Are Ovarian Cysts Genetic?

[Dilly's Piggies]

3 months ago now my sow Harriet was spayed due to ovarian cysts, she was 9 months old when she started showing symptoms and was spayed at 13 months old. 1 month ago her full sister Lottie started behaving extremely hormonal and today I have noticed enlarged nipples, when I first saw this with Harriet it took 1-2 weeks for the crust to develop around the nipple so I am keeping a very close eye on Lottie and checking her nipples every day, the moment I see crust I am going straight to Simon to have her spayed too.

This is just odd to me, Harriet was so young to have this and now her sister too, I wondered if this was a genetic problem and their Mum will also develop it. I do also own their Mother, I got her pregnant from a breeder and she gave birth to Lottie and Harriet here with me, Mum got pregnant at 6 months old and gave birth at 8 months old, she has always been an aggressive pig towards others, only tolerating her babies, and she also bites me, I wonder if this is related as Harriet was exactly the same, since being spayed Harriet is so much better in all aspects of life. The Mother (Tizzie) also has very large nipples, but I put it down to her previously having babies, but is it normal for them to be this big for so long? It has been 14 months since she gave birth, from what I've been told this was her first litter and obviously her last as I'm against breeding. Is it possible being pregnant delayed the onset of ovarian cysts?

At the moment I have one pig that was just cured of all her problems and two others going at each other now that look like they have it too!

So my main questions are:
Are ovarian cysts genetic?
Is it normal for Mother piggies to have large nipples?
Can ovarian cysts be delayed by pregnancy?
Do the nipples enlarge when a sow is in season?
How long are Guinea Pigs in season and how often?

Mum Tizzie's nipples that are enormous...


Daughter Lottie's nipples that have tripled in size over the last month...


How Lottie's nipples looked normally, before the hormonal behaviour and nipple enlargement...


Daughter and sister Harriet who was diagnosed with ovarian cysts and successfully spayed (you can see enlargement and crust)

 

[Wiebke]

Mothers tend to retain longer nipples from all the suckling that has gone on, but like with human breasts, nipples come naturally in quite a range anyway. Nipples can swell and enlarge during a season. Crusty nipples are usually a good sign of homone overproduction.

Sows normally come into season every every 15-17 days for about 15 hours, at the end of which they are ready to mate. Hormonal ovarian cysts can cause sows to be in season permanently, which of course is hard on them. If it is going on for a long time and causes weight loss and disruption in the bond, chorulon (hormone) treatment can help. If it doesn't and if any ovarian cysts are no caused by hormones, a spaying operation is the other option. The hormonally active cysts are usually not the really big ones, but the smaller growing ones.

Guinea pig sows are not engineered by nature to grow old; they are engineered as nonstop breeding machines until they die either in birth or from bein worn out, usually at a fairly young age. That is why hormone production never slows down and why ovarian cysts are very common. The majority thankfully doesn't cause any problems and do not require treatment. Unlike with rabbit does there is no direct link with cancer and there is therefore not the same urge for spaying.

There can well be a genetic link for a stronger disposition for hormonal ovarian cysts, but to my knowledge there has been no research into this. When it comes to guinea pigs, they are woefully under-researched compared to other species. They fall into that gap that they are not exotic enough (considering that they are classed as an exotic species) for the exotic specialist vets, but not common enough as a pet to draw the interest/funding compared to cats, dogs, horses and farm animals.

 

[PiggySlave<3]

Hello! Usually when sows are pregnant their nipples get longer because of all the suckling the babies need to do

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Mothers tend to retain longer nipples from all the suckling that has gone on, but like with human breasts, nipples come naturally in quite a range anyway. Nipples can swell and enlarge during a season. Crusty nipples are usually a good sign of homone overproduction.

Sows normally come into season every every 15-17 days for about 15 hours, at the end of which they are ready to mate. Hormonal ovarian cysts can cause sows to be in season permanently, which of course is hard on them. If it is going on for a long time and causes weight loss and disruption in the bond, chorulon (hormone) treatment can help. If it doesn't and if any ovarian cysts are no caused by hormones, a spaying operation is the other option. The hormonally active cysts are usually not the really big ones, but the smaller growing ones.

Guinea pig sows are not engineered by nature to grow old; they are engineered as nonstop breeding machines until they die either in birth or from bein worn out, usually at a fairly young age. That is why hormone production never slows down and why ovarian cysts are very common. The majority thankfully doesn't cause any problems and do not require treatment. Unlike with rabbit does there is no direct link with cancer and there is therefore not the same urge for spaying.

There can well be a genetic link for a stronger disposition for hormonal ovarian cysts, but to my knowledge there has been no research into this. When it comes to guinea pigs, they are woefully under-researched compared to other species. They fall into that gap that they are not exotic enough (considering that they are classed as an exotic species) for the exotic specialist vets, but not common enough as a pet to draw the interest/funding compared to cats, dogs, horses and farm animals.

That is so sad, these little beloved creatures give us so much yet they are overlooked, they have such strict and specific care requirements yet all of it is done by owners and nothing by specialists, that really needs to change as our piggies suffer so many problems and nobody knows why or how we can help our babies.

Lottie has dropped weight from 1010g to 950g in the past month, a gradual loss but this is exactly the same as how Harriet lost weight, so I am very concerned for her, I am just waiting for crust to develop at this point, she has been hormonal for a very long time. It's just sad that I went through all of this with Harriet and now her Mum and Sister are showing signs, it's truly breaking my heart. Mum has not lost any weight yet but she has been hormonal for around 2 weeks, this could be because she is the herd leader and with Lottie being so dominant and hormonal they are just going at each other, no one has been hurt but this shouldn't be happening at all.

Tizzie (Mum) also has a long history of bladder problems, no explanation or treatment has been found so we've assumed she has interstitial cystitis, is there any possible way ovarian cysts/reproductive issues can cause blood in the urine? Tizzie has had 3 ultrasounds and nothing has been picked up, but her behaving like this is new so I'd like her scanned again, but then again the cysts would be small as you say only the small growing ones cause the hormonal problems. Lottie has also had an ultrasound of her bladder (which showed nothing again) as during a check up the vet found she had bladder pain, when pressed she would cry, after this the hormonal changes started, she didn't have enlarged nipples or hormonal behaviour at the time of the scan so it's possible things have changed.

It seems like this little family have both bladder and hormonal problems.

 

[Wiebke]

Compared to the guinea pigs of my childhood or even those I started out with again as an adult, vet care and possibilities have made HUGE strides forward in the last few years. There has been more interest in guinea pigs recently, but that all needs time and is not a quick process.

IC is a more recent phenomenon that has only been identified around 10-15 years ago when more and more cases started appearing that would not react to antibiotics well. We don't know as yet what it actually is and what is causing it and how/whether it is being passed on; all we can do is address the symptoms and wait for it to go away again on its own. It is however much more likely that is passed on by direct transmission between piggies living together than by genes.
I do also not think that there is necessarily a direct link between ovarian cysts and IC, apart from the fact that bladder issues or ovarian cysts are often being picked up at the same time during a scan or a thorough vet check when searching for potential bladder stones or checking on ovarian cysts. As said, cysts are very common in adult sows, the more the older they get. By far not all require treatment.

Please note that I have said (and I am quoting a piggy savvy vet) that the majority of hormonally active cysts are small ones. This doesn't mean that some larger cysts can't cause hormonal problems or that all small cysts are hormonal!