Ovarian cysts in older female

[donna83]

Hi was just wanting some advice if someone has been through similar with a positive outcome my girl who I've had 4yrs in November we noticed she had lost a bit weight n a bald patch checked her nipples a few days ago n were fine but now there swollen and I know for sure these are all signs of ovarian cysts I'm getting her booked in to the vets ASAP but my dilemma is we lost her sister in June to the exact same thing as we put her in to be spayed and she didn't survive the operation this left us heartbroken as a family especially my 13yr old daughter and she is heartbroken again thinking this is gonna happen to our other girl to be honest I can't believe it's happening again I know its quite common so I was just wondering if anyone has experience of putting a 4yr old girl through the operation with a positive outcome as our first experience of this situation was a devastating one my girl has always been healthy up to now so I'm hoping she may have a better chance than her sister thanks for reading

 

[Eriathwen]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your other piggy! Over the years I have had 8 girls spayed and all survived, their ages ranged from 18 months to 4/5ish years old.

I have 2 more booked in for a less invasive and safer procedure in September, both are over 4 years old. They're being used to teach my regular vet how to do ovariectomies instead of full spays as both have developed cysts at the same time.

To put your mind at ease it might be worth reaching out to your vet practice to see how many times the vet that will be performing the surgery has done so and had successful outcomes. It very much comes down to how much you trust the vet you're using. If I remember correctly one of mine was the first guinea pig spay my vet had done, but he's an excellent surgeon so I wasn't worried. Whereas if I didn't know anything about the vet doing the surgery I would be far more hesitant, if that makes sense.

 

[donna83]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your other piggy! Over the years I have had 8 girls spayed and all survived, their ages ranged from 18 months to 4/5ish years old.

I have 2 more booked in for a less invasive and safer procedure in September, both are over 4 years old. They're being used to teach my regular vet how to do ovariectomies instead of full spays as both have developed cysts at the same time.

To put your mind at ease it might be worth reaching out to your vet practice to see how many times the vet that will be performing the surgery has done so and had successful outcomes. It very much comes down to how much you trust the vet you're using. If I remember correctly one of mine was the first guinea pig spay my vet had done, but he's an excellent surgeon so I wasn't worried. Whereas if I didn't know anything about the vet doing the surgery I would be far more hesitant, if that makes sense.

Thanks for your reply its great to hear all your girls have survived and the thing was with my other girl I had been taking her to my regular incompetent vet for 5 months b4 anything was done as they said there was nothing wrong with her till I actually start researching myself and got her referred to a proper exotic vet who scanned her and found large cysts on both ovaries and took her straight in for the operation which turned out more complicated as one of the cysts was very large and starting to grow in to her gut and she just didn't come round after the operation so I'm praying my other girl has a better chance as this has only happened in the past 2 weeks and I have been more experienced this time round and knew what to look out for and ive heard about the ovariectomy but I don't think my exotic vet do that yet but thanks for your supportive reply

 

[VickiA]

I have had several older sows (4+) spayed and all have survived surgery. Some have required total abdominal hysterectomy (uterus, ovaries etc all removed through one long incision underneath). The others have had the keyhole surgery to remove the ovaries (oophorectomy is the correct term). Any surgery carries risks, but now that you’ve found a competent exotics vet that risk should be a little lower. I know it’s a worrying time but please don’t think the worst. Be guided by your vet.