Routine neutering/desexing

Scooter Pie

Scooter Pie

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hello! I wonder if this belongs in chat. Health related so I'm putting it here.

I'm in the US and routine neutering of piggies isn't "a thing" and spaying even for health reasons is hard to come by, in my area at least.

Would you say boys are routinely neutered where you are? If so, where in the world are you 🥰🌏🌍🌎

My newest adoptee has a little brother who's at the shelter. 3 months old and no partner 😭😭 And I'm trying to help him. They say he's not eating hay normally.

My guinea pig vet is learning pig care. I'm so thankful she's willing because there is a shortage of exotic vets in a 2-3 hour radius in my area.

This is making me think of how in other parts of the world, this guy would "simply" be neutered and be able to move in with my girl's group.

Not sure I want to commit to funding the surgery and giving him a home here, if my vet was willing/able/comfortable/ is this ethical. Etc.

Just thinking out loud and would love to hear your perspective 💕
 
Hello I’m in the uk. Piggies are neutered here so they can be bonded with a female herd. I’ve never had a piggy neutered and I don’t think I would risk the dangers of surgery if it wasn’t needed for health reasons. If vets in your area are not use to neutering piggies then that in itself would worry me too. Hope he finds his forever home soon.
 
I am a member of The Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue here in the uk and we routinely neuter single boars with a very high success rate. I would say it's becoming quite a common practice now for those wanting friends for single boars.
 
I'm in the UK. As above, neutering is very common.
Ive not had piggies neutered but that’s only because I prefer to have boar pairs, and of course boar pairs don’t need to be neutered to live together. There may come a time when I change and would quite like a neutered boar in with a group of sows and provided the boar was healthy, I would absolutely be happy to do it. But, my vet is experienced and I completely trust them.

My trust in my vet comes from keeping rabbits and having done so for the past 30+ years. Rabbits are very different to piggies in that they really do need to be neutered and spayed as routine - even same sex pairs - for health, behavioural and bonding reasons - so neutering and spaying to me is very normal.
 
Scooter Pie said:
Hello! I wonder if this belongs in chat. Health related so I'm putting it here.

I'm in the US and routine neutering of piggies isn't "a thing" and spaying even for health reasons is hard to come by, in my area at least.

Would you say boys are routinely neutered where you are? If so, where in the world are you 🥰🌏🌍🌎

My newest adoptee has a little brother who's at the shelter. 3 months old and no partner 😭😭 And I'm trying to help him. They say he's not eating hay normally.

My guinea pig vet is learning pig care. I'm so thankful she's willing because there is a shortage of exotic vets in a 2-3 hour radius in my area.

This is making me think of how in other parts of the world, this guy would "simply" be neutered and be able to move in with my girl's group.

Not sure I want to commit to funding the surgery and giving him a home here, if my vet was willing/able/comfortable/ is this ethical. Etc.

Just thinking out loud and would love to hear your perspective 💕
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In the UK, the leading welfare organisations (the RSPCA and the Blue Cross) have adopted a strict boar neutering policy in order to cut down on uncontrolled breeding situations from mis-sexing. Many good welfare standard private rescues will neuter their boars unless they are surrendered in a stable bond or can be stably bonded at the rescue but this is not the case for any backyard rescues. These days, several hundred rescue boars are successfully neutered every year as a matter of course.
Sow spaying is usually only done privately for medical reasons.

In Germany, good welfare standard rescues and welfare organisations will castrate their boars either as babies (if rescue born) or before an adoption. There is no spaying policy.
Austria has comparable conditions.

In Switzerland, it is forbidden by law to own or sell single guinea pigs. As a result, unneutered boars belong strictly in the hands of licensed breeders. Pet shops, breeders and rescues are only allowed to sell/rehome neutered boars; mostly by baby castration and to sell them as a pair with a female sow. No official spaying policy.

In the USA, some private good welfare standard rescues will de-sex boars or sows for rehoming but no-kill guinea pig rescues are much rarer compared to the UK and not all of them have a neutering policy but you can find spayed sows in some rescues (Portland Guinea Pig Rescue or Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue, for instance).

The situation is similar to the USA in Canada. There are very few guinea pig rescues; some have a de-sexing policy for one or both genders.

The only guinea pig rescue in New Zealand (in Auckland) has a strict de-sexing policy for both gender but this is not the case for any guinea pigs the local RSPCA branches are looking after. New Zealand is very much in breeder hands.

The picture is a lot more patchy in Australia. Some rescues are increasingly taking to neutering their boars in an attempt to have a better chance of finding homes. Again, there are not lots of rescues and their standard can vary enormously.

Guinea pig rescues in other European countries are pretty thin on the ground, if there are any at all.
 
In Austria it is common practise to neuter males. Some rescues neuter any male that is safe to neuter (if they are not too old, too sick etc.). There are also breeders who don't give an unneutered boy (or older male) to anyone who isn't a registered breeder as well.
The thought behind this is to prevent 'breeding' by anyone who just thinks it's cool to have babies.
But in Austria there are vets who have got enough experience with neutering. So it isn't a big risk for the male's health. And our animal welfare law doesn't allow guinea pigs to be kept alone. So if a male doesn't get along with other males, neutering is the only possibility.

Spaying females is different. It is only conducted for medical reasons and the death rate is pretty high (in Austria).
So while I wouldn't have any second thoughts to neuter a male, I'm really reluctant to spay a female. And my usual vet, who has a lot of experience with neutering, doesn't spay at all.
 
Amazing info! Thank you all! The shelter I work with has a rabbit and piggie program. All their "buns" are routinely fixed. Id like to advocate for more male piggies to be routinely neutered.

I'm in awe of the countries above who have laws preventing piggies from living alone 💕 Here they have pet stores selling pigs 50% off for "black friday" so you can imagine they don't give a 🤬about their welfare ☹️💔 (good 'ol usa)
 
I live in Indiana and the two rescues that I support, neuter and spay almost all of their mammals. The exception is male mice get neutered while female mice don't. They spay and neuter all of their piggies too. They do this since a female piggy that was adopted (this happened years ago) was used for purposeful breeding. Since then, they have spayed all the females that come into the rescue.
 
Ugh I wish I didn't have to write this. Well I wont be rescuing this little guy. He became lethargic at the shelter and a volunteer got him to an emergency vet. It was serious. Intestinal blockage and he passed.

Anyway, thanks for the replies 💕
 
I'm so sorry to hear he has passed 😔
Sleep tight little one 💕🌈
In Queensland Australia, where I live, it is becoming very common for single boars to be neutered, particularly in the big rescues like the Qld Guinea Pig Refuge and the Gold Coast Guinea Pig Rescue (where I got my neutered male Oscar from in May).
 
Oh that’s such a shame. Popcorn high at the bridge little one.
 
I’m in the UK and our charity neuters all males before rehoming, even if they’re going out as a bonded pair of boars. I’ve seen too many boars live out a large percentage of their life, living alone, after their friend dies or they fall out with their partner. Neutering means there are more options for them, in the event of this happening.
 
Scooter Pie said:
Ugh I wish I didn't have to write this. Well I wont be rescuing this little guy. He became lethargic at the shelter and a volunteer got him to an emergency vet. It was serious. Intestinal blockage and he passed.

Anyway, thanks for the replies 💕
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I am ever so sorry.

Blockages can occasionally happen and are sadly generally deadly since most of us don't have immediate access to a super-vet; and even then it is very much of a toss-up as guinea pig guts are extremely thin and fine (one vet described it as 'like trying to stitch paper to butter').

I have lost the odd piggy to a blockage myself over the years, mostly sows. :(

More information in this guide here: Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
 
Wiebke said:
I am ever so sorry.

Blockages can occasionally happen and are sadly generally deadly since most of us don't have immediate access to a super-vet; and even then it is very much of a toss-up as guinea pig guts are extremely thin and fine (one vet described it as 'like trying to stitch paper to butter').

I have lost the odd piggy to a blockage myself over the years, mostly sows. :(

More information in this guide here: Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
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I'm currently experiencing some pretty intense regret for not helping this piggie sooner.

The volunteers had been mentioning him and his lack of hay eating, trying different types, etc for the past week or so (it was just November 12 when he and his sister were surrendered)

I also knew he was alone at the shelter. One other male was there in proximity to talk to each other but I do not know if they were side by side. They tried to bond them and apparently it was a no.

I'm "technically" a volunteer but haven't done anything other than adopt 6 pigs and donate food, hay and money.

So I was too shy to speak up. I could have fostered him. He could still be here if I did. I would have made sure his eating and output was on track.

Anyway, I was prepared to care for him here if he had made it. So now I know I DO have room for a foster next time.

One thing the shelter said I could was write a new care guide for adoptees. It's been months and I haven't started it yet. So I will do it in his memory and do more to help in the future 💔
 
Scooter Pie said:
I'm currently experiencing some pretty intense regret for not helping this piggie sooner.

The volunteers had been mentioning him and his lack of hay eating, trying different types, etc for the past week or so (it was just November 12 when he and his sister were surrendered)

I also knew he was alone at the shelter. One other male was there in proximity to talk to each other but I do not know if they were side by side. They tried to bond them and apparently it was a no.

I'm "technically" a volunteer but haven't done anything other than adopt 6 pigs and donate food, hay and money.

So I was too shy to speak up. I could have fostered him. He could still be here if I did. I would have made sure his eating and output was on track.

Anyway, I was prepared to care for him here if he had made it. So now I know I DO have room for a foster next time.

One thing the shelter said I could was write a new care guide for adoptees. It's been months and I haven't started it yet. So I will do it in his memory and do more to help in the future 💔
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The biggest motivations often come as a result of a bad experience/loss. I feel for you although I think that in this case, you may not have been necessarily able to save the poor boy.
 
Wiebke said:
The biggest motivations often come as a result of a bad experience/loss. I feel for you although I think that in this case, you may not have been necessarily able to save the poor boy.
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Thank you 💕 In reality, I would have probably had to bring him home only a few days after I bonded his sister with her new cage mate in order to have been able to head off the digestive disaster that followed. I couldn't have seen that far ahead when I was in the thick of a new pair bond.

Moving forward ✨
 
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