Ovarian cysts with extreme weightloss

[Helen42]

Thought I’d start a new thread about my girl Bonnie who is coming up to 4 years old. She’s now lost 290g in the last three months. Anne at Goddard vets has been seeing her regularly trying to figure out what the issue is. She’s been brilliant. Her teeth are all good. She felt a large ovarian cyst and then did an ultrasound and X-ray which confirmed this along with another cyst on her other side (this was the lump Anne originally didn’t think was a cyst). She was also very gassy. Nothing else flagged up. The cysts are large at 6 x 4cm and 4 x 3cm. Her behaviour is completely normal, she’s eating and drinking normally and her fur looks healthy and not balding. No crusty nipples, she has hair loss every few months then it grows back. Anne said the weight loss and bloating wasn’t very common with ovarian cysts. We’ve talked about spaying her but can’t help but think there’s something else going on. She said she can drain the cysts to see if she gains weight then we would know if was just the cysts. I’m so stressed out as don’t want to leave it too late to have surgery. She’s suggested a referral to either CJ Hall or Beaumont Sainsbury Animal hospital both of which are quite a way from me (Horley near Gatwick). I see there’s also Gianluca Deli at medivet in faygate which is close to me. Do I waste more time with more investigating or just go for a spay?

 

[stef.trg]

I'm sorry to hear about your girl. I'm no health specialist and I'm sure one of the more experienced members will be along soon with advice about your question. I just wanted to add my two cents because I just have a very similar case with my girl. She also has ovarian cysts, not quite as large as Bonnie's though. If my Buttons hadn't suddenly started to get gassy and bloated and lost weight, I would've never realised that there's something wrong with her as she doesn't have any "typical" symptoms. For now, she had two hormone injections that helped soften and shrink the cysts a little (maybe that's something that could also work for Bonnie?) so she's largely symptom free which will hopefully continue until her planned spay at the end of July.

I've spoken to my guinea experienced vet about her non-typical symptoms and she said that in her experience, non-hormonal ovarian cysts that become quite large tend to cause digestive problems like gas, weight loss and, further down the line, problems with breathing as they start pressing into other organs.

I wish Bonnie all the best and, should you decide to spay, all the best! x

 

[Wiebke]

Thought I’d start a new thread about my girl Bonnie who is coming up to 4 years old. She’s now lost 290g in the last three months. Anne at Goddard vets has been seeing her regularly trying to figure out what the issue is. She’s been brilliant. Her teeth are all good. She felt a large ovarian cyst and then did an ultrasound and X-ray which confirmed this along with another cyst on her other side (this was the lump Anne originally didn’t think was a cyst). She was also very gassy. Nothing else flagged up. The cysts are large at 6 x 4cm and 4 x 3cm. Her behaviour is completely normal, she’s eating and drinking normally and her fur looks healthy and not balding. No crusty nipples, she has hair loss every few months then it grows back. Anne said the weight loss and bloating wasn’t very common with ovarian cysts. We’ve talked about spaying her but can’t help but think there’s something else going on. She said she can drain the cysts to see if she gains weight then we would know if was just the cysts. I’m so stressed out as don’t want to leave it too late to have surgery. She’s suggested a referral to either CJ Hall or Beaumont Sainsbury Animal hospital both of which are quite a way from me (Horley near Gatwick). I see there’s also Gianluca Deli at medivet in faygate which is close to me. Do I waste more time with more investigating or just go for a spay?

Hi

I am extremely sorry. The massive quick weight loss is worrying.

Large cysts will push on the gut and can cause some considerable gassing; I had that with a couple of my sows with very large cysts. Draining the cysts is not an invasive procedure in itself - it is done via pulling up fluid from the cysts with a syringe through the skin; ideally it is under anaesthetics and using a scan. The anaesthetics allow the vet to manipulate the body into the ideal position, which would often be rather uncomfortable if the piggy were fully awake.
It will help to temporarily reduce the size of the cysts but may indirectly also alleviate the bloating somewhat. It would then give your vet more leeway re. investigating what is going on and any necessary operation with a more reduced risk. This is what is behind your vet's advice.

But I am wishing you and your girl all the best. It could be that there is something else going in, including with the cysts.
I don't know how much hormone therapy would work in view of something else possibly going on. I assume that is the reason why your vet hasn't brought it into play?
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)


Unfortunately, I cannot advise you what you prefer to do and have no knowledge of your local vets.

Wishing you and your poorly girl all the best!

 

[Helen42]

Update…

Thank you so much for your supportive words. So we decided to request a referral to Gianluca Deli at Medivet in Faygate. We received a call from them and an appointment the same day.

He spent over an hour with us and seemed to really know his stuff. He wasn’t overly concerned with how gassy she was but said the extreme weight loss isn’t usually just down to ovarian cysts. He didn’t recommend draining the cysts as they can sometimes leak and then the fluid can cause organs to adhere to each other. He said she needs a spay/ovariectomy but wanted to check her kidney function to make sure the weight loss wasn’t related to kidney failure. He gave her a bit of gas and did a blood test. It came back normal which was a relief as I had convinced myself she had kidney failure which would mean palliative care. I asked about thyroid and he said that’s a separate test but that usually other markers would flag up in the test he did which were not present. He also checked her teeth which are all good.

She is booked in for a spay on 28th June and said that he would do an ultrasound on the morning of the op to check the current size of the cysts and to see if her uterus looks okay. If her uterus is okay he will do an ovariectomy so fingers crossed. He will also check her kidneys on the ultrasound as well to double check they are all good. Dreading 28th June…

 

[Wiebke]

Update…

Thank you so much for your supportive words. So we decided to request a referral to Gianluca Deli at Medivet in Faygate. We received a call from them and an appointment the same day.

He spent over an hour with us and seemed to really know his stuff. He wasn’t overly concerned with how gassy she was but said the extreme weight loss isn’t usually just down to ovarian cysts. He didn’t recommend draining the cysts as they can sometimes leak and then the fluid can cause organs to adhere to each other. He said she needs a spay/ovariectomy but wanted to check her kidney function to make sure the weight loss wasn’t related to kidney failure. He gave her a bit of gas and did a blood test. It came back normal which was a relief as I had convinced myself she had kidney failure which would mean palliative care. I asked about thyroid and he said that’s a separate test but that usually other markers would flag up in the test he did which were not present. He also checked her teeth which are all good.

She is booked in for a spay on 28th June and said that he would do an ultrasound on the morning of the op to check the current size of the cysts and to see if her uterus looks okay. If her uterus is okay he will do an ovariectomy so fingers crossed. He will also check her kidneys on the ultrasound as well to double check they are all good. Dreading 28th June…

Sounds like you are in very expert hands there. Draining cysts is usually an option of last resort for frail old sows where the only other alternative would be pts/euthanasia.

Fingers very firmly crossed!

 

[Emx93]

Hope all goes well with your girl I am in by no means a health expert but I have had a girl have massive weight loss and bloating with a very large cyst. Unfortunately she did have a lot of other issues also. Good luck

 

[Helen42]

Hope all goes well with your girl I am in by no means a health expert but I have had a girl have massive weight loss and bloating with a very large cyst. Unfortunately she did have a lot of other issues also. Good luck

Sorry to hear this. What were her other health issues?

 

[Emx93]

Sorry to hear this. What were her other health issues?

It was complicated and we never knew the full extent. She grew a lump on her jaw at full health which was removed but then she abcessed and it pushed her jaw out of alignment. 8 different meds, flushing of the abcess, constant syringe feeds only for her to loose almost half her body weight and grow another jaw lump as well as mass bloating. Diffuse cancer was an option suspected but we knew for sure they couldn't see, hear or feel her guts anymore and she had elongated roots causing jaw lumps and she struggled with surgery. This is when we discovered a large cystic mass on x ray. The prognosis was poor so after a weekend to think it over where she lost more weight we let her go to spare her any further suffering. But... I will say that is the only time I've experienced any complications associated with cysts... I have had many other sows successfully spayed

 

[Helen42]

It was complicated and we never knew the full extent. She grew a lump on her jaw at full health which was removed but then she abcessed and it pushed her jaw out of alignment. 8 different meds, flushing of the abcess, constant syringe feeds only for her to loose almost half her body weight and grow another jaw lump as well as mass bloating. Diffuse cancer was an option suspected but we knew for sure they couldn't see, hear or feel her guts anymore and she had elongated roots causing jaw lumps and she struggled with surgery. This is when we discovered a large cystic mass on x ray. The prognosis was poor so after a weekend to think it over where she lost more weight we let her go to spare her any further suffering. But... I will say that is the only time I've experienced any complications associated with cysts... I have had many other sows successfully spayed

Oh wow that sounds horrendous for you all. It’s so sad to see a beloved pet go through something so awful. You absolutely did everything you could for her and made the right choice to end her suffering.

 

[guineapigenjoyer]

I'm glad that your piggie is on the journey to be better.

 

[stef.trg]

All the best for the spay and I hope your girl recovers quickly! We will keep all fingers and paws crossed on the 28th! x

 

[Helen42]

Thank you for your kind words. I will let you know how it all goes x