Ovarian cysts / spaying

[Lauren138]

Hi all,

The vet has suggested my Petal be spayed after ovarian cysts have comeback for the third time. She has cysts on both sides and although there is no growth in the uterus she said the uterus doesn't look fully healthy currently. I am terrified as the vet said not all pigs will recover from an operation. Does anyone have any advice? I know there is a document for post op care which I will look up

Thanks
Lauren x

 

[Honey&truffle]

Hey!
How old is petal? And is she showing any signs of ovarian cysts at the moment for eg any fur loss?

I have a very positive experience with spaying my girl , she was 3 and she had a lot of fur loss and multiple small cysts . Although there is other options such as hormone medication I felt the need to risk the operation as I read it doesn’t always work and everything went so well.

It is very worrying as it is a risky procedure but I would say just go with your gut and have a vet that you trust to do it if you go with the op.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

It very much depends on the operating vet and the recovery nursing team. It is a major operation but we have also seen plenty of success stories on here.

I have had several 4-5 year old sows spayed without any problems.

4 years old Cariad just sailed through her op for a grossly enlarged, borderline pyometric womb with a potentially cancerous lump in it and some rather ugly looking ovarian cysts, according to my vet despite being just 700g. She stayed with her husboar during the op and recovery but was fit to return with him to the full group cage after 2-3 days once I was sure that her weight was stable from her eating independently and without any topping up. She lived for another year until she became too frail for any further regular bladder flushes and despite needing an emergency bladder stone op for a fast growing stone only half a year before her spay. Unfortunately, she kept producing sludge for the rest of her life despite my best efforts.

Cariad with her belly scar (which healed without problems) and tucking into some grass and hay with her 'paw holding' companion Bryn on the day after her op


The operation scar 10 days later



My sisters Morwenna (spayed aged 5 for a hard cyst which would have turned cancerous if it had been left) and a few months later Mererid for a very fast growing fluid-filled ovarian cyst both lived to 8 years (Mererid passed away just 9 days short of their joint birthday but Morwenna lived to celebrate her 8th adoption anniversary).

There are a few more plus the odd sow here and there that I adopted already spayed.

Thread 'Sow Problems 'Down Below' (Ovarian Cysts, Super-seasons, Womb Infection, Pregnancy & Mammary Tumours)'

Jul 15, 2024

1 Important reproductive information
- Start of making babies - seasons - lack of menopause
- Pregnancy
2 Sows in season
- How a season runs
- Strong seasons (snap seasons; the social role of strong seasons; problem seasons)
3 Health issues of the reproductive tract
- Ovarian cysts (types, symptoms and treatment options)
- Other health...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Wiebke's Guides to the Body

Thread 'Tips For Post-operative Care'

Feb 7, 2016

1 Preparing for an operation
2 Care tips for freshly operated guinea pigs
- General advice
- Supportive home care and syringe feeding
- Pain relief, gut stimulants and when to see a vet as an emergency
3 Recovery
4 Companionship
- The importance of company
- Tips for medically separated piggies


Ideally, your...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Wiebke's Home Care Guides

• 

 

[Merab]

I had 4 of my sows spayed due to ovarian cysts.
Only 1 didn’t survive but that was was because the vet found some serious underlying issues.
The others all came through with no problems and continued to live happily.
I was fortunate in having an excellent vet

 

[Sue and Smartie]

Kanga Pig had both ovaries removed in 2021, at age 3. Both ovaries had multiple small cysts. The operation was done by making two incisions one on each side, the vet said this was to avoid a wound on the underside of the pig as this would be harder to keep clean.
The only difficulty we had was Kanga managing to scrape her stitches out on both sides, so she had to go back in to be glued back together. She scraped the glue off also but was already beginning to heal over by then. There was never any sign of infection even with her disturbing the wounds. The vet who did it has done a lot of extra training in exotics, but even before she came to the practice, I'd had other pigs operated on, and I feel very confident that the vet nurses there are excellent at post-op care.
Kanga lived to be over five years old.

 

[Lauren138]

Thanks so much for everyone’s replies and stories really good to know. Petal is 3. The cysts have been seen on both sides by an ultra sound. The exotic vet has been doing the operation for 15 years. It’s Ashleigh vets in Manchester in case anyone knows. But she really made me worried as she said it’s 50/50 whether they survive. But a nurse told me sometimes they say that to prepare people. But it doesn’t seem like that it seems like it’s better stats.

 

[Lauren138]

Hi

It very much depends on the operating vet and the recovery nursing team. It is a major operation but we have also seen plenty of success stories on here.

I have had several 4-5 year old sows spayed without any problems.

4 years old Cariad just sailed through her op for a grossly enlarged, borderline pyometric womb with a potentially cancerous lump in it and some rather ugly looking ovarian cysts, according to my vet. She stayed with her husboar during the op and recovery but was fit to return with him to the full group cage after 2-3 days once I was sure that her weight was stable from her eating independently. She lived for another year until she became too frail for any further regular bladder flushes.

Cariad with her belly scar (which healed without problems) and tucking into some grass and hay with her 'paw holding' companion Bryn on the day after her op
View attachment 254832 View attachment 254829

The operation scar 10 days later
View attachment 254842


My sisters Morwenna (spayed aged 5 for a hard cyst which would have turned cancerous if it had been left) and a few months later Mererid for a very fast growing fluid-filled ovarian cyst both lived to 8 years (Mererid passed away just 9 days short of their joint birthday but Morwenna lived to celebrate her 8th adoption anniversary).

There are a few more plus the odd sow here and there that I adopted already spayed.

Thread 'Sow Problems 'Down Below' (Ovarian Cysts, Super-seasons, Womb Infection, Pregnancy & Mammary Tumours)'

Jul 15, 2024

1 Important reproductive information
- Start of making babies - seasons - lack of menopause
- Pregnancy
2 Sows in season
- How a season runs
- Strong seasons (snap seasons; the social role of strong seasons; problem seasons)
3 Health issues of the reproductive tract
- Ovarian cysts (types, symptoms and treatment options)
- Other health...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Wiebke's Guides to the Body

Thread 'Tips For Post-operative Care'

Feb 7, 2016

1 Preparing for an operation
2 Care tips for freshly operated guinea pigs
- General advice
- Supportive home care and syringe feeding
- Pain relief, gut stimulants and when to see a vet as an emergency
3 Recovery
4 Companionship
- The importance of company
- Tips for medically separated piggies


Ideally, your...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Wiebke's Home Care Guides

• 

Thanks so much for all this info!

 

[Betsy]

The Ever Beautiful Betsy had an emergency spay in the middle of Lockdown for her ovarian cysts (the operation was cancelled due to Lockdown 2 weeks before). She was really moody (even more so than usual) and had lost half of her beautiful long locks and was starting to look a bit like a skinny pig! When I collected her I was told that they were "large and very round" as in almost 11cms on one side and 10 cms on the other. She recovered very well, she was 5 at the time.

 

[Lauren138]

Hi all, I asked my vets if they knew how many pigs survive spaying there I didn't expect them to know. This is what they said, I'm just worried why they keep telling me it's so risky with cysts when this is not what everyone else is saying.

We don't tend to keep statistics on things like that and it would be hard to give a percentage of how successful the procedure will be as every animal recovers differently after surgery. I just spoke to one of our exotic vets and she did say that the risks do increase when they have ovarian cysts unfortunately.

The vet originally told me it would be 50/50 which has made me very concerned. However they are one of the top vets in the area (north west/manchester) for exotic vets

Feeling so worried

Lauren

 

[Piggies2023]

Hi all, I asked my vets if they knew how many pigs survive spaying there I didn't expect them to know. This is what they said, I'm just worried why they keep telling me it's so risky with cysts when this is not what everyone else is saying.

We don't tend to keep statistics on things like that and it would be hard to give a percentage of how successful the procedure will be as every animal recovers differently after surgery. I just spoke to one of our exotic vets and she did say that the risks do increase when they have ovarian cysts unfortunately.

The vet originally told me it would be 50/50 which has made me very concerned. However they are one of the top vets in the area (north west/manchester) for exotic vets

Feeling so worried

Lauren

50/50 seems higher risk than normal to me. My vet is confident in operating on pigs and I certainly was not warned of this. But she does like pigs to be a good weight before surgery. My pigs have been through a spay, overactomy, bladder stone op, hernia surgery & multiple sedated x-rays and they survived all of them. Have you looked at the vet list on here?

 

[Lauren138]

Hi all

Following on from a post I made yesterday. My vets keep telling me how risky spaying is, one of them old me it was 50/50 recovery. Someone else told me today the risk increases a lot once cysts are present. Yet on forums like this vast majority are success stories and definitely does not seem like 50/50. I'm becoming very worried about this, even though my vets is meant to be one of the best in Manchester/north west for exotics (Ashleigh vets).

Does anyone have any recommendations for this area of the country? Petal has cysts on both sides and this is the third time she has had them in two years so she needs to be spayed, she is 3.

Thanks all x

 

[Lauren138]

50/50 seems higher risk than normal to me. My vet is confident in operating on pigs and I certainly was not warned of this. But she does like pigs to be a good weight before surgery. My pigs have been through a spay, overactomy, bladder stone op, hernia surgery & multiple sedated x-rays and they survived all of them. Have you looked at the vet list on here?

Thank you. It's really starting to not seem right to me what they are saying. I will check out the list thank you so much

 

[Piggies2023]

Thank you. It's really starting to not seem right to me what they are saying. I will check out the list thank you so much

Just out of interest I searched the vets on here. And someone has posted saying that vets recently lost their most piggy savvy vets.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all, I asked my vets if they knew how many pigs survive spaying there I didn't expect them to know. This is what they said, I'm just worried why they keep telling me it's so risky with cysts when this is not what everyone else is saying.

We don't tend to keep statistics on things like that and it would be hard to give a percentage of how successful the procedure will be as every animal recovers differently after surgery. I just spoke to one of our exotic vets and she did say that the risks do increase when they have ovarian cysts unfortunately.

The vet originally told me it would be 50/50 which has made me very concerned. However they are one of the top vets in the area (north west/manchester) for exotic vets

Feeling so worried

Lauren

HUGS

Because it is a very invasive operation it is somewhat more risky than less invasive surgery. As said, it depends very much on the vet and nursing team.

However, if the womb has started to go wrong in addition to the ovarian cysts, without the operation your girl would have a massively reduced life expectancy. It is one of these 'between and rock and a hard place' choices. You can buy your girl several more years of life with a certain risk against weeks or at the best months of life for sure.

That is the wider picture in which your vet has made their decision to operate; not because they are looking forward to it. Any failed op is as hard on a vet team as it is on the owner. It is always a weighing up of risks and benefits. In your case, the cance to reap benefits is still greater than the risk.

The examples in this thread will hopefully show you that it is a survivable operation and that the benefits in terms of an extended life span are considerable. It also perfectly normal to have second thoughts at this stage.

Thread 'Pet Owners Anxiety - Practical Tips For Sufferers and For Supporters'

Mar 1, 2022

1 What is Pet Owners Anxiety?
2 What can I practically do when I suffer from it?
3 What can I do when dealing with an anxiety sufferer?
4 Conclusion
5 Practical Resources


This article has been written for Guinea Pig Magazine issue 62 in May 2021 and is shared on this forum with the permission of the magazine. The copyright for this article remains with Guinea Pig Magazine.

We are all often in equal measure excited and scared at taking care of a new pet or pet species, and frightened when our beloved guinea pigs are...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: New and Wannabe Owners Corner

• 
• 

I am very sorry; there is nothing nice about this kind of situation, in which I have found myself often enough over the years. My thoughts are with you as any operation is an anxious time.

 

[Lauren138]

HUGS

Because it is a very invasive operation it is somewhat more risky than less invasive surgery. As said, it depends very much on the vet and nursing team.

However, if the womb has started to go wrong in addition to the ovarian cysts, without the operation your girl would have a massively reduced life expectancy. It is one of these 'between and rock and a hard place' choices. You can buy your girl several more years of life with a certain risk against weeks or at the best months of life for sure.

That is the wider picture in which your vet has made their decision to operate; not because they are looking forward to it. Any failed op is as hard on a vet team as it is on the owner. It is always a weighing up of risks and benefits. In your case, the cance to reap benefits is still greater than the risk.

The examples in this thread will hopefully show you that it is a survivable operation and that the benefits in terms of an extended life span are considerable. It also perfectly normal to have second thoughts at this stage.

Thread 'Pet Owners Anxiety - Practical Tips For Sufferers and For Supporters'

Mar 1, 2022

1 What is Pet Owners Anxiety?
2 What can I practically do when I suffer from it?
3 What can I do when dealing with an anxiety sufferer?
4 Conclusion
5 Practical Resources


This article has been written for Guinea Pig Magazine issue 62 in May 2021 and is shared on this forum with the permission of the magazine. The copyright for this article remains with Guinea Pig Magazine.

We are all often in equal measure excited and scared at taking care of a new pet or pet species, and frightened when our beloved guinea pigs are...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: New and Wannabe Owners Corner

• 
• 

I am very sorry; there is nothing nice about this kind of situation, in which I have found myself often enough over the years. My thoughts are with you as any operation is an anxious time.

Thank you. Yes I have been shown it's really survivable here that's why I'm worried they keep telling me how risky it is. She needs the op it's just the vet that is casting doubt in my mind now. But they are one of the best vets in the area. Thank you

 

[Lauren138]

Just out of interest I searched the vets on here. And someone has posted saying that vets recently lost their most piggy savvy vets.

Someone did leave recently. There are two others, the one who has been seeing my pig said she has been doing the op for 15 years. But she is the one who says it's 50/50 (worrying). The other one who has been there slightly longer and comes recommended from my neighbour is away until 28th and I'm not sure I should delay the op until then, it would be after then as we would have to have appointment with him first.

 

[Piggies2023]

Someone did leave recently. There are two others, the one who has been seeing my pig said she has been doing the op for 15 years. But she is the one who says it's 50/50 (worrying). The other one who has been there slightly longer and comes recommended from my neighbour is away until 28th and I'm not sure I should delay the op until then, it would be after then as we would have to have appointment with him first.

I hope you get some answers on your post about vets. Knowing you trust a vet is definitely really helpful.

 

[TrixiePigster]

I had my 4 year old spayed following an ovarian cyst. She was very drowsy and needed recovery mix syringe feeded for a week (I think). My vet told us to isolate her, but she did much better with company. I added her favourite hidey and gave her my lowest energy guinea pig as company. They spent most of their time cuddling together. She did really well and I feel the surgery was neccessary and important. She is now a healthy happy girl.

 

[Lauren138]

Nice to hear thank you

 

[Merab]

I think it seems to be increasingly common to paint a worst case scenario with any medical procedure on animals and humans.

I’ve just had a shingles jab and if I wasn’t so confident that I don’t usually suffer side effects I may have chickened out as the nurse described possible side effects!

In these litigious days vets as well as doctors have to prepare people for all possible outcomes.

Personally, knowing the risks, I would always opt for a spay for a sow with ovarian cysts if I was confident in my vet.