Your opinion please

[Laure]

Hi everyone,

My 5 years old sow Fluffy has got two very large ovarian cysts on each side. She suffered with them a couple of years ago and received hormone treatment as recommend by Chrissie's (GG) vet Jennie. It worked very well back then and got rid of them.
They have now come back and I have managed to find a vet in London (I recently moved there) to carry out the same treatment under Jennie's instruction.
This time thought it appears to have made no difference. So I am wondering what to do next.
Jennie says that they could be drained but my local vet has admitted only having done this once before and won't do it without GA.
Aside from that she is very healthy but just getting a little old and the cysts don't seem to affect her quality of life at all.

So I am wondering weather I should just let her be rather than keeping on putting her through the stress of the vets etc... can anyone advise please.

Thanks

Laure

 

[Clare]

I bet the others will be able to advise you more... what a dilemma, I'm not sure what i would do... i look forward to reading the responses u get.
I think i might be inclined to leave her be.

 

[sammy]

I'm sure someone in the "know" will be on soon, what a horrible situation for you to be in,would a second opinion from another vet or maybe taking fluffy back to see jennie be an option ?
take care sammy x

 

[Skylark]

Personally I'd go and get them done. We all know that Guinea Pigs are very good at hiding how ill they are. So whereas you pig might look fine and generally acting healthy to you, they might not be ok after all. If I were in your position I'd go and get a second opinion and then decide. Be straight with the vet as well - Tell them what you've told us here. That you don't know if it's worth the risk because of her age and because it looks as though these cysts aren't bothering her. A good vet will be totally honest with you.

 

[Laure]

Thanks everyone, the reason I am wondering is because in his books Peter Gurney says that they are perfectly fine living with ovarian cysts. Does anyone else have sows with this problem?

 

[spudnik]

well tbh, if it was me given her age id leave her be..but thats just me, i wouldnt want her goig under GA at her age, if she seems ok with them then id leave her, ive got 2 girls who are both 5 1/2 and i wouldnt put them through an operation, just my opinion though

 

[Laure]

See this is my opinion too spudnik.
Draining them can however be done without GA by some vets but I think this is still going to be very stressful (and painful) for her.
Getting the hormone injections done already breaks my heart as she seems in so much pain :'(

 

[spudnik]

if you think she is best not to have the op then dont put her through it, i wouldnt at her age, 5 is a brill age for a guinea to get to.

do you mean she is in pain when having the injections?

 

[Laure]

Yes it is painful for her and she squeaks (not happy squeaks!) a lot everytime. Apparently all injections are very painful to them as they have quite s thick skin.

 

[spudnik]

if they are not actually helping, and she seems in pain having them personally id give up on them..its probably quite stressful going to the vets having injections and making her feel uncomfy..

 

[Laure]

Yes sorry I should have said. I have given up the injections they can only be given for a maximum of 3 weeks anyway. Draining was the recommended next step but I think I will leave it. Like I said before she is very happy within herself in every other respect and she is too old to go through this in my view. I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with older sows and ovarian cysts.

Thanks for the advise everyone, it's reassuring to know that there are other people who agree.

 

[spudnik]

ah right thats good, if shes cool then yeah id leave her..my two sows both have a fed lumps i think one of my sows has cancer tbh she has quite a few lumps but she runs around like she hasnt got a care in the world, and morgan had a lump drained and thats come back up as a harder lump near her teat but they are both too old to go under GA in my opinion and both of them seem heslthy enough, the eat well and are still chubby little things they havent really shown any signs of old age such as weight loss, looking boney etc..

 

[karenrgpr]

I lost a sow to this op so am biased against it Jenny uses this treatment on my pigs too and before that James. James once drained my Emily's cysts (and she had 2 courses of the injs) because they were so big. I think he found it easier to drain them because they were big... Would've thought that there is no difference between an anaesetisedpig and one that is well held ? I held Emily my self while J did the draining.


So, no way would I have my sows opped on like this, either bring her to Maidenhead/Reading and see Jenny or James or leave her be if she's well

Just a thought but why not try another course of injs? Some of mine have had 2.

 

[karenrgpr]

Just realised, Jenny said to have them drained- not removed by spaying right? Draining is not invasive at all just a needle into the offending cyst (which is why I wondered why she was going to put the pig under ?

Draining I don't have a problem with anaesthetic is a different thing :

 

[Abnoba]

Might be worth ringing / texting Vedra to see what she would suggest?

 

[Karenza]

Hi,

I have had one piggy with ovarian cysts - the injections didn't work and I had her spayed. She took a long time to recover, but then really took off and is absolutely back to normal (she is only 2 and had never had a litter).The vet said that they were the biggest ovaries he had ever seen and has given me a photo of them. It was a very big op, and when I went to see her that night, I really thought I was going to lose her. I now have two other piggies who have developed them and I am going for 'watchful waiting' - my vet is monitoring them, but until the cysts cause any problems, I would opt to let them be. If there is any danger to either piggy I will go for the spay. Hope this is helpful - it is a miserable condition. The recovered piggy really is back to normal (if not even more naughty than before!)

 

[maryh]

Draining ovarian cyst is a waste of time because they quickly fill up again.

I have had sows with large ovarian cysts that have not responded to hormone injs.,I have just left well alone and the pigs have been fine,both of them lived for another 2 years or more.

I have had several pigs that have been given HCG injections (most have worked) and I have not had one that has squeeled when injected.True,piggies do have fairly tough skin but an inj. given properly should not hurt.

 

[Laure]

Thanks everyone for your reply.
Maryh I am pretty sure that the injection was done properly, she has aways squealed when injected even when Jenny used to do it. In fact Jenny used to take her in the back to do the injection as she said they squeal a lot and I have every faith in Jenny (she is Chrissie and Karen's vet I think and was recommended to me by Chrissie).
Having taken everything into account (and I have spoken to Vedra about this before) I am going to let her be. I don't trust my local very to drain the cysts and taking her to Reading/Maidenhead takes a couple of hours in the car for me which is a long trip for her (at her age) especially if the cysts will only fill up again. As I said before she is absolutely fine in every other respect and at 5 she is doing pretty well i think.
I just wanted to make sure I was doing the best I can really, it's reassuring to know what more experienced people think. Thanks everyone!

L

 

[mizipig]

Hi my mizipig has about three of them plus a tumor and seems to be ok eating drinking and squeaking. The vet says she cant really be operated on as older pigs dont seem to get over op. Iithink you know yourself what to do and if she is happy then sometimes its best to let her have the continued quality of life until its time. My other piggie had cancer of the womb and was fine until one day just stopped eating and then three hoursd later she was gone.
Good luck and hope all goes ok
xx mandy