# spaying



## cat (Sep 1, 2008)

I was talking to my vet about maybe spaying Kovi as it may help with her quill loss if it is in fact hormonal. She's just over two years old. She has been under anes. twice before and has handled it very well. I was just wondering about recovery times and such, and how you would stop them from going at stitches etc. And I know it would be worth it to prevent reproductive cancers of many types, mammary, ovarian, uterine...but do you guys think it is worth it to put her through that? If her quill loss is hormonal, it will stop that, but if its not theres still the benefit of preventing cancers, but im thinking about the pain and recovery times. Im at a loss. Anyone have any input??


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

What a decision. 

Does your vet do laser surgery? Laser is so much faster, less blood loss and faster recovery time. All the surgery's we have done are laser. 

I've had 3 spayed. Cinder, 18 months, had to be due to severe uterine infection that wasn't responding to antibiotics. It was spay, or she would have died. She was very sick going into the spay and came through great. She bounced back quickly considering it was touch and go that she would even survive. 

Emma age 3.5 was spayed after having severe undiagnosed quill loss and then she started having uterine bleeding. She too came through the spay with flying colours and her quills started to grow back. 

Kei, age 12 months, had bloody urine that continued after numerous rounds of antibiotic and nothing ever showed up on urinalysis. We had her spayed because we thought her problem was uterine. It wasn't and she continued to bleed after the spay. Kei was obviously sore after the spay and was slow moving. Of them all, I think she was the one that the spay affected the most. 

If there is any chance her quill loss is hormonal, then I'd go for it and do it soon. The fact that she has been fine with anesthetic is good and if your vet can do laser, I'd pay the extra and go for it as it is well worth it.


----------



## PixiesExoticHedgies (Sep 4, 2008)

Out of curiosity......how much does it normally cost to spay or neuter a hedgie?


----------



## Gnarly (Aug 29, 2008)

It would be more expensive if it's an emergency surgery. 

I talked to my last vet about it; he quoted me at about $300, for a for a spay. We never talked about a neuter, though I think it would be in that area.


----------



## Hedgierrt (Aug 31, 2008)

I just had Boo spayed about 10 days ago. Our vet used absorbable stitches and the surgical glue. Boo did very well, she is not quite back to her old self but she is getting there. We had her spayed because we have a young male, Henry, and my daughter wanted them to play sometimes. Boo cannot be bred so I decided on the spay. $235.00, with a discount because Henry was an established patient.

Deneen recommended the spay due to all the health reasons mentioned above. Boo is young too, a litlle over a year old, and Henry is 10 months, so long live both of them!


----------



## cat (Sep 1, 2008)

Thanks for all the input. Knowing that other hedgies have been through it and have come out well makes me feel better. I am for sure going to ask my vet if they do laser. And if they do , and if i decide to go through with it, i will have no problem paying the extra money for laser. 

Nancy, do you have any reading material on quill loss do to hormonal issues, or is most of your knowledge based on real life experience? I can't seem to find any, and my vets haven't heard of it in hedgies yet, of course they assume it can happen as it does happen in other species with hair loss. Any info you have on the subject would be much appreciated. 

Thanks


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

All of what I know is from personal experience with Emma and research my vet did at a veterinarians conference in Florida. She discussed Em's quill loss and then her bleeding at the conference and other vets suggested the possibility that the quill loss was hormonal by what was going on in her uterus. She started loosing quills in the summer and the quill loss and dry skin became severe in December to the point that she was just about bald. All testing came back negative but right before Christmas she was put on antibiotics just to see if it did anything and it was while on the antibiotic that she started bleeding. When her uterus was removed the pathology was that Em had endometriosis. Her quills did start to grow back after the surgery but she never did get a full quill coat back.


----------

