Ovarian cysts?

[Puddles1999]

Hi everyone. My minnie just went to the vet because she has been losing weight continuously.

She had an uti last year around the same time. She seemed to get uti’s quite a bit and I know the vet had mentioned last time reoccurring utis can be a sign of a hormonal problems. She expressed her bladder and there was some bacteria so she’s on baytril as well. Expressing the bladder can pick up some bacteria on the way so she’s getting treated just in case. I believe she also said there was a small bit of blood in her pee as well. She had a feel and said she thinks she feels a small ovarian cyst on her left side.

I haven’t seen many symptoms other than her losing weight so meaning she’s in some pain. She doesn’t have any hairloss on her sides. She mentioned a spay but I said no. She just turned 4 this year. I know spaying is invasive. I don’t want to lose her. I mentioned hormone injections and she said she’s never done them before on Guinea pigs.

She’s on meloxicam dog 1.5, 0.15ml every 24 hours. I said I would like it every 12 hours but she said since it’s such a small amount, she would just do it once a day. She said I could split it up but that’s up to me.

Does anyone have experience with this? I know not every cyst is hormonal. Should I try to find a different vet that can do hormone injections if the cyst is hormonal? Will she stay on pain killers for the rest of her life to manage her pain from the cysts?

I actually myself had an ovarian cyst burst and I had to go to the emergency room as I went into shock from the pain! So I know ovarian cysts are no joke to mess with and I don’t want her to be in pain.

If anyone has experience with this, I’d greatly appreciate your guys input.

 

[Claire W]

Hi, a lot of older sows have ovarian cysts and the vast majority don’t cause any issues. I too would be wary of having one of my spayed unless it was absolutely necessary. My eldest, Elizabeth is around 5. Hormone injections will only work if the cyst is hormonal but with those, I’d expected the guinea pig to be showing more hormonal behaviour. If it were me, I would leave her B why the cyst is sitting there doing nothing. The weight loss could be from the uti. Having said that, there’s plenty of members on the forum who have had their older piggies spayed with great success.

0.15ml of metacam once a day is only a tiny amount. Would your vet be willing to increase it? It is frustrating as my vet doses at a similar amount too and I have to ask for it to be increased x

 

[Piggies&buns]

Id have to agree - if you aren’t seeing symptoms or hormonal behaviours, then it’s possible the cyst isn’t hormonal.
You are of course well within your rights to see another vet if you’d like a second opinion.

Are you syringe feeding if she is losing weight?

As it is dog metacam then it is stronger than cat, it is also dosed on clinical need as determined by the vet.
Once every twelve hours is better for their metabolism - but when we say every twelve hours, each dose needs to be a good amount. There is little point in splitting a small dose in half - each dose would be tiny. Once a day would give a better relief from that point of view.
If you consider she is in pain, then do discuss the dosage with your vet.

 

[Puddles1999]

Hi, a lot of older sows have ovarian cysts and the vast majority don’t cause any issues. I too would be wary of having one of my spayed unless it was absolutely necessary. My eldest, Elizabeth is around 5. Hormone injections will only work if the cyst is hormonal but with those, I’d expected the guinea pig to be showing more hormonal behaviour. If it were me, I would leave her B why the cyst is sitting there doing nothing. The weight loss could be from the uti. Having said that, there’s plenty of members on the forum who have had their older piggies spayed with great success.

0.15ml of metacam once a day is only a tiny amount. Would your vet be willing to increase it? It is frustrating as my vet doses at a similar amount too and I have to ask for it to be increased x

I know last year when she had the uti, she lost weight but gained it back after getting treated for the uti. The vet didn’t really seem to be too certain if she had an uti or not. Just a small bit of blood and bacteria so to me, that says she has an uti. I’m hoping she gains weight back and starts feeling better after the antibiotics.

Do you know how vets test cysts to see if they are hormonal or not? She did just say she might have felt one small one on her left side. You are right though. I would expect more symptoms to be showing if it was hormonal. However, a vet has told me reoccurring uti’s can be a sign of hormonal problems. I’m going to see how she gets on after the course of antibiotics and if it doesn’t bother her, I will just leave it alone.

That’s what I was thinking. Her cage mate, Penelope just had teeth work and she’s on .12 every 12 hours and she actually weighs less than minnie. They said .15 once every 24 but honestly I feel like she could get that every 12 and be just fine! I’m not going to give her more than without the vet but I may call again and see if I can up it. It is the dog one so it’s a stronger dose but I too thought it didn’t seem like much. :/

 

[Puddles1999]

Id have to agree - if you aren’t seeing symptoms or hormonal behaviours, then it’s possible the cyst isn’t hormonal.
You are of course well within your rights to see another vet if you’d like a second opinion.

Are you syringe feeding if she is losing weight?

As it is dog metacam then it is stronger than cat, it is also dosed on clinical need as determined by the vet.
Once every twelve hours is better for their metabolism - but when we say every twelve hours, each dose needs to be a good amount. There is little point in splitting a small dose in half - each dose would be tiny. Once a day would give a better relief from that point of view.
If you consider she is in pain, then do discuss the dosage with your vet.

It does just worry me the weight loss could be from the cyst instead of the uti but crossing my fingers she will be on the mend after getting treated for the uti. She lost weight last year and gained her weight back after her uti went away so hoping that is what happens this time.

Another thing that does throw me is off is a vet telling me reoccurring uti’s can be a sign of hormonal problems but she really doesn’t show signs of aggression, no hair loss, etc. just the UTI’s.

I am supplementing critical care every day. She loves the critical care. She is also eating hay quite a lot but I know not enough. I'm glad she is still active and eating.

That does make sense. I’ve started giving her the meloxicam once every night. If I notice anything, I’ll call them and see if I could get the dosage changed for her!

 

[Claire W]

I know last year when she had the uti, she lost weight but gained it back after getting treated for the uti. The vet didn’t really seem to be too certain if she had an uti or not. Just a small bit of blood and bacteria so to me, that says she has an uti. I’m hoping she gains weight back and starts feeling better after the antibiotics.

Do you know how vets test cysts to see if they are hormonal or not? She did just say she might have felt one small one on her left side. You are right though. I would expect more symptoms to be showing if it was hormonal. However, a vet has told me reoccurring uti’s can be a sign of hormonal problems. I’m going to see how she gets on after the course of antibiotics and if it doesn’t bother her, I will just leave it alone.

That’s what I was thinking. Her cage mate, Penelope just had teeth work and she’s on .12 every 12 hours and she actually weighs less than minnie. They said .15 once every 24 but honestly I feel like she could get that every 12 and be just fine! I’m not going to give her more than without the vet but I may call again and see if I can up it. It is the dog one so it’s a stronger dose but I too thought it didn’t seem like much. :/

I’m afraid I’m not sure how a vet tests an ovarian cyst to see if it’s hormonal or not. I’m guessing just by their behaviour

I am tagging in @GPTV as I know she had a piggy who had persistent uti’s. I think her piggy was around 6 and I think had hormone injections for hormonal ovarian cysts? I think she’s also had a piggy who was spayed but I’m not entirely sure on the latter x

 

[GPTV]

Afraid I don't know how the vet knows if a cyst is hormonal or not.
My rainbow bridge piggy Ellie was 6yo &she had persistent UTI's ,she also had blood around her genital area
It was thicker, deep red undiluted looking blood, it seemed to happen mostly when she was pooping, Ellie had quite a few antibiotics, the UTI would heal up and then a short while afterwards it would come back again.

The cyst was diagnosed with a conscious ultrasound scan, she had a little shaved patch & i actually watched her have her ultrasound, it was quite fascinating watching everything moving about and i could see that the ovarian cyst was approximately this size of a walnut.

The vet was reluctant to operate on a as she didn't see many guinea pigs at the practice , and she was older so didn't lock to risk general anaesthetic on her.

I suggested the HCG chorulon injections which that was happy to research , so she had to lots of 2 injections approximately 7 to 10 days apart . After the first injection Ellie had 1 bad bleed and then never had any more. Ellie didn't have any of the textbook signs of ovarian cysts, not really any mood changes, no hair loss, no crusty nipples and so it was literally just the UTIs.

Ellie did however see much happier once she'd had the injections. They lasted approximately 12 months and then she had another batch of two injections which lasted out until I lost her at the age of eight.

It seems to be a case of there are very few side effects known, but the generally either seem to work or they don't. Luckily with Ellie they did work.

My little tiggy who is approximately 5 and a half has just had her first injection , as she's also been found to have an ovarian cyst although it appears to be a bit smaller so I'll see how she gets on she has her next injection next week.
The vet however was quite happy to do a spay on her but I wasn't keen to take the risk I wanted to try the injections first and see how she got on because Ellie had been so successful. Good luck.xx