Guinea pig castration HELP!

Re: Guinea pig castration HELP!

Samantha Kent — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 17:31:02 GMT

If it is of interest to anyone I have used suprelorin implants in male guinea pigs admitted for castration in 2 cases both with very effective results with regards to behaviour etc. The reasons being one reacted badly to GA shortly after induction before I had even started, so abandoned procedure then in recovery discussed with the owner (both cases fully aware off licence) and another one where the owner didn't really want a long GA so I offered shorter GA time (just use a bit of sevo until sleepy enough) and implant with a view to castrating later if it didn't work. Both have been very successful however you need to make sure you aren't in fat as this can affect efficacy.

Re: Guinea pig castration HELP!

Aurelijus vet — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:42:28 GMT

Hi,

This help you. http://www.veths.no/upload/Etterutdanning/GuineaPigSurgeries.pdf

Good luck

Re: Guinea pig castration HELP!

Rachel Blackmore — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 13:59:05 GMT

Thankyou all so much!! I've been able to read your posts but not reply (broken laptop) All went really well, I used domitor/torb/ket and a scrotal approach. 3 days postop mr gp is doing great no swelling and stopping his metacam. Can't thank you all enough- it helps to have some other vets experience

Re: Guinea pig castration HELP!

Fiona French — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:22:40 GMT

Be very careful incising over the testes, it is easy to cut a little deep and expose the tubules of the testicle, which then very quickly turns to mush; they are very friable. I have heard of a vet do this, and end up with part of the shredded testicle retacting into the abdomen. It died a few days later of peritonitis. Handle them gently!

Re: Guinea pig castration HELP!

Utlendigur — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:39:37 GMT

I tend to invert the tunic back into the inguinal ring then put a couple if sutures to hold it closed. I think with all small furries the main thing is short GA time - get all you need ready before you start, use heat pad/bubble wrap etc and work as quickly as possible.

Re: Guinea pig castration HELP!

Edward Jones — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:55:25 GMT

I'm not certain that simply closing the tunic is enough in all cases, especially there's a lot of fat around the vas (which if removed leaves even more intra-tunic dead-space). After the castration, I prefer to separate the tunic from the scrotal tissue, gently externalise what I can, then clamp and tie-off the tunic. Essentially leaving very little tunic tissue within the scrotum.

Even with a closed tunic the intestine can prolapse through the inguinal ring. Next step is break down of the tunic stitches, etc etc.

Whatever method you use, any sudden post-op scrotal swelling should be surgically investigated, IMHO. It's probably not just a blood clot

I simply use a loose horizontal mattress gut suture to close the scrotal incision (one on either side).

I only speak from experience as a general practitioner, nothing more

Re: Guinea pig castration HELP!

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:35:32 GMT

I use medetomidine (0.1-0.2mg/kg) plus Butorphanol (1mg/kg) for sedation, plus meloxicam (0.4mg/kg) and then induce with sevoflurance in a closed chamber. I don't routinely use atropine.

They are incredibly difficult to intubate due to pharyngeal soft tissue and the narrow opening from orophayrynx to larynx so we maintain on a mask with either sevo or iso.

I try and position them in dorsal with the thorax raised to avoid thoracic compression as they have small lung fields and don't always breathe nicely under anaesthetic.

You can use scrotal incisions to castrate, as in rabbits, but as their testes are lower-slung they are at higher risk of post-op infection/trauma. I tend to use a single pre-scrotal midline incision instead, with open castration to allow good ligation followed by complete tunic closure afterwards. Intradermal sutures and a few days of NSAIDs after surgery usually lead to rapid healing with minimal interference.