Rosie: Ovarian cysts and GOOD vets

[thalestral]

I just really wanted to stress to everyone how important it is to have a GOOD cavy savvy vet and also for those with female pigs to be aware of the risks of ovarian cysts.

Guinea Lynx :: Ovarian Tumors

My girl Rosie was diagnosed as having ovarian problems at the end of last year. She had been acting aggressively towards the other girls, rumblestrutting without control that she didn't enjoy at all, and mounting. It had got to the stage where we had to separate her out as the stress was getting too much for her. She also had crusty nipples, another symptom. She had no other symptoms at all - remember, only one symptom needs to be present for you to start worrying and getting your girl checked out!

Our original vets wanted to spay but we wanted someone more specialised to do it. I got in touch with my local rescue (we have adopted three of our girls from there) and was recommended a vet that sees all their piggies. He was AMAZING! And put our old vets to shame. He said there was no way Rosie should be going in for a spay as she is a heart pig and the risks were too great. He ultrasounded her without sedation (something our other vets wouldn't even consider) and detected that her left ovary was enlarged.

Rosie's heart pig story: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...heart-pig.html

Rosie got two hormone injections and her recovery was almost instantaneous, all thanks to this super vet! I dread to think what would have happened had we gone ahead with the spay recommended by the first vets.


A few weeks ago the rumbling started again and did not stop. Today we took the 60 mile round trip to see Mr. Good Vet again. This time by physical examination alone he detected a pea sized lump on her left ovary. We are scheduling more hormone appointments for her at our closer vets (we use our closest vets for treatment only, not diagnosis). If she starts rumbling again we will continue with hormone treatment for as long as she is happy.

• Rosie is 1.5 years old, it's not just older ladies, younger girls CAN get ovarian cysts.
• One symptom alone is enough to start worrying, with female pigs it is ALWAYS a possibility.
• If your female is grumpy, aggressive, losing hair, has a strange change in weight or has crusty nipples get her to the vet!
• The statistics are not known exactly but vary between 50-90% of all intact female guinea pigs developing ovarian cysts.
• A good vet is worth his or her weight in GOLD - a good vet can save your piggie's life!

Rosie says, "Find your Mr(s). Good Vet today, and check your girlie pigs!"

N.B. This is cross-posted from the main guinea pig community on livejournal. My heart pig thread has been referenced by a lot of people and seems to be quite helpful so I thought it might be worth posting the next chapter of Rosie's adventures in medical land here too!

I haven't been around as much lately (sorry!) so what little guinea pig talk time I tend to spend on the above community helping out as there aren't as many cavy savvy people there as there are here, and also on Guinea Lynx as my girls just keep throwing curve balls at me medically wise right now!

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Look at that face. She looks delightfully cuddly and snuggly. Beautiful.

One of my sows has a cyst on her left ovary. She's had treatment with HCG injections also, though her hair loss is severe across her rump and she may require more treatment. I use the CCT at the moment; my old vets in Northern Ireland wouldn't have even diagnosed without sedation and would probably have performed a spay.

[JarBax]

Gorgeous pigture!

Great to read an update on Rosie - thanks for that!

[thalestral]

You're welcome! If you want an even more of a recent update I spent today cleaning her bum with vitamin E oil! Turns out Rosie has decided to be one of those rare females with an overactive grease gland. But of course she would

I think she must sneak online at night to look at my piggie communities and see what she can make go wrong next