Spaying an Older Potbelly

[rescueblonde]

I adopted an older potbelly pig a few months ago from the local humane society. She was pregnant and gave birth to two stillborns a few days later. I'm not sure how old she is but am guessing on the older side because she has pretty bad cataracts.

I have a 10 month old male that is due to be neutered soon and I'd like to have my female spayed too so they can be penned together once they've healed. I obviously plan on getting the vet's opinion on whether or not she is too old but figured I could get an idea here. Can a neutered male be penned with an intact female?

 

[NH homesteader]

Well she will still go into heat and some pigs get pretty unpleasant when that happens. Are they approximately the same size? Are they near each other now? There is a pot belly pig rescue in my town and the woman says when you introduce pot bellies for the first time one of them usually draws blood. They can be vicious with each other. Obviously not always the case but it is often enough to keep in the back of your mind. If she is a lot bigger than him I would be more worried.

 

[rescueblonde]

Well she will still go into heat and some pigs get pretty unpleasant when that happens. Are they approximately the same size? Are they near each other now? There is a pot belly pig rescue in my town and the woman says when you introduce pot bellies for the first time one of them usually draws blood. They can be vicious with each other. Obviously not always the case but it is often enough to keep in the back of your mind. If she is a lot bigger than him I would be more worried.

They are exactly the same size! haha. He did get into her pen once and she bit him up a bit but nothing serious at all. They were fine with each other after that. I separated them immediately because they're not fixed but this was before she gave birth.

 

[NH homesteader]

If she stopped then should be OK. My friend who raises standard size pigs has housed sows with neutered males, so as far as I know should be OK... I'm not a pig expert but I have had pot bellies and "big pigs". I bet they would love having each other's company!