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[1newChinmom1]

OK, I admit it, I have been surfing the net, trying to find the correct age for our little boy kit to be neutered. Every time I think I find the answer, it turns out to be a discussion on the merits of neutering, and not the actual answer.
 So, in consideration of this, I hope to keep this thread simple. How old should a little boy kit be before he is neutered? I don't want to miss the window of opportunity if he can grow past it, but I don't want to have this attempted too young.

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know 

[jmdebb]

i don't mean this to sound sarcastic, but why don't you ask your vet?

[ABC Chinchillas]

At any age it is a huge risk and has a 50% rate of death the anestetic is very hard on chinchillas. Other than that you have to wait until they are sexually mature but can be done at any age once mature. I will say I have heard of more chinchillas dying from complications than being fine

[1newChinmom1]

I did ask my vet, and she said at maturity. However, I have learned the price of not asking my experienced fellow ChinMoms.  So I am here, asking away as usual. I am sorry to seem so dependent on this community, but you give wonderful advice, as well as a sounding board for an inexperienced owner. Thanks to all of you!

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know 

[jmdebb]

I did ask my vet, and she said at maturity. However, I have learned the price of not asking my experienced fellow ChinMoms.  So I am here, asking away as usual. I am sorry to seem so dependent on this community, but you give wonderful advice, as well as a sounding board for an inexperienced owner. Thanks to all of you!

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know 

oh, yes, definately asking other chin moms is good, like i said, i wasn't trying to be sarcastic, but i'm sure it sounded that way.. i just coudln't think of a way to say it where it sounded different... i just thought that maybe they could give you good sound advice, but star gave great advice.

[1newChinmom1]

That's ok, I know I sound like a ditz here sometimes.  It is really funny, I am a retired Army Captain  with three healthy children and one granddaughter, my own home, my own business, several of the markers of competence. My entire career has been in medicine, starting as a midwife ending as an RN.! But when it comes to our Little Mother and her son, I just freak out at everything!
I do seem to be a little calmer lately, now that we have accomplished most of the basic care skills.  And my vet (god bless her patient soul) gets my most important questions. But I think , unless you guys chase me off, I will always come here for a 'second opinion'. You are all the best, and I am so grateful to have found loving, caring, understanding ChinMoms and ChinDads so ready to give their advice and expertise so willingly.

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know 

[heiwa]

To get a male chin desex is quite common in our city, normally chin owner would like to do it at the age around 1 year old or any age that a male chin sounds healthy. But sexual maturity and age are not the only consideration in such operation, our VET would also evaluate the health status of that chin, and normally it is not recommend for chins under 400grams because anestetic is much more risky for a chin with little body figure. Moreover, female chin desex is much more risky than male, I think you should know about this.

The risk of desexing operation is not that high in our city because we have few VETs are experienced in chins here, but still, there are some cases of death because of anestetic as Starleomach mentioned. In most cases, the chin can recover very fast and become vital again within a week. (for male chins)

The main concern for you is, is there any VET around you is experienced?? And I think you can even consult your VET on some statistics, like how many chins he/she have neutered and how is the overall result on this, if he/she really doing well on this, I think he/she won't mind to share his/her experience to you. The only thing afraid is you don't ask.

Hope I can give you some ideas on this.

[1newChinmom1]

Thank you so much, Heiwa!  You are so very right! I must confess, I am not a nice doctor searcher.  I am direct, to the point, almost painful in the blunt questions I ask. I had a list, and made sure I got straight answers on every single question! The vet we decided on is very experienced with Chins, and is very good at handling me as well,lol. She is a bit of a drive (almost an hour) but worth it. And the only real choice I have, since I couldn't find anyone closer that I could trust.
We are patiently waiting for our young Sir to grow up enough for his operation.
You mentioned that Starlemach, is it good, or NOT good? If it is NOT good , what is better? What do your vets use there? Thnaks again for the great answers.


The more I learm, the more I realize how little I know

[heiwa]

We are patiently waiting for our young Sir to grow up enough for his operation.
You mentioned that Starlemach, is it good, or NOT good? If it is NOT good , what is better? What do your vets use there? Thnaks again for the great answers.

Oh.. you made some misunderstanding, Starlemach is the member who have mentioned anestetic is risky in this topic (see the user name), and I just agree with what he/she is saying that anestetic is one of the risk in such surgery!!

[ABC Chinchillas]

I personally would have a male chinchilla live alone or with a same sex cage mate rather than neuter him . So I would say it in not good. I have seen waaaay more people have thier chinchillas die from complications and even infections after or die during the surgery than live. I am against any unecessary surgery,

[chinclub]

We have had a lot of chinchillas knocked down with Ketamine and never had any trouble.  I think the trouble comes when vets try to use heat to help regulate body temperature while the animal is asleep.  We don't do this. 

[Jenova]

Just to let you know my Chong is neutered and lives with his mate and two daughters.
I took a long time deciding whether to do it and longer finding a vet. I went and spoke to them and they used a special anaesthetic suited to chinchillas and had a special area for small animals. He must have only been in there two or three hours before I picked him up. I didn't have any problems at all.

[jmdebb]

That's ok, I know I sound like a ditz here sometimes.  It is really funny, I am a retired Army Captain  with three healthy children and one granddaughter, my own home, my own business, several of the markers of competence. My entire career has been in medicine, starting as a midwife ending as an RN.! But when it comes to our Little Mother and her son, I just freak out at everything!
I do seem to be a little calmer lately, now that we have accomplished most of the basic care skills.  And my vet (god bless her patient soul) gets my most important questions. But I think , unless you guys chase me off, I will always come here for a 'second opinion'. You are all the best, and I am so grateful to have found loving, caring, understanding ChinMoms and ChinDads so ready to give their advice and expertise so willingly.

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know 

your not being a ditz, you are learning... we all had to learn.. five years later, i am still learning... so don't be so hard on yourself..

jean

[1newChinmom1]

Thanks again, everybody! The neutering is definitely on the calendar, for when he is grown. I wish it could be avoided, but we really need him to be able to be with his Mum. I have talked about the heat thingy, and the Ketamine thingy, and my obessive worry-ing thingy (lol) with our vet. She understands, has done many successful neuterings, and I think it is going to be ok, really.
For now, we are enjoying the time we spend each night with each of them in the play room. But I also look forward to the time they will have together, again, one day.  Their hutches are side by side - a foot apart- and they often chirp and chatter between themselves. When playtime comes, we have to give the one who has to wait a treat, and some extra alfalfa hay, to make up for having to wait it's turn  . They seem very serious about getting the first playdate each night, and we have to alternate or they get upset with us,lol.
I believe they will be much happier in the same hutch. 

The more I learn, the more i realize how little I know