Neutering – why and when

The number of pet guinea pigs born each year is far greater than the number of good homes that can be found for them. As a result, thousands of guinea pigs find their way to rehoming centers where they wait for adoption. Responsible guinea pig owners realise that neutering (sterilizing, castrating, spaying) will not only reduce these numbers, but will also safeguard their guinea pig’s health and welfare for the future.

Both castration in the male guinea pig (boar) and spaying in the female guinea pig (sow) are major operations which need a general anaesthetic.

The operations involve a single cut, into the belly of the female to remove the ovaries and uterus (womb), or into each scrotal sac of the male guinea pig to take out the testicles. Your guinea pig should be ready to come home on the same day as surgery, as soon as the anesthetic has worn off. The fur where it was shaved for its operation may re-grow slightly darker than the rest of its body, but the contrast often disappears when your guinea pig molts its fur the next time.

Females

The most obvious reason for having a female guinea pig neutered is to prevent her from producing baby guinea pigs. The litter size is between 1-8 pups and a female guinea pig can have five litters a year. This is a lot of baby guinea pigs to find homes for when there are already too many baby guinea pigs born every year!

Males

Neutering a male guinea pig produces a much calmer, relaxed pet. If you keep your guinea pig indoors, neutering it will make it much easier to litter train!

Neutering is generally performed in guinea pigs over 4 months of age, and there is no upper age limit for neutering. The weight of the guinea pig is important too, your veterinarian may not want to operate on a guinea pig if it is very small.

You may wish to have your guinea pig neutered if you wish to introduce it to other guinea pigs.

Obviously if you keep a male and female together and neither animal is neutered, you’ll soon end up with lots of baby guinea pigs! Female guinea pigs live well together, in pairs or small groups. Male guinea pigs can fight, although this is less likely if they are litter mates that have been together since birth. Male guinea pigs will form a hierarchy that means that subordinate males will get bitten and bullied.

Male guinea pigs are easier to neuter than females, but guinea pigs do not respond well to anesthesia, hospital stays and surgery. The safest, easiest and most cost-effective answer is to keep guinea pigs in single sex pairs/groups.

All operations requiring a general anesthetic involve a certain amount of risk and on rare occasions there may be complications after the operation. However, in female guinea pigs these risks are greater as the surgery is more invasive.

Neutering will not have any significant effect on your guinea pig’s lifestyle apart from eliminating its sexual behavior. Because it is not expending energy in finding a mate and defending a territory, your guinea pig may need less food, but you should be able to prevent it becoming overweight by giving it slightly smaller meals. Most owners find that any changes in their guinea pig’s personality are for the better as many neutered guinea pigs become more relaxed, affectionate and playful.

Different veterinary practices may charge slightly different prices for a neutering operation depending on various factors such as the location, and the quality of the facilities at the practice. But all veterinarian prefer to see as few unwanted baby guinea pigs as possible and they try to minimize their charges. If money is short, then you can shop around and people on income support may get help from one of the animal charities. However, it is wise to balance the costs of neutering against the expense of having an unwanted litter of baby guinea pigs. A pregnant guinea pig will need more food to support herself and her offspring, the babies will need veterinary attention and you may have to advertise to find them good homes. If you cannot afford to neuter a guinea pig, then keep a single sex pair or group to avoid unwanted pregnancies.