Our new piggie

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loveisdivine

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We collected JP yesterday, he is a male, about 4 and a half months old and weighs 525g. He is going to be living with our 2 females eventually.

Ive been looking around at different vets to get him neutered, there is only 1 so far that I'm confident with but he is a good drive away, quite expensive and only works minimal hours because he is the vet for Dublin zoo. I'm ringing another vets today that is closer but seems quite good.

Does anyone have any adive on how to keep JP happy whilst he is on his own. He is in the same room as the other 2 but obviously in a different cage. He is quite confident. He woke us up this morning though, he was wheeking because the other 2 were making noises. I felt awful cos he must be lonely, but it is only temporary. All the pigs are in our room with us so they get plenty of interaction. Its not like he is stuck on his own in a quiet room of the house.

I think what I'm looking for is some reassurance that he will be ok on his own for a month or so and that I'm not torturing him haha
Oh and also he is eating and drinking well and lots of normal looking poops. He seems to love carrots.
 
I'm sure he will be fine especially if he is able to talk to the girlies. Good your doing your research before putting him in to get neutered :)!

My Fred also adores Carrots!
 
To b e honest the whole neutering this is driving me crazy and OH is sick of me too. I just want to be sure I'm picking the right one. I would go with the first one automatically if he wasnt so far and worked more hours, I would have to take a day off work and Ive only been there 2 weeks! He really knew what he was talking about though, he explained how the testicles have to be fully outside the body so to speak before they can do the procedure.

I'm gonna ring the other one now, lets see what they say.
 
Well JP is booked in for Friday with the 2nd place. The lady I spoke to was really helpful and knew what she was talking about. They do alot of small animal neutering there and she explained the risks and such, they use the Isoflurene gas which I was pleased about and they are technically an animal hospital so she said they have all modern equipment and such. We are taking him Friday morning and they will check him over to make sure he is fit and ready and if he is they will do the surgery that day and we can collect him in the evening. I'm really pleased!

They use Baytril as pain relief which he will get after the surgery, Then he gets a check up after 2 days and then another after 10 days. :D
 
Whenever JP hears the girls he seems to get really over excited. At first I felt really guilty cos I thought he was lonely but he doesnt seem sad, just really excited. He jumps around the cage almost popcorning and tries to climb out! Wheeking lots when he hears them.

Is this normal?
 
JP's reaction is VERY normal! Can you push the two cage together, so they can interact through the bars while he is recovering? From what I could observe, it will cut down on the overexcitement when he can finally meet the girls properly and will make the introduction a lot
more relaxed since they know each other already.
 
Hope all goes well on Friday.

Can I suggest that you ask the vet about the possibility of giving your piggy a pro-biotic alongside the Baytril. I have learnt, to my cost, that piggys have very delicate tummys and Baytril can upset their stomach balance. Our Ben became almost toxic when given Baytril without the supplement after his neutering, and we now have a vet who will not give Baytril without a pro-biotic such as Bio Lapis. This is a powder that you add to the drinking water. When Ben had his second course of Baytril WITH a pro-biotic alongside, he was a different, and much happier, piggy.

Will be thinking of you both on Friday.
 
Thanks for the warning about the pro biotic. I will ring the vet tonight and ask if its something they can do. Would it be something I could give him once he is at home if the vet isnt willing?
 
As the Baytril is an antibiotic, my guess is that you will be syringing JP with it to prevent any infection. I know there is a thread on this site about first aid for the pigs and that gives some idea of human medicines that can be used for pain relief etc.
I'm sure your vet will happily sell you a number of sachets of the probiotic for you to add to the water at home. If you have any problems, pm me.
 
^^ I'm in Ireland and we dont have PAH here. Thanks anyway though.

They dont send the Baytril home with him, they give him a long lasting one whilst he is still at the vets. Ive just rang and the receptionist is gonna speak to the vet that will be doing the op and then ring me back.
If for some reason he wont give it him, i will give him some when we get home.
Its moved to Thursday now too because OH day off got changed.

I just hope it all goes well. They are gonna check him when he gets there to make sure he is actually ready to be neutered, something about the testicles having to be fully descended. I hope he is ready, I dont wanna put it off and have him on his own for even longer.
 
Ok sorry to double post but I just had a call back from the vet.
Apparently I got a bit confused and he will only be given Baytril if he started to show signs of infection. The vet says its not something that is routinely given for neutering. Which to be honest I think is a good thing as I read that some vets just dish out Baytril for anything and it can be harmful.

So basically he wont need the pro biotic. I can bring home some recovery diet packs if I feel we need them and if I feel he is in pain I can take him in and they will give him some pain relief.

I think that all sounds ok. :) I'm still gonna be utterly crapping myself on Thursday but I least I know he is in good hands.
 
I'm starting to get a little anxious now. I dont think I will be truly relaxed until all this is over and he is in with the girls.

Here comes a month of worrying haha
 
JP is home and he is doing great! Acting like his normal self and eating his veggies.

The vet said to wait at least 2 weeks before putting him with the girls but I'm going to wait at least 3. I did research and I know that guinea pig sperm only has a fertile life span of 20-25 hours, so 3 weeks should be plenty! You read so much on the internet about how ou have to wait 6 weeks because someone's friend knows someone who knows someone whos guinea pig was still fertile after 5 weeks. But the majority of the people that write these tings are not vets and have no real knowledge about it other than what they themselves have read on the internet.

I will wait 3-4 weeks and I think that is enough :)
 
Lucky you! Do you know how long he had been neutered before you put him with your girls?
 
"My" rescue waits five weeks based on the fact that they had a sow get pregnant at four weeks once so they like to be sure. It's only happened once and they must have neutered at least 50 but if it can happen, what's another week, really... The rule of thumb in Sweden is generally four weeks. At the rescue the boar never has to wait alone, though, because there are generally other boars or baby boys for company.
 
See thats why I'm a little reluctant to wait longer than 4, he might be in the same room as the girls but he is still on his own. I dont want him to be alone longer than he need be.

I wish there was a piggie fertility test haha
 
Well JP is still doing good this morning. Eating drinking, pooping and peeing. The only difference is his bits are quite swollen this morning. Ive compared them with pictures on the cavy spirit website and it looks about the same so I'm sure its normal. He is lifting his bum off the ground abit when he walks butother than that he is in good spirits.

:)
 
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