teagan peering out at her

 

[Wiebke]

When is it time for my male piggy to go back to family after nurturing vet said 4 weeks. Your opinion.

Hi and welcome

Our recommendations follow UK welfare and good standard rescue practice - that is 6 weeks post-op. Since that guideline has been introduced, I haven't heard of any accidental pregnancies (which would make the rounds like wildfire, I promise you!) despite several thousands of boars having been neutered in the intervening years since the RSPCA has switched to a mandatory boar neutering policy with a 6 weeks wait.

The little baby in my avatar picture on the left is my surprise baby Tegan, who is the now 7 1/2 years old legacy of a supposedly safe and vet cleared over 5 weeks post-op boar; her birth was very upsetting for the person in whose care this happened. When Tegan was born, the 6 weeks post-op wait was starting to solidify but had not yet become the rule; Tegan's birth, which caused quite some waves, has helped to shape that rescue practice. Tegan is not the only post 5 weeks baby I have heard of; while rare, it does definitely happen!

Sadly many vets I have spoken to are not aware of it (it is not in the medical literature) and seem too casual for my own liking about the crucial difference between 'mostly safe' and 'totally safe'; but the same also goes for when to separate boar babies - the difference between the age of producing viable semen (3-5 weeks) and reaching sexual maturity (i.e. the testicles descending around 4 months) is also not clear in medical literature and has caused far too many unplanned pregnancies and ensuing messes for hapless owners.

There is a crucial difference in between 90-95% and 100% safe; like the lottery, anybody can hit the jackpot when you play statistics. In my own opinion, it is not worth paying for an operation and then risk it all.
I have certainly waited the whole 6 weeks with any boars I have had neutered myself since, even though thankfully Tegan was a personal blessing for me as I had not long before lost a much loved young piggy to acute heart failure and was still missing her very badly at the time. In fact, Tegan is named in memory of Telyn, whose baby name was Tegan 'Little Beauty' before her nickname 'Harp' for her loud voice and truly ear splitting wheek stuck.

You may find our comprehensive neutering guide helpful as it also covers the post-op period and what to look out for: Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths And Facts

PS: Please ask any questions in one of our various Care sections which are in part specially monitored by experienced members.

 

[Flutterby]

Most definitely a minimum of 6 weeks!

 

[VickiA]

6 weeks to be absolutely sure. No point going through neutering to prevent babies and then risking (more) babies by not waiting the full 6 weeks. I would never risk it.