# Rat neuter prices



## thedogsmother

Ive resigned myself to having to have George and Cava neutered, they hate each other and George hates all the other rats, Cava is dominating everyone and they are miserable with it. The trouble is I havent had a rat neutered since Bitsy and I wasnt happy with how the vet treated him, he was wet and cold from a leaking water bottle when I collected him. So Im going to have to do some ringing round to find someone Im happy with, so the point of this post is that Im trying to find an average price for a rat castration so I have that info before I ring round.


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## donna.n

When we had Sponge spayed it cost us £64. They were really good with her.


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## blade100

When I was considering getting Humphrey done I had a quote between £35-£50 buy that's in the midlands.

Have u been on fancy rats forum to ask for good vets in your area?


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## thedogsmother

blade100 said:


> When I was considering getting Humphrey done I had a quote between £35-£50 buy that's in the midlands.
> 
> Have u been on fancy rats forum to ask for good vets in your area?


I havent been on in years, I joined the new forum twice and each time it wouldnt let me log on, I dont know if its my pooter or a problem at their end but I gave up in the end. I have to ring round all the vets today and ask all the relevant questions till I find a practice worthy of operating on my boys . They certainly know how to give us a hard time these ratties dont they . Ive had to do a bit of DIY on the Explorer to house all these hormonal teenagers, it looks a right mess now .


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## LostGirl

Nice DIY 

I think ours is around £35 ish


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## blade100

Ok hun.
It's just in the web directory on fancy rats there is a list of good vets in certain parts of the country. What part are you in Gill? Like I'm Central what are you?i.e SE, SW etc I can have a look for you then to see of anyone has recommended any in your area.


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## thedogsmother

blade100 said:


> Ok hun.
> It's just in the web directory on fancy rats there is a list of good vets in certain parts of the country. What part are you in Gill? Like I'm Central what are you?i.e SE, SW etc I can have a look for you then to see of anyone has recommended any in your area.


It depends what site youre looking at, its usually central, its west yorkshire (Huddersfield) if theres any near there. The one I took Bitsy to was reccomended, it was in Leeds but I wouldnt go there again, I was so shocked to see how they had left him, bearing in mind what kills a lot of post op rodents is not being able to maintain body temperature, leaving him in a soaking wet cage was irresponsible and could have had a disaterous outcome  (can you tell it got me mad? )


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## simplysardonic

I can't remember exactly how much Snape cost me, somewhere in region £45 IIRC.
Good luck finding a better ratty vet xx


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## blade100

Yes and you had every right to be mad! What stupid idiots 
Did u give them a piece of your mind?


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## thedogsmother

blade100 said:


> Yes and you had every right to be mad! What stupid idiots
> Did u give them a piece of your mind?


Well they literally brought his cage out into the reception area after I had paid and said "come back in two weeks" and gave me a post op care sheet, so I didnt see how cold/wet he was till I got him in the car. I did ring them and tell them I wouldnt be bringing him back there for his checkup and that the cage was soaking wet, and they said bottles often leak and as it was supplied by me they couldnt be held responsible, I think they must have had it pressed up against something though because it didnt leak at any other time. They honestly didnt seem to care, their people skills were as bad as their veterinary skills.


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## blade100

I can't seem to find any in the web directory on FR.
Do u want me to make a thread on there for you asking if there's any local to your area?


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## blade100

Complete morons. :frown5:


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## thedogsmother

blade100 said:


> I can't seem to find any in the web directory on FR.
> Do u want me to make a thread on there for you asking if there's any local to your area?


Ive rung 3 vets locally and they are all going to ring me back, there is one that I prefer generally for the rodents, they seem pretty rodent savvy but I want to know first how many rat neuters the actual surgeon who would be doing the op has done before I commit to anything. If I dont get the answers Im looking for from them could I get back to you and ask you to do the thread for me please


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## blade100

Yes sure you can.
Right I'm off to bed, been on a nite shift last nite and have been up since yesterday at 8am! So nearly 27 hours


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## Lavenderb

I've just rung my vet Gill. They would charge £32 for the neuter and then an extra £12 on top for pain relief and they are really good with rats. I had the whole surgery cooing over Louie when I took him with his head tilt.


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## thedogsmother

Well the first price is in, it was the one I was hoping to use, they quoted £60 but that wasnt the problem, it worried me that they didnt have a price on the screen for a rat neuter, which suggested to me that it wasnt a common operation that they did. Also she said they do far more other small mammal castrations, like guinea pigs etc but they do plenty of rat ones too. They are getting the vet to ring me but my gut isnt with this one for my boys. I'll see what the next practice says.


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## thedogsmother

This one sounds much better, £43 with the price on the screen, they do a couple of rat spays or lump removals a week too, and my gut is feeling a lot better about this one


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## blade100

Hey Gill so are you going with the last one you mentioned?


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## LynseyB

Good luck with everything  I was almost exactly £50 all in (op, aftercare, meds ect).

Let uis know how you get on and how the vet is


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## thedogsmother

blade100 said:


> Hey Gill so are you going with the last one you mentioned?


Errr I should do , Ive picked up the phone 3 times to make the appointment and Ive put it down again, I know I wont chicken out once Ive made the call its just a scary prospect, I would be totally changing their lives forever. I know its right for George, he never got a chance to live with other rats before I got him and hes ok, but I know what his life could be like and I have to do that for him, the problem is Cava, Im still torn about him and I need a couple of days to make up my mind. Either way I think I will go with them, Ive had another returned call and they were cheaper but I didnt get the same feeling of confidence about them. Watch this space though, Ive given myself till the weekend to decide . Will someone decide for me please


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## thedogsmother

Decision made , Cava has just gone on a frenzy, hes drawn blood (nothing serious) on all 3 of the others, hes in the wire cat carrier for now in isolation, I cant put him in the meshed section next to George because they try to kill each other through the mesh and I cant put him in the spare cage (zoozone) because hes a chewer and he would be out in two minutes so Im not sure where to put him till he has the op, when I spoke to them earlier they said the best day was tuesday so I dont know if they can fit the boys in before then. Looks like another night of cage juggling for me then . Im just glad my rats live in the lounge, with recent events I would most likely have had some serious fighting injuries or worse if I hadnt been close enough to stop them.


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## Lavenderb

Oh well hun, you know its best for him and he will soon be feeling less stressed. You always do whats best for your pets and thats always obvious.

Another hobby then eh? Cage juggling? I dont know how do do it, have you got a vid of that lol.


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## thedogsmother

Lavenderb said:


> Oh well hun, you know its best for him and he will soon be feeling less stressed. You always do whats best for your pets and thats always obvious.
> 
> Another hobby then eh? Cage juggling? I dont know how do do it, have you got a vid of that lol.


Well Im not superwoman, how could I possibly juggle 11 rats and video it at the same time, that would be dangerous, I might drop the camera 

Ive now got poor George in the zoozone, he seems happy enough, I think any cage is better than where he came from, Cava is next to the hairless boys in the half a cage and he seems to be ok where he is, so lets hope it stays that way till they are hormonless and I can bond them again.


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## blade100

Oh dear 
Naughty naughty ratties.
I think when blood has been drawn then neutering is the only option. You see with humpfrey he never did draw blood and now he's calmed down no end. Thing is I have 2 other boys going through exactly the same but there acting just like humpfrey did so I'm not worrying unless of course there happens to be blood/wounds.

Hope all goes well for you and your boys.


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## tagalong

you may need to give them a fair bit of time once castrated for hormones to die down -varies a bit from rat to rat and the older threy are castrated the longer it takes.
but they will be healthier due to less stress from hormonal aggression and happier you need to do it otherwise you will have a serious even fatal injury to one or other
prices vary a lot -in Sussex a boy was done for me to adopt recently at £52 
my vet in Berkshire cost £80 but he uses his own technique -one hole not 2 big slits each side -internal stitches that dissolve and a bit of glue on top -pain relief and antibio given at time of op and can honestly say that they don't seem to even notice it :mellow:


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## LostGirl

i think i may be joining you in the nads off  baldrick is a nightmare! hes a massive humper, screamsif anyone comes near him god intros are fun lol


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## thedogsmother

LostGirl said:


> i think i may be joining you in the nads off  baldrick is a nightmare! hes a massive humper, screamsif anyone comes near him god intros are fun lol


Pierce (one of my hairless boys) does the screaming thing, hes been terrible to intro to anyone, hes always the one being attacked too, I think the screaming really pees the others off and they loose it with him. Hopefully I will find someone he can be with as his brother Merlin is really sociable and he misses out on rat company when hes having to babysit Pierce.


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## LostGirl

I wonder if it's a naked thing then? He cut himself trying to run away  

I'm thinking of just free ranging for around a month, then just do it slowly as he's to small for the op yet or failing him with the boys I'll try him with the girls (after nad fairy)


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## thedogsmother

LostGirl said:


> I wonder if it's a naked thing then? He cut himself trying to run away
> 
> I'm thinking of just free ranging for around a month, then just do it slowly as he's to small for the op yet or failing him with the boys I'll try him with the girls (after nad fairy)


Thats what I was considering with the two boys Im having neutered, if they dont get on with the boys group I can try them with the girls, they have a real hatred for each other so I may never get them to live together.


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## LostGirl

thedogsmother said:


> Thats what I was considering with the two boys Im having neutered, if they dont get on with the boys group I can try them with the girls, they have a real hatred for each other so I may never get them to live together.


Im pretty sure thats the way im going im pretty sure my girls would love him lol its just getting in to his head that they are going to hurt him,and that its him causing the problems."B" sat on him to shut him up lol!

Hopefully it goes well for your boys.x


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## prscorpio

We just had our boy rat neutered at Chase vets in Eastbourne and it cost £51 they were very good and the price included 2 further check ups for him, he has healed nicely and we hope to re-unite him with his sister on wednesday next, which will be 14 days after his op. the vet has also offered to sex the babies for us too for free! We dont want any more mix ups thank you!


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## thedogsmother

prscorpio said:


> We just had our boy rat neutered at Chase vets in Eastbourne and it cost £51 they were very good and the price included 2 further check ups for him, he has healed nicely and we hope to re-unite him with his sister on wednesday next, which will be 14 days after his op. the vet has also offered to sex the babies for us too for free! We dont want any more mix ups thank you!


Thanks for that prscorpio, Im hoping my boys recover as quickly, have you checked with your vet that its ok to reintroduce them that quickly? I know with some species the sperm can stay in the tubes for several weeks after the operation. How many babies did she have?


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## Shen

I just came across this thread as I am considering having 2 of my 9 boys neutered. I really don't like the idea at all but I have had to separate one boy, Dappy, on his own now for about 6 weeks (he is 7 months old). One of the other boys in the main cage, Timmy,has really reached his hormonal age, he is around 8 months and he is nipping all the other boys and humping them. That isn't a problem but he has given a couple of the boys quite nasty bites. 

Timmy and Dappy really really dislike each other and Timmy has twice now given Dappy bites bad enough that if I hadn't been in the room, it could have been fatal!  Dappy seems quite aggressive with all the other rats and constantly looks like a puff ball which is why I have had to put him on his own. He's quite nippy with me too. 

I was wondering how the boys usually are after they have been neutered and does anyone have any other suggestions? I am an experienced owner but I cannot let these two boys be together and Dappy, the younger one is currently on his own which is really not good for him. Does anyone actually recommend neutering as a good option for hormonal/aggression control?


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## thedogsmother

I ended up having 3 boys done, two for hormonal aggression and one because he was attacked and going to be anesthetised so I got him neutered at the same time. Its definately worked for Cava, hes so much calmer and seems happier too, George took longer to calm down but hes also getting to be a lot more relaxed and its not even 2 weeks since the op. The third boy wasnt really hormonal so I cant say if hes calmed down or not, he was always pretty laid back. If you can find a decent, experienced rodent vet I would think it was worth the risk, its no life for them living alone really.


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## Shen

No it isn't any good at all for him I know that. Thank you for your super speedy reply. Glad your boys are doing better now. Dappy is currently running around on me at present, (peeing as he walks over my keyboard) he is with me whenever he is awake, but even though he has me 'on tap' all day every day, its just not good enough and something has to be done to help the poor little mite. Having my company is fine, but obviously when its night time, he's on his own. I am seriously considering getting it done for him, I think that the risk associated with it is worth it if the alternative is a life alone.  No one wants that.. not even people!


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## thedogsmother

Shen said:


> No it isn't any good at all for him I know that. Thank you for your super speedy reply. Glad your boys are doing better now. Dappy is currently running around on me at present, (peeing as he walks over my keyboard) he is with me whenever he is awake, but even though he has me 'on tap' all day every day, its just not good enough and something has to be done to help the poor little mite. Having my company is fine, but obviously when its night time, he's on his own. I am seriously considering getting it done for him, I think that the risk associated with it is worth it if the alternative is a life alone.  No one wants that.. not even people!


Where abouts in the country are you, maybe someone on here can reccomend a good rodent vet.


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## Shen

That would be great. Thank you. I am in Manchester, just outside of Wigan.


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## thedogsmother

Spoiled Rat would be a good person to contact then, she runs a rescue so Im sure her vet will know their stuff and shes in that area too.


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## Shen

I will do that then. Thanks for your help!


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