Castrating Degu

Re: Castrating Degu

Laura Stapleton — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:08:42 GMT

It went really well, thank you! Didn't take too long, a tad fiddly but I go there. And he was super little patient, hasn't once attempted to chew his sutures

Thank you to all those that advised.

Re: Castrating Degu

Mark Rowland — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:20:00 GMT

How did it go?

Re: Castrating Degu

Laura Stapleton — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:29:59 GMT

Well I now have a good article to read through this evening (with a step by step guide) , a lot of helpful advice, and I have seen one done before... it always seems to be a no-win situation at the moment. I tried to put her off but she insisted. She is just going to get a lot of warnings about the little annoying habit of chewing the sutures etc. As long as I have gone through everything with her then I can do no more. I have done plenty of rabbits and gpigs so will just imagine it is no different.

Re: Castrating Degu

james herriot lied — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:21:30 GMT

[quote user="Laura Stapleton"]

I am doing it tomorrow, owner sounds to be a bit of a stresser and phoned to make sure that the "vet was fully qualifed to do such a procedure", just a little of bit pressure now for it not go wrong!

[/quote]

All joking aside, but are you SURE you want to do this, Laura? It's a bit of a no-win situation for you, TBH.

Re: Castrating Degu

Marie Kubiak — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:03:21 GMT

0.05mg/kg buprenorphine, 0.5mg/kg midazolam, 0.1mg/kg medetomidine. The medetomidine is reversed with equal volume of atipamezole. I use 1mg/kg meloxicam pre-op and for 3 days post-op. If doing scrotal incisions you may need to extend analgesia as this skin appears to heal slightly slower.

If you send me you email address I'll forward on the article, I've found the pdf with lovely pics to guide you through it!

Marie

Re: Castrating Degu

Laura Stapleton — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:47:25 GMT

Marie,

I would love it if you could find that article that would be great! I had a look at the website of exotic DVM and couldn't find anything.

What kind of doses are we looking at too?

I am doing it tomorrow, owner sounds to be a bit of a stresser and phoned to make sure that the "vet was fully qualifed to do such a procedure", just a little of bit pressure now for it not go wrong!

Re: Castrating Degu

Marie Kubiak — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:20:24 GMT

Tried a block before Sx, tried skin block at closure and neither help! Also scrotal ablation doesn't seem to make a difference. They wake up ANGRY!! Apparently laser castration is better for post op reactions but can't really justify a laser just for these. They get given glucose on recovery and have food available but doesn't seem to make a difference. Will try the foot bandaging when my nurses lose patience with being gently bitten :)

Re: Castrating Degu

Mark Rowland — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:56:00 GMT

[quote user="Ian Mostyn"]The patent is going at the end of the year so hopefully the price will come down next year. [/quote]

Oh thank God.........

Re: Castrating Degu

Mark Rowland — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:36:58 GMT

I feed the sgliders asap and put vetwrap on all their feet. Most spend the first 10 mins trying to remove those and then they eat... their scrotum as well as the food. I think itra testicular lignocaine helps but dont know for sure.

Re: Castrating Degu

Marie Kubiak — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:18:23 GMT

I do GPs pre scrotal too and rats scrotal. Rat lump removals I do splash/line blocks, use intradermals, avoid glue and they tolerate the wounds well generally but there's always the odd one that chews (or has its friend chew the wound)... It's sugar gliders that drive me mad - castration is so simple but they wake up intent on attacking themselves, pharmacological measures haven't helped (various analgesics/sedatives/anxiolytics) and I now get a nurse to hold them until they are 100% awake and that rabid anger has passed.

Marie

Re: Castrating Degu

Ian Mostyn — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:02:14 GMT

I don't do enough Degu's to have noticed a regular problem but I do my rats and Guinea Pigs the same way and not had an issue yet. It is rats with mammary mass removals that I have the biggest problem. They seem to attack the stitches within 20 minutes or leave them alone for evermore and that applies to intradermals / mattress / glue. I haven't found a way to predict which ones will cause problems.

If you want something novel I would +1 for sevoflurane. I can't say there is any difference for a dog and rabbits will still breath hold but once anaesthetised, breathing seems to be much more stable across the range of rabbits, rodents, reptiles and birds. The recovery is also very rapid! The patent is going at the end of the year so hopefully the price will come down next year.

Ian

Re: Castrating Degu

Mark Rowland — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:14:21 GMT

[quote user="Marie Kubiak"]

I'm disappointed Ian, I was hoping you'd have a novel third way!

[/quote]

Im Currently researching the intraoral approach (with rectal induction agent)

Re: Castrating Degu

Marie Kubiak — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:07:51 GMT

I'm disappointed Ian, I was hoping you'd have a novel third way!

I used to do scrotal but had a couple that interfered with wounds despite intradermals and pain relief, have you or Mark seen this? After I switched to the prescrotal approach I didn't have any further issues and found surgery a bit quicker too :)

Re: Castrating Degu

Ian Mostyn — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:37:35 GMT

I would go with the same technique as Mark, although I don't usually bother with glue. It has to be a closed castration or made closed afterwards as they have an open inguinal ring. As to age, as long as the testes are big enough to get hold of, then they can be removed.

Ian

Re: Castrating Degu

james herriot lied — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:12:43 GMT

Going from an amalgamation of expert advice, the correct way to castrate a degu would be under injection or inhalation induction, inhalation maintenance, with a prescrotal or scrotal approach, open or closed, with or without skin sutures.

Pretty much what I'd always imagined it to be. Glad I've been doing it right all these years.........

Re: Castrating Degu

Marie Kubiak — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:13:02 GMT

I opt to do them younger, usually around 3 months as tend to find it a little quicker and want to have them integrated into a group asap. I do injectable anaesthesia (dom/bupre/midaz) for induction and maintain on Iso and O2 via mask, then castrate via a pre'scrotal' approach with a single incision - open castrate with closure of tunic after, absorbables in fat (and there's usually lots of it...) and intradermals to close skin. Fluids and analgesia as above

I believe there is a guide to degu castration in Exotic DVM with nice pictures for clarity. Can have a dig through and find it if you want it?

Marie

Re: Castrating Degu

Laura Stapleton — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:09:25 GMT

Thank you !

Re: Castrating Degu

Mark Rowland — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:08:04 GMT

I castrate from 6months or when the testes are palpable.

Opioid premed, Chamber induction, mask maintenance, 2 sctotal incisions, closed castration, cuticular sutures and glue and meloxicam for 3-5 days post op (0.4-0.5mg/kg bid). Give some s/c fluids during the op (2-3mls).

Thats what I do anyways.

Goodluck