So we thought that my 6 year old female had cysts on both sides, she doesn’t have much hair loss but a little, and each vet visit(even after ultrasound) the vet confirmed cysts and we’ve been monitoring. Now when I took her in today for a checkup the vet thinks the one on the right side, where the hair loss is is a hernia. She doesn’t think it’s an important issue right now, since it’s a little bigger( she said the very small ones she’s concerned about), but she’s doing XRays as I can’t afford a CT, and we’ll go from there. If it is a hernia can she live out the rest of her life without surgery? She’s done ok so far, I just think it interesting that it’s changed when she’s been seen and had ultrasounds a few times now. It’s no bigger than it was before. Still eating drinking and going to the bathroom. Thanks!
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Hernia in Female
- Thread starter Kids0519
- Start date
Hi
A hernia is not necessarily a problem as long as only fatty tissue is trapped outside the tiny hole in the wall that surrounds the belly cavity. The hernia can grow or get smaller at times depending on the tissue slipping through the hole in either direction.
If however at any point a piece of gut slips through and gets trapped, then that is the end. It is incredibly painful and since the piece of gut will swell very quickly, any emergency operation even if she is see straight away will not have a good prognosis.
The problem with a preventative operation is that at the worst it can transfer the stress on the wall to another part and potentially cause a hernia there.
My Nosgan developed a late neutering operation hernia several months after I adopted him already neutered. The vet and I decided to not operate in an already operated area as it could have caused as many new problems as it would have solved. Nosgan had another happy 2 years with his new buddy Nye and living with his hernia which improved for over a year until the hernia moved into the genital area when it started growing again. Eventually a piece of gut did unfortunately slip through. But by then he was 5 years of age so I don't rue taking my vet's advice.
Especially at your girl's advanced age you and your vet will have to really weigh up the benefits against the risks since it is a rather major and fiddly operation.
All the best.
Thank you. I picked her up and the vet showed me on XRays where it is a hernia. She is assuming it is the cecum? But can see where she is still pooping and things are “working” normally for now. She says not an emergency since there’s no strangulation but I am of course worried now. She also has a small bladder stone forming and idk what to do about that. She said to make sure she gets extra water and is drinking well. She does have the cyst on the left side. Estimated surgery cost is around 3,000 which we don’t have so I’m assuming it’s just a matter of making sure she’s ok for now and keeping her comfortable. I too am worried about her having such a big surgery because the vet said they’d do the hernia repair, spay and deal with the stone if necessary. I almost wish I didn’t know all this. As of now she’s being her normal happy self.