NEUTERING THE BOYS

WARNING -- There will be pics of the incision, and some medical description. If you have a weak stomache, please don't read this. It isn't that gross, but I thought I'd warn everybody just in case.

Thank you to Cielo for your idea on documenting the boys' surgery. Thank you to Amy for your idea of taking pictures.

1) Preparing For Surgery
-- The first thing I wanted to do was to examine both boys myself. In case I saw something that I needed to point out to Dr. Heaver. I saw clear eyes, healthy mouth, no mucus from the nose, and the ears looked clean.
-- I kept an eye on them the last couple of days just to make sure no one was sneezing, or coughing. I also checked on their pee, & poop. Their pee, & poop appeared normal in both boys.
-- Next, I made an appointment for Dr. Heaver to see the boys. She asked me some questions, and examined both boys. They both got the official okay from Dr. Heaver to have the surgery.
-- The night before the surgery, Dr. Heaver asked us to remove all of the food from their cages before we went to bed. Guinea pigs have pouches in their mouths that they use to store food. So by removing the food in their cages, means that they had to eat what was stored in their mouths. Guinea pigs do not fast for this surgery, but it's important to remove all food particles from their mouth.

2) The Day Of Surgery
-- That morning I weighed both boys, and then we dropped them off at the vet's at 8 am.

Brown Sugar weighed - 2 lbs + 15.6 ounces
Sylvester weighed - 1 lb + 13.0 ounces

3) The Surgery
-- First, Dr. Heaver would put some cream stuff on their eyes, to protect their eyes from irritation.
-- Next, place them in a chamber, that has gas to put them to sleep.
-- Once they are asleep, the food pouches will be checked, and any leftover food that is stored in there, will be taken out.
-- Also, the rectal area will be cleaned out. (Poor Dr. Heaver!)
-- Next Dr. Heaver will begin to make the incisions. The testicles will be removed, and she will have to close off a little opening through the abdomen. I'll try to explain.... Male guinea pigs can bring their testicles up into their abdomen, through an opening. But now that the testicles will no longer be there, we don't want anything coming out of the abdomen -- like intestines for example. So she has to close this area, and remove the testicles.
-- She will be using tissue glue to seal the incisions.
-- Each surgery takes about 40 minutes.
-- They are kept there for atleast 2 hours, to make sure they wake up & start eating. Once they do this, they are sent home. Guinea pigs get stressed out easily, so it's best for them to be back in their cages, in a familiar environment, as soon as possible.

Here's some before & after pics.

Brown Sugar
Before the surgery


After the surgery


Here's a closer look:


Sylvester
before surgery


After surgery


A closer look:


4) The Days Ahead
-- Both boys will be given Anti-biotics to prevent an infection.
B. Sugar is on Bactrim @ 0.54 ml twice a day @ 7 days.
Sylvester is on Bactrim @ 0.34 ml twice a day @ 7 days.
-- Both boys will also be given a pain reliever.
They are both on Metacam. They are already pre-measured for me. I just give each boy one syringe a day for 3 days.
-- Also, because both boys are on anti-biotics. I have to use a different type of pro-biotic. Usually I use poop-soup from a healthy pig, but I'm not able to do this, this time. So the pro-biotic that they're on is, Forti-Flora in powdered form.
-- Extra Vit C. is also given when they're recovering from this surgery. So Dr. Heaver said to give each boy 50 mg daily for the next few days.

5) Daily Routine
--The boys are on towels for bedding. So these need to be changed twice daily. You can also use shredded newspaper, but I prefer towels.
-- I will also be checking their incision site every day. Just to make sure there's no swelling, or redness, or any other sign of infection.
-- I will also be weighing both boys every day

WEIGHT CHART

Friday June 12 (before Surgery @ home)
B. Sugar - 2 lbs + 15.6 ounces
Sylvester - 1 lb + 13.0 ounces

Saturday June 13
B. Sugar - 2 lbs + 14.8 ounces
Sylvester - 1 lb + 12.2 ounces

Sunday June 14
B. Sugar -
Sylvester -

Monday June 15
B. Sugar -
Sylvester -

Tuesday June 16
B. Sugar -
Sylvester -

Wednesday June 17
B. Sugar -
Sylvester -

Thursday June 18
B. Sugar -
Sylvester -

Friday June 19
B. Sugar -
Sylvester -


INTERESTING INFORMATION

Also to give a rough idea of the expenses of a neuter, I'll post my bill. So if anyone's interested, it's here for them. Although it is in Canadian dollars, and I think Dr. Heaver is a little more expensive than other vets..

Day Hospitalization-------------$12.75 per boy.-----------total $25.50
PostOperative Pain Control---$6.75 per boy------------total $13.50
Guinea Pig Castration----------$85.00 per boy------------total $170.00
Isoflurane Elective Anesth.----$76.50 per boy------------total $153.00
(Isoflurane -- is the gas that's inside the chamber, that puts them to sleep)
Pre-Operative Sedative--------$36.00 per boy-----------total $72.00
Metacam (pain reliever)--------$13.05 per boy-----------total $26.10
Bactrim for both boys-------------------------------total $12.65
G.S.T.--------------------------------------------------total $23.64