Are there any medications that suppress oestrus cycle in Guinea Pigs?

RE: Are there any medications that suppress oestrus cycle in Guinea Pigs?

Stigen — Tue, 21 May 2024 15:45:15 GMT

How do you do the spays? I saw one do it last week, he did them from flank, but had to make 2 incisions, one from left flank, tneh close up, and repEAt on right side. Was time consuming.

RE: Are there any medications that suppress oestrus cycle in Guinea Pigs?

Holly Lee — Mon, 06 May 2024 01:14:46 GMT

Thanks both for your advice.

I appreciate that she definitely has abnormalites and that OVH is the best option.

The owners have been keen for me to explore any alternatives hence the questions.

I will have the conversation again and if we go ahead see if we can get haemoclips to aid the procedure.

Thanks again,

Holly

RE: Are there any medications that suppress oestrus cycle in Guinea Pigs?

Marie Kubiak — Wed, 01 May 2024 19:05:05 GMT

Hi,

It isn't normal to have bleeding in oestrus with guinea pigs. I would be concerned about uterine neoplasia in this sow and hormone interventions (particualrly GnRH agonists) can exacerbate this and should be avoided. The only real option is to remove the pathology by spaying her. The procedure is similar to any small mammal spay but the ovaries can have quite short pedicles so I like to use haemoclips where available to avoid pulling too much.

Marie

RE: Are there any medications that suppress oestrus cycle in Guinea Pigs?

Marianne Thomas — Wed, 01 May 2024 17:47:02 GMT

Hi Holly,

I looked into this for a cystic ovary a few weeks ago. Found very mixed reports for hormonal treatments. But the way they work is by suppressing ovarian activity so it follows that what does one should do the other. But it would mean repeated injections in a species that finds injections super painful. And as I said the little info there is on using them for cysts is equivocal, with plenty of treatment failures reported

I would definitely encourage you to look at some videos on spaying guinea pigs, and see how you feel. It's really a tiny bitch spay. Just make sure her chest is elevated to help her ventilation. Happy to send you some anaesthesia resources if you'd like. Best of luck