spay

Question
hi there,,I have a PBP ,she lives with 2 pit bulls,one of my dogs loved her first now he is afraid of her,I was thinking its just the dog but I have seen her be bossy with him,he runs away so then she can get his bed,now she is going after my other dog and he don't run away like the first one,so there was a fuss and she got bit..been reading like crazy about spay,I think this is best but she is almost 1 yr and about 75 lbs..I did find a vet to do this,she only has ever done 1 spay on PBP before and it was just this past week but that pig was 6 months and only 20 lbs.it took 1 hr and was $900.00...so for my girl it would take 2 hrs(she is fatter) and about $1300.00.....so my question is how much of a risk is my pig at for a spay?.would rather have a bossy pig then not have a pig...or even have a barn pig not a house pig thanks

Answer
The risk of a spay depends totally on the veterinarians skills and experience, and to some degree, the drugs available.

Vets who work with a lot of pigs have successfully spayed females as old as 15 or 16, often removing large (35 lb or 16 kg) uterine tumors at the same time. On the other hand, I have heard far too many horror stories of spays and neuters going wrong due to the vets lack of knowledge.

If you trust your vet, and your vet is willing to learn, there are resources for her. Dr Wilber in Quakertown PA will consult with other veterinarians over the phone. University of Tennessee at Knoxville offers a pot-bellied pig care course, and might be willing to answer questions or offer advice. North American Pot-Bellied Pig Association works with Dr Carr and the DuchessFund, a database of pot-bellied pig information for vets. Contact them through http://petpigs.com/duchess-fund  Finally, the book Veterinary Care of Pot-Bellied Pigs by Lorrie Blackburn/Boldrick DVM has technical info on spaying and neutering. It's inexpensive and available from Amazon.

On the other hand, if you do not feel comfortable having your vet do the spay, you may want to wait until another vet is available, or until your vet has had a little more experience.