Ovarian Cysts How long should I wait?

[MLT2007]

First off, my apologies if there has already been a thread about this topic. I performed a search first to see if I could find my answer before posting, but didn't find anything.

I have a relatively new piggy. She is about 5.5 to 6 years old, according to her previous owner. Yesterday and today I noticed she is getting quite aggressive with my 2 other pigs, chasing and biting. It may have also occurred the day before yesterday, but I was working an 18 hour shift, so I wasn't there to witness. She has been like this before, but never this bad. I am assuming it is her heat cycle, but given her age, I also have to consider ovarian cysts.

When I got her I noticed she was a little pear shaped, and even asked the previous owner if she was pregnant. I was assured she was not pregnant, so I just figured that pigs come in different sizes and shapes, just like humans. Enough time has passed that I can say for certain she is not pregnant. She seemed to be really calm and at peace during lap time today.

This is really upsetting me because I hate to see my animals in distress. The other 2 pigs are being tormented and she seems uneasy. I know I am not 100% comfortable during my monthly cycle either. So my question is....should I rush her to the vet tomorrow or wait and watch? I already started documenting her "crabby days" to see if this does coincide with a cycle, but I want what's best for my animals and if there is a medical emergency I want her to get the care she needs. In the past I have been too hasty to run to the vet and have wasted money

 

[pigger123]

Are there any symptoms other than the pear shape and the aggression? Having a slight pear shape is normal, and it may be that she's in heat. Ovarian cysts often have other symptoms like bloody urine, biting at her sides, etc. However, it could be cysts and she just isn't displaying all the symptoms. I personally don't think it's an emergency, so you could probably wait to see whether she stops being aggressive. If she does get more symptoms or if you're really worried about her, you should probably take her to the vet.

 

[MLT2007]

No other symptoms. She never really did fit in with my other girls. She and Penelope always chatter their teeth at each other. I will keep marking in my calendar when we having biting episodes to see if there is a pattern, and to keep track of how many days it lasts. Thank you for your response! Fingers crossed for it just being a heat cycle. I have only seen one of my other pigs in heat once and it was very obvious!

 

[pinky]

Another sign of ovarian cysts is bilateral hair loss along the sides near the hips. If she doesn't have any of the symptoms, I'd say it's related to dominance behavior. How large is their cage? I've found that "two's company, three's a crowd" is often more of a problem than if you have two or four.

 

[MLT2007]

My cage is a 4x4, with 2 more hideys than there are pigs, so they have their choice of what kind of structure they want to be in. Surprisingly, there are almost no fights about which pig gets which hidey. There is no bilateral hair loss, so that is what makes me lean toward being in heat, but the attacks are just so constant the last 2 days it made me nervous.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Ovarian cysts often have other symptoms like bloody urine, biting at her sides, etc. However, it could be cysts and she just isn't displaying all the symptoms.

Bloody urine is not a symptom of ovarian cysts. Blood coming from the reproductive tract would more likely be pyometra.

Blood in the urine is a sign of an UTI or stones.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Check her nipples. Do they have crust on them?

 

[pigger123]

Bloody urine is not a symptom of ovarian cysts. Blood coming from the reproductive tract would more likely be pyometra.

Blood in the urine is a sign of an UTI or stones.

Oh, sorry! I though I remembered reading that somewhere. Next time I'll check to see if I have the correct information.

 

[MLT2007]

No crusty nipples. That was one of the first things I checked besides hair loss. I have her super moody days documented so I can see if they happen every 2 weeks or so. All was better the day after I wrote my original post. Things got pretty heated here, but so far it just looks like a heat cycle