Spayed female with intact male? Is this possible?

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Pixie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2011
Messages
210
Location
Ontario
Some of you may know that I currently have three rats. I have Fiona an unaltered female, Norman a neutered pew & then I adopted Logan almost 3 weeks ago an unaltered male. Logan is in QT and is being treated with antibiotics for sneezes. So far his sneezing is still present, but he doesn't seem any worse. Tomorrow I am going to pick up some children's benedryl to try, and see if maybe he has allergies and if it will help with his sneezes. Otherwise he is a healthy 4-5 month old boy.

My plan was to have him neutered, but now I am not sure if the vet will perform a neuter on him if they think he is still sick. Plus the vet I saw, thinks he has a virus and that he should NEVER come into contact with other rats for the rest of his life. I personally don't agree with this. I'm not sure what virus my vet thinks he has. He is in the same house as my other rats & they have yet to show any symptoms of catching whatever it is Logan has.

My question is ...if I can't get Logan neutered, should I get Fiona spayed? Does anyone else have a spayed female rat, in with an intact male rat? I know lots of people have neutered males in with unspayed females, but in the reverse also possible? I would prefer to get Logan neutered, because Fiona is an alpha female and seems to get along with Norman who is a nice passive neutered male. Plus I don't want any tension between Norman and Logan.

Any suggestions would be much apprecitated.
 
Definitely, as long as one of the sexes is altered it works well. She won't go into heat and won't cause those exciting hormones to kick in eventually. He may try to mate with her at first, but it should die down in a short while.
 
Oh good!
Moon said:
This is an entirely viable option and would reduce the risk of mammary tumours for her also :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing! My only worry is that I would be devasted if anything happened to my fiesty little Fiona during surgery :sad3: but at the same time it will benefit her more and prevent mammary tumours :thumbup:

I have to call my vet back in 15 minutes, because the person who answered the phone wasn't sure if they have ever performed a spay on a female rat. She needs to check with the vets on site. They have done neuters on males though.
 
Hey there,

I just thought I would chime in because I used to live in Peterborough and remember looking high and low before I found a vet that did rat spays. Dr. Jenny Laing, at Champlain Animal Hospital on Lakefield Highway, just north of the university, did a great job on my two girls a few years back and for a reasonable price. (About $300 each, which is not bad for a spay.) I wish I had known more about rat meds back then because she didn't prescribe a wide range of abs, but for everything else I was really happy with her and the clinic. I had spays, tumour removals, and euthanasias done at the clinic as well as check ups and was very happy with all of their services.

Pixie said:
Oh good!
Moon said:
This is an entirely viable option and would reduce the risk of mammary tumours for her also :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing! My only worry is that I would be devasted if anything happened to my fiesty little Fiona during surgery :sad3: but at the same time it will benefit her more and prevent mammary tumours :thumbup:

I have to call my vet back in 15 minutes, because the person who answered the phone wasn't sure if they have ever performed a spay on a female rat. She needs to check with the vets on site. They have done neuters on males though.
Click to expand...
 
victoria said:
Hey there,

I just thought I would chime in because I used to live in Peterborough and remember looking high and low before I found a vet that did rat spays. Dr. Jenny Laing, at Champlain Animal Hospital on Lakefield Highway, just north of the university, did a great job on my two girls a few years back and for a reasonable price. (About $300 each, which is not bad for a spay.) I wish I had known more about rat meds back then because she didn't prescribe a wide range of abs, but for everything else I was really happy with her and the clinic. I had spays, tumour removals, and euthanasias done at the clinic as well as check ups and was very happy with all of their services.

Pixie said:
Oh good!
Moon said:
This is an entirely viable option and would reduce the risk of mammary tumours for her also :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing! My only worry is that I would be devasted if anything happened to my fiesty little Fiona during surgery :sad3: but at the same time it will benefit her more and prevent mammary tumours :thumbup:

I have to call my vet back in 15 minutes, because the person who answered the phone wasn't sure if they have ever performed a spay on a female rat. She needs to check with the vets on site. They have done neuters on males though.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Thanks Victoria, that is good to know, because Cavan Hills Vet clinic doesn't do spays on rats. I will have to get in touch with Champlain Animal Hospital.

I am still leaning more towards getting Logan neutered.
 
Pixie said:
victoria said:
Hey there,

I just thought I would chime in because I used to live in Peterborough and remember looking high and low before I found a vet that did rat spays. Dr. Jenny Laing, at Champlain Animal Hospital on Lakefield Highway, just north of the university, did a great job on my two girls a few years back and for a reasonable price. (About $300 each, which is not bad for a spay.) I wish I had known more about rat meds back then because she didn't prescribe a wide range of abs, but for everything else I was really happy with her and the clinic. I had spays, tumour removals, and euthanasias done at the clinic as well as check ups and was very happy with all of their services.

Pixie said:
Oh good!
Moon said:
This is an entirely viable option and would reduce the risk of mammary tumours for her also :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing! My only worry is that I would be devasted if anything happened to my fiesty little Fiona during surgery :sad3: but at the same time it will benefit her more and prevent mammary tumours :thumbup:

I have to call my vet back in 15 minutes, because the person who answered the phone wasn't sure if they have ever performed a spay on a female rat. She needs to check with the vets on site. They have done neuters on males though.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Thanks Victoria, that is good to know, because Cavan Hills Vet clinic doesn't do spays on rats. I will have to get in touch with Champlain Animal Hospital.

I am still leaning more towards getting Logan neutered.
Click to expand...

If Cavan Hills won't neuter Logan, ask Champlain how much they charge just in case :)
 
lilspaz68: "If Cavan Hills won't neuter Logan, ask Champlain how much they charge just in case "

Will do!
 
So I have made an appointment for all three of my rats with a vet at the port hope animal hospital. They are just 2 minutes down the road from me & they deal with alot if exotics & they do spay and neuter on rats. Fiona is going in for an initial exam to see if she is a good candidate for a spay. Logan is going in for an exam for a neuter and to discuss his sneezing. I really want a second opinion on what's goin on with him. And I decided to take norm in so she can check out his lump. Plus twice now I have seen him hiccuping. The first time their was a chirping noise & the second time they were silent. So he may be getting a URI.

They charge $68 for an exam and she said they might not charge a fee for each rat, but lump it all under one fee. They said they couldn't tell me how much a spay and neuter will be until after the exams. Then they will give me a price quote.

Our appointment is for 3:00 next Wednesday
 
Just wondering for those who have spayed females in with intact males...Do the males still try to breed with or hump the spayed females? Or do they just do this to establish an alpha and then leave the spayed girls alone?

Thanks
 
Some males will keep trying it for about a week. The heat cycle of a female is 5 days, Males usually stop when the 5 days have come and gone and little girl doesn't go into heat.
But... there are some girls that still present themselves and allow the males their fun. I've only seen that in a couple of spayed females.
I assure you though, that if the female doesn't want to be mounted, she won't let him. A lot of the girls stand their ground and will put the male in his place.
 
Thanks Jorats! Fiona seems fine since her spay but I don't want to introduce her to Logan if he might try to grab her and hump her until she is completely healed. Once she has fully recovered then they can sort it out. Until then I will keep letting her climb on his cage, closely supervised oh course, and allow Logan and Norman some time to get to know one another. So far the several times Fiona has sat on and climbed on Logans cage there has been no aggression, biting or squeaking. Sometimes Fiona tries to reach in and grab Logan with her little paws but he stays far enough away that she can't reach him.
 
Just a little bit of advice, letting rats meet through the bars can end very badly so I would just wait until they can meet each other without the bars in the way.
 

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