I need as much information about rat neutering as possible

[Lourice]

I finally have enough money to get the rats neutered, but I want to be completely informed before I make any appointments.

What is the standard procedure? Will I be able to do them both in the same day? Should I? do they get infected easily? will they be in a lot of pain? should i monitor them a lot? Can I do it on a tuesday and then leave from from 4-10 alone? should I clean their cages the day of, and put them in completely fresh everything when they come back? will it change my rats personalities? I just want to know exactly what to expect, so I don't make any mistakes.


and, i'll make a topic about this after but i might as well ask now, too; how soon after the operation can i start doing intros again? and should i do them as before? on neutral ground and everything? and what if they still fight afterwards?

bombard me with information, please.

 

[hopefloats]

I clean the cage the day of and try to keep it clean for them during the healing. I have had as many as 7 rats done in one day. You only have to worry if they get PICA behavior which means they will chew on everything including themselves from the meds from the surgery.

They will most likely get neuter abscesses most do they will appear as hard lumps in the area. Depending on the ages the recovery time varies. I prefer to do more than one at a time just for this reason, so they can have someone to cuddle with. My old rats seem to be out of it for the day, some are sore the next day and some act like nothing happened to them.

I do not allow any external stitches or staples in mine because they will chew them off. I never had stitches that stayed here. My vet knows to only use glue, we never had a problem with that.

You watch for excessive swelling or bleeding or anything like that. Most are normal by the book surgeries. I have had a few that were bleeders and they were not fun but that was only a few.

Sometimes the neuters can work instantly some it takes a couple of weeks. I generally wait a week then I try intros usually i just stay going slow till they stop fighting.

 

[Lourice]

I clean the cage the day of and try to keep it clean for them during the healing. I have had as many as 7 rats done in one day. You only have to worry if they get PICA behavior which means they will chew on everything including themselves from the meds from the surgery.

They will most likely get neuter abscesses most do they will appear as hard lumps in the area. Depending on the ages the recovery time varies. I prefer to do more than one at a time just for this reason, so they can have someone to cuddle with. My old rats seem to be out of it for the day, some are sore the next day and some act like nothing happened to them.

I do not allow any external stitches or staples in mine because they will chew them off. I never had stitches that stayed here. My vet knows to only use glue, we never had a problem with that.

You watch for excessive swelling or bleeding or anything like that. Most are normal by the book surgeries. I have had a few that were bleeders and they were not fun but that was only a few.

Sometimes the neuters can work instantly some it takes a couple of weeks. I generally wait a week then I try intros usually i just stay going slow till they stop fighting.

They both live alone, so they have nobody to cuddle with this is why i'm doing this, so i can bring them together as BFF's. will they still fight even after the hormones are gone?!

 

[hopefloats]

I only had two rats who stayed "pushy" after a neuter but the major fights and so on stopped. They learn to tolerate rather than lash out at them. Even alone they will be fine, i keep baby food and ensure handy for the first night they may be groggy and not eat much but leave them options when they are hungry they will eat it.

Make sure you get metacam for pain after it, they may need it for a day or two.

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Good luck with the neuters!