Guinea Pig Neutering

Now that Broccoli is living in the same room as us, the humans are thinking of having him live in the same cage as us. Guinea pigs get lonely on their own and need companionship. However, since Broccoli is a boy, putting him in the same cage with us would be a bad idea because of the risk of pregnancy. If a female guinea pig has not given birth (and neither of us have), it is very dangerous to our health to get pregnant after we're 8 months old. Here are some things you should know about neutering your male guinea pig:

* Surgery, including neutering, is serious business for guinea pigs. We don't handle anesthesia as well as many larger pets do. Having a male and female live together is the only valid non-medical reason for neutering.
* There are some things you can do to minimize the risks of neutering. First, make sure that your vet has lots of experience operating on guinea pigs; don't be afraid to ask questions. Second, get your male guinea pig neutered while he's young--4 months old is a good age. (If you neuter a guinea pig when he's much younger, however, he could experience bone loss.)
* After neutering, take proper post-op care of your piggy. This includes monitoring weight, behavior, and visually inspecting the incision site for pus or lumps.
* There are some health benefits from neutering, such as reduced chance of impaction, but you shouldn't neuter your piggy for this reason alone.

Broccoli's surgery is scheduled for Monday. Let's hope he has a speedy recovery and is able to join us in our cage. I'm looking forward to stealing his food.

Broccoli thinks the humans can't find him there. Let him pretend he's escaped the neutering.