Female swollen protruding vulva genitals

[ceciliaxdee]

Hi all, today I noticed my Guinea pig’s vulva is open and slightly protruding out. Is this normal?

I checked my other females and theirs are all currently closed.
She’s otherwise well, eating fine and running around. This is my piggie who has lymphoma so she’s been on daily steroids and diuretics (not sure if this has somehow contributed also?).

Photos below of piggie and then another two of my females who don’t have their vulva open.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all, today I noticed my Guinea pig’s vulva is open and slightly protruding out. Is this normal?

I checked my other females and theirs are all currently closed.
She’s otherwise well, eating fine and running around. This is my piggie who has lymphoma so she’s been on daily steroids and diuretics (not sure if this has somehow contributed also?).

Photos below of piggie and then another two of my females who don’t have their vulva open.

Hi

She could be in season but if the swelling isn't going down please have her vet checked for a potential infection in the reproductive tract and/or ovarian cyst.

 

[ceciliaxdee]

Hi

She could be in season but if the swelling isn't going down please have her vet checked for a potential infection in the reproductive tract and/or ovarian cyst.

Hi there! Thanks for your response, she has been spayed. Would she still go into season if her ovaries have been removed?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there! Thanks for your response, she has been spayed. Would she still go into season if her ovaries have been removed?

No, spayed sows don't come into season anymore (whether that is just the ovaries removed or the womb as well), so you are rather looking at a potential infection in that area. If the womb is still in, it can point to a womb lining infection (pyometra) but occasionally an infection in the urinary tract could also be in play - that is for a vet to decide.

Please check whether the area feels swollen or hot to the touch. Be aware that genitalia in sows come in a much wider range of appearance than you would expect but I agree that it looks a bit swollen to me, too; but not having access or knowing how she normally looks, I cannot comment. See a vet if it looks still the same or worse by tomorrow morning.

 

[ceciliaxdee]

No, spayed sows don't come into season anymore (whether that is just the ovaries removed or the womb as well), so you are rather looking at a potential infection in that area. If the womb is still in, it can point to a womb lining infection (pyometra) but occasionally an infection in the urinary tract could also be in play - that is for a vet to decide.

Please check whether the area feels swollen or hot to the touch. Be aware that genitalia in sows come in a much wider range of appearance than you would expect but I agree that it looks a bit swollen to me, too; but not having access or knowing how she normally looks, I cannot comment. See a vet if it looks still the same or worse by tomorrow morning.

I checked the area before and it doesn’t feel hot but just slightly more swollen than my other piggies. I’ve emailed my usual exotics vet and will see what she saids and get her in for a check up over the next few days. There’s no blood or anything and I do recall her vulva being open previously but I don’t think it was this pronounced.
Will keep an eye on her thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

I checked the area before and it doesn’t feel hot but just slightly more swollen than my other piggies. I’ve emailed my usual exotics vet and will see what she saids and get her in for a check up over the next few days. There’s no blood or anything and I do recall her vulva being open previously but I don’t think it was this pronounced.
Will keep an eye on her thanks!

To any owner - especially if you have anxiety/mental health issues or are a new owner - I would recommend that you create a reference pictures folder for each of your piggies's various body parts once a year so you have something against which you can check up on when you are not sure whether there are changes or not.

 

[Freela]

I would definitely check with the vet... some spays leave the uterus, in which case she could still have a uterine lining infection (pyometra) or a bladder issue (a friend's piggy had swelling to the area while trying to pass a stone.) Hopefully nothing but it's good to be safe!

 

[ceciliaxdee]

I would definitely check with the vet... some spays leave the uterus, in which case she could still have a uterine lining infection (pyometra) or a bladder issue (a friend's piggy had swelling to the area while trying to pass a stone.) Hopefully nothing but it's good to be safe!

Yes definitely - my piggie is now passing some blood while peeing today with some squeaking although swelling hasn’t gotten worst so I think it may be a UTI, hopefully not a stone as with her Lymphoma I’d be worried about putting her through any surgery. She also just had a whole body xray to check her lymphoma a month ago and everything looked really good so it’d be so unlucky if a stone has developed since then
My exotic vet said a while back from his experience once the ovaries are removed the uterus shrivels up and pyometra is very unlikely and she has been desexed for over 2 years.

She has an appointment in the morning so fingers crossed.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Fingers crossed for your little lady

 

[Freela]

Fingers crossed and hope it's something easily treatable!

 

[Eriathwen]

The inside of her urethral opening looks quite swollen in that last picture, those fleshy parts should be inside in most sows, it's possible she has a small stone inside which has caused the tissue to be pushed out while straining to pass urine, or could just be irritated, do make sure she is still able to pass urine until her appointment, if she blocks up it becomes life threatening and will need an emergency appointment before the urine backs up to her kidneys.

Her parts, especially in the last picture however, look very similar to one of my girls Panda who has partial somatic intersexuality. We only discovered this about 2 years after she was spayed as her female hormones reduced and testosterone increased, causing penile structures that had been dormant to begin to grow inside her urethra, while not common..intersexuality is also not massively rare either it just isn't often picked up on, so something to consider as a possibility. Panda is prone to stones getting stuck in her parts due to the irregular and unusual internal shape of them so I have to manually remove most of them.

I hope it turns out to be something simple and easy to treat, good luck!

 

[weepweeps]

Good luck at the vets

 

[ceciliaxdee]

Fingers crossed for your little lady

Thank you!

 

[ceciliaxdee]

Fingers crossed and hope it's something easily treatable!

Thank you!

 

[ceciliaxdee]

Good luck at the vets

Thanks

 

[ceciliaxdee]

The inside of her urethral opening looks quite swollen in that last picture, those fleshy parts should be inside in most sows, it's possible she has a small stone inside which has caused the tissue to be pushed out while straining to pass urine, or could just be irritated, do make sure she is still able to pass urine until her appointment, if she blocks up it becomes life threatening and will need an emergency appointment before the urine backs up to her kidneys.

Her parts, especially in the last picture however, look very similar to one of my girls Panda who has partial somatic intersexuality. We only discovered this about 2 years after she was spayed as her female hormones reduced and testosterone increased, causing penile structures that had been dormant to begin to grow inside her urethra, while not common..intersexuality is also not massively rare either it just isn't often picked up on, so something to consider as a possibility. Panda is prone to stones getting stuck in her parts due to the irregular and unusual internal shape of them so I have to manually remove most of them.

I hope it turns out to be something simple and easy to treat, good luck!

Thanks for sharing your experience! The vet agreed that it was swollen and had a good poke around and was worried about stones also.

He wasn’t able to express any pee cos her bladder was empty but he did X-rays and thank god no stones however she has a fair bit of bladder sludge. Vet thinks she has irritation from the sludge and a potential UTI also. So I’ve got a script for Potassium Citrate and Hydrochlorothiazide to help her pass the sludge and prevent stones forming and she’s on a week or so of septrin antibiotics until the blood clears up along with tramadol for pain (she can’t have meloxicam as she’s on steroids).

Just glad it’s not stones as even my experienced exotic vet (who actually just did two Guinea pig bladder stone removal surgeries on Friday) said he was glad also as he would have been nervous operating on her given her lymphoma diagnosis.

Fingers crossed her sludge clears out and her vulva swelling goes down!

Photo of pigs in piggie jail today while waiting at the vets

 

[weepweeps]

I hope the treatment works quickly and she is soon on the mend.

 

[Freela]

Awww, poor girl in piggie jail! I hope she feels better soon. All the best!

 

[YvonneBlue]

Hope your lovely girl is feeling better soon.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Sending loads of healing vibes to your beautiful little lady

 

[ceciliaxdee]

Thank you all! I hope she’s feeling better soon also and she can clear this sludge out. I did find an old photo back in 2021 and her vulva was closed and not swollen so we are hoping it goes back to normal.