Sick Blood in cage and on rear of older sow - rushed to after hours vet

[poop_patrol]

Noticed this evening that there were substantial (not just spotting) areas of blood on the wood pellets in the cage. Took a look at the pig and saw blood under the rear. I called and found out the emergency vet is seeing guinea pigs tonight. Hopefully that means an exotic specialist is available. My wife is there with the pig...I'm waiting for her call.

I know this is not much to go on.... I'm wondering if it could be a burst abscess? The location makes me think it might be a burst ovarian cyst? I didn't get to examine her closely to figure out where the blood was coming from. On the positive side, she was acting completely normally... scampering away from me, eating hay, drinking water. It's all speculation...I suppose I'll find out soon. I'm not sure what I should be wishing for.

Anyway...possibly a long night ahead. Wish us luck.

 

[poop_patrol]

It is a prolapsed uterus. The doctor (he admits he's not an exotic specialist but he does treat guinea pigs) will put the tissue back and prescribe an antibiotic. I hope that gets her stable for long enough for me to make an appointment with a guinea pig expert.

She's 6-8 years old (my best guess is about 7), so I'm not sure how many procedures I'll put her through.

 

[bpatters]

I'm sorry she's ill, and hope you can quickly find a good exotic vet to see her. As far as I know, a spay is the only option for treatment. A prolapsed uterus can sometimes be pushed back inside the pig, but there's no guarantee that it will stay there.

Do keep us posted on how she's doing.

 

[Artista]

Sending positive vibes.

 

[poop_patrol]

Update: The doctor at the emergency clinic excised some damaged tissue (she had chewed on it which was the source of the blood) and put the rest back inside her. I'm giving her pain meds and antibiotics (bactrim) to which she is responding well. So far so good.

I contacted the local exotic specialist and his suggestion was not to do a proactive spay. So I maintain vigil and hope that the prolapse doesn't happen again. This does not give me great confidence because I don't know what caused the prolapse in the first place and whatever caused it has not been corrected.

But.... it's been a couple of days and she is probably 90% back to her old self.

Thanks for the well-wishes and positive vibes.

 

[bpatters]

Thanks for the update. Let's hope this takes care of the problem!

 

[poop_patrol]

Question...

I adopted her from a shelter as an adult pig so I have little idea what her life was like prior to that. Does the prolapsed uterus indicate she was used for breeding at some point? Just a curiosity.

 

[bpatters]

It almost certainly indicates that she's had at least one litter of pups. I never heard of any female, animal or human, having a prolapsed uterus that hadn't delivered a baby whatever. The only exception I know of is that in humans, older women can have a prolapsed uterus without having been pregnant. As far as I know, that only happens in humans and possibly animals that walk upright, and the weakening of the muscles that hold the uterus in place relax and the uterus drops. In animals where the abdomen is horizontal rather than vertical, I'm not so sure it happens without pregnancy.

Your sow could have been used for breeding, or could have just had one very hard labor and delivery. No way to know, really.