What circumstance to neuter

[Kudos]

The emergency vet that we saw last night for bloat daid he does not believe in meutering a guinea pig
He is an exotic vet. Any thoughts on this


Thx. Piggly wiggly in the United states

 

[Claire W]

I only think neutering should be done if a male is going to live with a sow(s) as it doesn't change the behaviour of a boar

Females should only be spayed for medical reasons

 

[Kudos]

I am in agreement. I have his neuter date scheduled but I'm not going to have it done. He is a lone pig and my intention was to get a sow cagemate because they cohabitate better than two males. So I am back to square one. Leave him as lone pig or get boar as cage.mate. Is it written in stone that he should have a cage mate. I'm lost. totally at a loss. I know neutering will not change any animals behavior or personality in any way.

 

[Kudos]

How long does it take for bloat to resolve? Gave him simeticone as reccomended by emergency vet but was never advised on for how many days. What can he eat for next couple of days? I have no idea what to do. When I made the decision to get him I was responsible for every aspect of his care. Vet bills. A housing. Loving.him but I am obviously very unversed on what to do. To the point of tesrs. He is the best thing in my life and do not want to do him any injustice.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Piggies are not designed to live alone, so yes, I would advise you get a friend for him.
It’s not necessarily the case that a male and female cohabitate better - yes, it is sometimes easier to bond opposite sex piggies but it is personality that counts far more - you could have a boar and a sow who just aren’t compatible rendering the bonding a failure. I have two boars and while they do have the odd bicker, they are the best of friends. Their bickering was toned down when I increased their cage size.
When keeping boars, you just need to make sure the cage is big enough (two boars need more room than two sows would) and that you have open ended hideys and two of all equipment bowls etc.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

We have s neutering policy here at TEAS and all males are neutered prior to rehoming. I’ve seen too many males living alone after their male friend has died, or after falling out with a male friend. By getting them neutered I can be sure they’ll never be bred from whilst also opening up more possibilities for who they can live with.

 

[eileen]

I have all my boars neutered,as i have sows as well.i cannot risk the pet sitter putting the wrong boar in with the wrong females.i would be inundated with pregnant females.i feel it is the safest option to prevent unwanted pregnancies.also when a boar loses its mate it allows me to pair him with females.i have 25 guinea pigs and i feel this is the responsible option for my guinea pigs .

 

[DMS260820]

I only think neutering should be done if a male is going to live with a sow(s) as it doesn't change the behaviour of a boar

Females should only be spayed for medical reasons

agreed

 

[DMS260820]

I am in agreement. I have his neuter date scheduled but I'm not going to have it done. He is a lone pig and my intention was to get a sow cagemate because they cohabitate better than two males. So I am back to square one. Leave him as lone pig or get boar as cage.mate. Is it written in stone that he should have a cage mate. I'm lost. totally at a loss. I know neutering will not change any animals behavior or personality in any way.

If it helps. I'm getting my boar neutered on friday, because admittidly i have two lone pigs homed next to to one another. A male and a female. Both are getting very miserable, the only time they seem happy is when new hay is put in the cage but that soon wears off. Or on floor time. You need to pair your pig up really.

I can no longer take the pain inside of me to see them like this. Depression in guinea pigs affects their physical health aswell. They eat less hay, they exercise less too. In the long run it will do harm.

 

[Wiebke]

The emergency vet that we saw last night for bloat daid he does not believe in meutering a guinea pig
He is an exotic vet. Any thoughts on this


Thx. Piggly wiggly in the United states

Hi!

There are good reasons for neutering. Guinea pigs are group animals that require the company of others. Unfortunately, it is not quite as straight forward as sticking two piggies together and expecting them to get on like a house on fire!

- Mis-sexing of babies is not at all uncommon, and neither is total ignorance of basic biological facts in both shop staff, breeders or owners, not mention the children who think it is fun to give all family piggies playtime together. This includes which age guinea pigs start reproducing (3-5 weeks for boars and 4-6 weeks for sows) or the fact that sows come into season again within hours of giving birth and that there is no menopause for either gender.
The resulting messes, especially when combined with the inability of sexing and separating the genders regularly end in large rescue actions of 100-150 piggies or more. The largest every rescue last year in North California of a supposed 250 piggies came to about 750 piggies after hours of catching and counting. Since the vast majority of the over 400 sows taken in by Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue were pregnant, there were another over 600 rescue born babies. There are still about 200 of them looking for homes a year on...
For much more frequent smaller cases just have a look into our unplanned pregnancies support section!

- Some dominant boars can be very difficult to be partnered up with other boars, especially during the teenage months. This does NOT mean that they are unbondable and should be kept on their own, as owners are sadly all too often told. Neutering means that they can be paired up with sows and lead a very happy boar life indeed.
Several of my own neutered boars are in fact fallen-out or bullied teenagers.
Neutering single incoming boars can also increase their chances of rehoming massively, especially in places like Canada or the US where good rescues are far and few in between and rescues often rehome over larger distances.
But even here in the UK, the good rescue is not necessarily around the corner. My closest rescues are a similar travelling time away if I have to use public transport (as I am currently doing again).
When the chips are down, cross gender bonds are the most stable of all guinea pig relationships and the ones where fall-outs are rarest.

- Sows may need spaying for medical reasons when their ovarian cysts or womb is going wrong. While the majority of cysts don't cause any major problems, small hormonal cysts can lead to disruptive and stressful behaviour when a sow behaves like she is nonstop in season and gradually losing weight, large cysts can burst and cause infection and some cysts can become cancerous. About 10-20% of sows require treatment for ovarian cysts although more sows than that percentage will develop them as they grow older.
A few rescues especially in the US, Canada and the only guinea pig rescue in New Zealand (which is otherwise still very much in breeder hands) prefer to rehome only spayed sows, thus making sure that there can be no pregnancies or expensive operations for ovarian problems.

Whether rescues spay or neuter, or do both, often depends on the preferences of the vet they use and the conditions/experiences they work in.
In the UK, boar neutering is generally a lot cheaper, so it is a lot more common. Since teenage boars are the piggies that end up in rescue most often (fall-outs from being kept in too small cages coinciding with the time children lose interest and parents can no longer be bothered with cleaning), there has been a growing trend in the UK for neutering rescue boars. The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) branches in the UK now have a strict neutering policy for all their guinea pig boars in order to prevent any accidental or intentional breeding from rescues.

This guide deals with the topic pretty comprehensively in terms as to what boar neutering can and cannot do and in which circumstances it is advisable to neuter.
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths And Facts

On a personal basis, I currently have got 9 boars living in a roomful with sows. 4 of them live in 2 bonded pairs; the rest each live with 1-4 sows. For safety reasons, all my boars have to be neutered, even the companions in my boars-only pairs (consisting of a failed neutered sow bonder and his dated boarfriend each). It also gives me much more flexibility in finding new companionship if one of my boars only pairs dies.
Little 7 weeks old Llelo is going to be neutered by a very good operating vet as soon as he has reached the necessary minimum weight.

The whole system in Switzerland, where it is not allowed to sell or own single guinea pigs since 2004 would not work if not for boar baby neutering just before they become sexually active at 3 weeks. Shops, breeders and rescues are not allowed to sell/rehome unneutered boars. It is very common to keep and acquire mixed gender pairs with a very low fail rate. As the babies can return immediately to their mothers and sisters without any safety wait and healed extremely well and quickly, the kind of boar misery that boars in other countries suffer is largely avoided.