Aris' neuter - may be disturbing to some

[queenofthenile]

Aris was neutered on the 8th of April. When I first picked him up he was groggy and was very scared of my hand. The vet told me to keep him seperate from Indira and their babies for 24 hours, but I put him back in with them as soon as he got home. I think seperating them is unnecessary. (She never even attempted to clean his incisions).
The surgery went very well (I didn't get to watch it though because they had another surgery booked at the same time - I would have just been in the way ). I really wanted to see it but oh well. They made a small incision over each testicle, drew it out and removed it. Then they sealed the incision with glue. I think that was much better than stitches after seeing the pics of a gerbil neuter on gerbils anonymous!
The only tough thing is giving Aris antibiotics every day - Baytril in a sugar water solution. Aris is the only one of my gerbils who likes to nip . Taking pictures of him has also been an ordeal - by the time the camera is focused he has started lashing out with those sharp back claws!
Without further ado, here are the recovery pics.
Day 1:


Day 2:


Day 3:


Day 4:

[Ritzie/Admin]

Thanx for placing the pictures! I was very curious to them! It looks like it went very well and that the wounds healed also very well! Am I right when I see that the swelling has disappeared on the forth day?

Was his behaviour normal when he was home again? And wouldn't he cleaning his scrotum (which might maybe open the wounds)? And for how long needs he antibiotics?

A lot of questions, I know, but this is al new to me! ;D

[queenofthenile]

Yes Peter, you are right about the swelling. I do think it will continue to go down though.
I don't mind questions, it is not a common operation ;D. When he first got home he was very skittish. I think this was because of the pain medication they gave him, which must have made everything seem very strange! He snuggled up to his family right away but seemed to sleep a bit more than usual. After a few hours he was fine, although the scrotal area was a bit sore (I accidentally touched it when picking him up ).
I actually did not see him trying to clean his scrotum. I think it was just a bit too sore for that. Also he just wanted to rest. Since the incisions were glued shut, there was nothing for him to chew on (like stitches) and he left it alone. He was being such a good gerbil!
He is on the antibiotics for 8 days --> he gets 0.4 mL every morning. The antibiotics were needed because it is almost impossible to get a real sterile environment when neutering a gerbil. Also, the vet was worried about infections from bedding and the other gerbils.

[Ritzie/Admin]

Thanx Queen!

After a few hours he was fine, although the scrotal area was a bit sore (I accidentally touched it when picking him up ).
I actually did not see him trying to clean his scrotum. I think it was just a bit too sore for that.

As a male, I can imagine the pain! ;D ;D

It seems to me that the vet you visited is a good gerbil vet, or am I wrong? Maybe you can place that vet in the Gerbil Vet Listing board: gerbilforum.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=vet.

[floppy]

Hi,

I had 2 males neutered at the end of January. Like Queenofthenile I also knew my vet to be very good. She has performed this operation on rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils (not to mention cat, dogs, rabbits etc) thousands of times. I totally trust her. It took a while to find her because most vets wouldn't dare do an operation like that on a small animal.

They were done around lunch time and I collected them that same evening. I couldn't believe how quickly they recovered! One of them, Floyd, slept all night when I took him home but the other one, Jimi, was so hyper. He's usually a bit shy and quiet! He slept most of the next day and they were fine after that.
Both had stitches. Jimi took his out after a day or two, Floyd on about day 4/5. The vet said they did a very good job too! . She was impressed ;D I don't regret having them done and would definitely have more done if needed. I would only bring them to Bairbre though (my vet) as I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it.

Floppy

[queenofthenile]

The swelling seems to have gone down completely now and it is almost healed. I guess we just have to wait for the hair to grow back and he will look normal (well almost normal ).
Here is the surgical site after 7 days.

[Ritzie/Admin]

Such a shriveled scrotum is indeed not completely normal! ;D It healed indeed very good.

Queenofthenile and Floppy, thanks for telling your experiences with neutering your gerbils! I will keep it in mind for when I need this for my own gerbils someday!