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Spaying Risks

Kithri

Kithri

New Born Pup
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Hi everyone,

We've just learned that our guinea pig, Marigold, has ovarian cysts and will need to be spayed. What is the risk that something we'll go wrong with the surgery? She's just such a tiny little creature, so my husband and I are naturally nervous about it. Any info would be appreciated. :)
 
What age is she, and is she healthy otherwise? Good weight?

Alot of it is down to. Has the vet done many successful spays on guinea pigs before? You need to find this out, if they ar skilled at it, its less time under anaesthetic.

My 3 year old sow sailed through the op fine, but my vet is top notch, but a member on here did lose a sow to a spay op recently on here.
 
With spaying for cysts it's better to do it sooner rather than later when they are otherwise healthy and before she starts losing too much weight and having other symptoms. There is a risk with all small animal surgeries but if you trust your vet they should be able to give you a good idea on the likelihood of complications
 
I’ve had 5 sows spayed - 2 with the laparoscopic spay (small incision on either side and just the ovaries removed) and 3 with full spay - for different health reasons. They were a mix of ages - the oldest was well over 4 and the youngest was about 1. The ones who had the full spay took longer to recover than the ones who had the ovaries only removed. I think in the right hands it’s as safe as any procedure under anaesthetic for piggies. I trust my vets implicitly. You have to be prepared to syringe feed them after surgery and to be alert for managing pain and any post op problems, but really it’s the same for all piggy surgeries.

Here are some useful links
Tips For Post-operative Care
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
I’ve never had a piggy spayed and it’s up there with my nightmare op of bladder surgery but with the right vet, she should be fine.

My late Emma had a ovarian cyst that caused her no issues plus she had cancer so my vet just monitored it. But if she did need spaying, I would trust my vet completely.

You have every right to ask your vet questions on the procedure etc
 
Claire W said:
I’ve never had a piggy spayed and it’s up there with my nightmare op of bladder surgery but with the right vet, she should be fine.

My late Emma had a ovarian cyst that caused her no issues plus she had cancer so my vet just monitored it. But if she did need spaying, I would trust my vet completely.

You have every right to ask your vet questions on the procedure etc
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I'm amazed how well Dot got over her spay, and it wasn't a routine spay either, the uterus was removed also, she just went back in the cage and stuffed her face with hay a few hours after, was even jumping on her carrot cottage roof
 
Kithri said:
Hi everyone,

We've just learned that our guinea pig, Marigold, has ovarian cysts and will need to be spayed. What is the risk that something we'll go wrong with the surgery? She's just such a tiny little creature, so my husband and I are naturally nervous about it. Any info would be appreciated. :)
Click to expand...

Hi!

A lot depends on your vet's experience. It is a major operation but when done properly, recovery is good.

My 5 1/2 years old Mererid was spayed 3 days ago on Tuesday and she is recovering well; she was rather sore for the first couple of days but with medication (painkillers and anti-bloating to help the freed up gut) has not lost her appetite or lost any more weight than the removed large fluid filled, non-hormonal cysts and womb. Draining while on ultrasound would have cost as much as spaying operation but not been permanent.
Her sister Myfina had to be spayed earlier this year after she was diagnosed with hard cyst that would have eventually turned cancerous. In her case removal was the only option. They are my sows #4 and 5 that I have spayed so far.

I lost my first sow nearly 10 years ago during an emergency spay again for very fast growing large cysts when my then rather old-fashioned local general vets put her under before doing an x-ray, which unfortunately showed up a second very large cyst and quite a lot of bloating caused by the pressure of the cysts on the gut; she never woke up because the initial GA had been too strong.
This experience has taught me the importance of finding a piggy savvy vet I can trust to not make any basic mistakes. All my other spays with a better vet have gone without complications despite three of them being 5 year old sows and the third a very small 700g one (whose womb had gone massively wrong but she was also found to some rather nasty looking cysts) with other health issues virtually sailing through her experience, just a few months after bladder stone surgery.

Here is more information on ovarian cysts and available treatment options. Depending on the nature of the cyst, hormone treatment may be a valid alternative; however it is not cheap and costs as much as a spaying operation - but it is a non-invasive alternative in many cases.
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Here are our tips for looking after an operated guinea pig: Tips For Post-operative Care

I hope that this helps you? All the best!
 
Thank you for the replies, everyone!

We believe Marigold to be almost five, so she’s getting up there, and she’s about 750g. The vet we take her to is great, but she admitted she’s never done this surgery before, so she referred us to a highly skilled exotic vet in Nashville. (I’m so glad she was honest with us!)
 
Kithri said:
Thank you for the replies, everyone!

We believe Marigold to be almost five, so she’s getting up there, and she’s about 750g. The vet we take her to is great, but she admitted she’s never done this surgery before, so she referred us to a highly skilled exotic vet in Nashville. (I’m so glad she was honest with us!)
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Sounds like you have a good local vet! Better the one who admits their limits than the ones who mess up because of ignorance.
Marigold is no longer young but not so old that the operation should put her at a high risk.
However, it may be worth looking into alternatives, depending on where you are looking a hormonally very active cyst or not if you cannot find a vet who is confident and experienced.
 
Kithri said:
Thank you for the replies, everyone!

We believe Marigold to be almost five, so she’s getting up there, and she’s about 750g. The vet we take her to is great, but she admitted she’s never done this surgery before, so she referred us to a highly skilled exotic vet in Nashville. (I’m so glad she was honest with us!)
Click to expand...
The honesty is brilliant, the age and weight would probably concern me a bit. Is she a small pig anyway? I'd still agree it's best to do it sooner rather than later though
 
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