Ovarian Cysts Margaret's Medical Thread - Possible Ovarian Cysts

[sallyvh]

Hi everyone, so I thought I would just make a thread chronicling Margaret's medical journey.

Margaret is an approximately 2.5 year old sow. For the past couple weeks I have been noticing a thinning of the hair along the sides of her stomach which tipped me off to something being wrong.

Her weight has been stable, she is very active and her appetite has been normal but for the past few days when I have been picking her up, her bum has been damp with urine.

Putting this together I'm fairly certain she has ovarian cysts or at least some reproductive issue going on. I hadn't thought about it much but for the past month there has been a lot more rumble strutting coming from her and her sisters cage. Also, her nipples are enlarged compared to her sisters. There is no crust but they are larger. Her body shape is also different than her sisters, she has a big belly and has gotten slightly bonier in the shoulders and hipbones but has had no real weight loss as I weigh them every week.

With all of this I'm pretty sure it's ovarian cysts. I made an appointment and Margaret and I will be visiting the exotic vet tomorrow afternoon so we can see what's going on.

 

[Mastershroom]

That sounds exactly like what Cuddles, my Texel pig, was going through earlier this year. Vet confirmed it was ovarian cysts and spayed her.

 

[sallyvh]

UPDATE


We got back from our vet appointment a few hours ago and it unfortunately wasn't good news. The vet couldn't confirm ovarian cysts but she does believe Margaret has them, the bad part is though that we discovered Margaret has a small bladder stone.

While the vet was palpitating her lower abdomen she was extremely sensitive so the vet suggested an X-ray. She did 2 views of the X-ray, one from the side and the other from the top I believe. It was on these that we could see the stone very clearly.

I was obviously told that the only real treatment would be to remove it so I was given a quote for the surgery. The vet said that while she was removing the bladder stone she could take a detailed look at the reproductive tract to see how the ovaries look and determine if she needs to be spayed as well.

It's Thanksgiving this weekend and I am going home until Tuesday and the vet said that I didn't need to make an immediate decision about the stone surgery because she has been showing no symptoms at all of even having bladder stones. I was given Sulfatrim and Metacam to give her twice a day for 2 weeks to make sure she is comfortable.

I was so shocked to hear she has a stone. They haven't ever had an issue with urinary calcium, there have maybe been 5 times where I have found powdery spots and she has been showing no signs of any pain while urinating or defecating. Her activity level and appetite have been normal and her weight has been stable but there is no denying she has a stone after seeing the X-ray.

My main concern is the re-occurrence rate of stones, I cannot financially afford to do the bladder stone surgery, then get her spayed only to have a stone re-form. I was quoted $1100 for the stone surgery then an additional $500 for the spay that they would do at another time (the vet feels that removing the stone and a spay at the same time would be too much). I would't be able to afford another $1000 dollar stone surgery.

I'm just very overwhelmed right now and I want her to be comfortable.

 

[bpatters]

Surgery for a spay and surgery for a stone removal are two totally different animals. If the vet is doing an ordinary stone removal, I'm not at all sure how much they could see of the reproductive tract. $1100 is WAAAAYY too much money for stone removal -- I paid $440 just a little over a year ago. Another quote was $600 or so, but nowhere near $1100. Additionally, the spay is by far the more complicated surgery, so those prices are reversed from what I'd expect. And on top of that, if the stone isn't too large, a good vet may be able to manipulate it out without surgery.

Have you gotten good care from this vet before? I think you need another opinion.

 

[ClemmyOddieIndy]

You should talk to your vet about manipulating it out. I've only had one stone, and it was in a female (so not an expert), but it's my understanding that with females small-moderately small stones can be manipulated out much of the time (although it can still get stuck and require surgery). My girl they were able to get it out, and she said it wasn't small, but it wasn't large.

Also, you should consider asking about HCG or Lupron injections as an alternative to surgery for the ovarian cysts.

 

[sallyvh]

This is my first time being at this vet but it was an exotic specialist that we saw. I'm a University student and this is my first time seeing this vet in my University town. I was planning on calling the vet that I would visit in my hometown to get their opinion. There is also a guinea pig rescue in my area that I was going to email to find out what vet they have used for similar issues.

I did think that $1100 was quite high. My visit today for the consult, X-rays and medication cost $275. I think I will be calling around tomorrow for second opinions. She doesn't seem to be in any pain and is happily munching away on hay right now so I'm hoping she stays this way until I can find a good vet for her.

 

[bpatters]

I'd definitely call the hometown vet and the local rescue. There's just something off about the approach that was suggested to you.

 

[sallyvh]

Ok, thank you for the advice!

 

[sallyvh]

So i have determined that stone surgery in my area comes with a huge price tag. My first quote was for $1100, I then called the vet i would normally use and was quoted $980. There was one more hospital that I know of that has an exotic vet so I called them and was quoted $1700 just for stone removal...

I emailed the rescue and received some advice from them. Apparently one of the vets they use won't do bladder stone surgeries any more because they have such a high rate of reoccurring. What they do is just make necessary diet changes, monitor the pain and keep a close eye on them. Also for the spaying they always try the hormone injections first if they can. The rescue also gave me the number for one more clinic to try for a quote for removal. I called them but the exotic vet isn't in today or tomorrow but that the receptionist would email the vet and have her call me with a quote.

So I'm just waiting right now. Margaret seems perfectly fine though. Her weight is stable, her appetite is normal and her activity level is the same as always. She loves the medications so it's a dream to give them to her!

 

[bpatters]

If the stone is large enough that it can't get into her urethra and block the passage of urine, and if it isn't causing her any pain, there shouldn't be any problem in just leaving it be. But you'll have to keep a sharp eye to make sure she's able to pee normally. Stones DO have a high rate of recurrence, but it's not a sure thing. My Flourish had surgery nearly two years ago for stones, and has had no problem since. Of course, I've made drastic changes in her diet, including taking her completely off pellets and closely monitoring the amount of calcium in her veggies.

How near are you to the US border? Maybe vets on this side would have a more reasonable cost.

 

[sallyvh]

I'm about 2 hours away from New York. If I'm going to have the surgery done though I don't think I would bring her over to do that. I would have to spend money on travel and hotel plus I would probably have to skip classes for a couple days.

I'm most likely just going to bite the bullet and have it done here.

Can I just ask what your pig's diet is now? If she gets this taken out I want to make sure it has as small a chance of coming back as possible.

Currently my girls get:

Unlimited orchard grass hay
1/8 cup of Oxbow's adult Timothy pellets
~1 cup of veggies a day consisting of green or red leaf lettuce, 1/4 of a green pepper, 2 slices of cucumber, 1-2 grape or cherry tomatoes, 1-2 small baby carrots and they will occasionally get a couple leaves of radicchio or a couple sprigs of cilantro.

I would obviously have to cut out the pellets but I'm unsure if i would need to supplement any other vitamins or minerals other than vit. C. I would assume the cilantro has to go as well but I think my other veggies are decent.

 

[bpatters]

Yeah, Oxbow pellets have definitely been implicated in stones. I'd ditch them altogether.

At the insistence of my vet, I have started supplementing vitamin C for them. I don't know how it's affected my stone pig, but my other one has picked up a little weight and looks better.

I give a few more veggies than that. My list looks like yours, except that they usually get radicchio and belgian endive daily, summer squash instead of cucumber, and corn husks and silks whenever I can get them. Mine both excrete calcium like crazy when eating cilantro, so i don't give it at all any more.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

One of my old girls had a rather large stone right at the opening, large enough to make a large bump there. The vet anesthetized her and was able to break up and flush the stone out. I switched her diet to KMs and monitored veggies.

I became lax in the veggie department, and she developed another stone. This one she passed all on her own. I've had other females pass stones as well.

As for the possible ovarian cysts, she'll either need a spay or you can treat it with hormone shots. If she's in good condition you'd want to opt for the spay sooner rather than later (if the cysts get too large they can be difficult to remove). However, I'm not sure if you'd want to address that before the stone, or after.

Where was the stone located?

 

[bpatters]

And FYI, my pig developed stones on a diet of KMS pellets. I had to go pelletless to keep them cleared up.

 

[sallyvh]

I haven't made a final decision about the surgery yet. The last vet that I contacted got back to me with a quote for $900-$1300.

The stone was located right in the middle of her bladder and it didn't look huge compared to some x rays I've seen online, it was a bit smaller than a pea.

I'm going to ask if the vet can email me a copy of them so I can post them.

I'm making an appointment for her at the original vet for early next week on Monday or Tuesday so that we can discuss our options for both the stone and cysts.

So far Margs seems completely fine. Her weight is good and I have not seen or heard any signs of pain. She runs around like normal and eats the same as always.

I'm hoping that somehow she can pass this on her own. Have any of you heard of shilintong? In my research it seems like it may aid in the passing of stones but I don't want to give her anything that would do more harm than good.

 

[sallyvh]

I thought I would just give an update on Margaret. I've decided to not do the surgery right now and we are just monitoring her. We were at the vet today for a recheck and to talk about going forward. Right now she has 1 day left of sulfatrim and the vet prescribed 2 more weeks of Metacam. After she is done her two weeks I'm supposed to wait and see how her behaviour is and if she is exhibiting any pain signs.

Margaret is still her normal happy self. Her weight is stable, appetite is normal and her activity level is the same as usual. The vet gave me a 2 bottles of the Oxbow urinary support tabs to give her as she said they wouldn't hurt at all. Margs loves them and her medicine so she is a dream patient!

When I was at the vets office today I asked if I could get a copy of X-rays from our previous visit and they happily emailed them to me. Here they are in case anyone is interested and would like to see them!

 

[sallyvh]

So I have an additional update with Margaret.

She seemed fine once we got home from the vet yesterday but later in the evening she wasn't her normal self. She didn't want any veggies and was starting to hunch and pain squeak. I gave her the medication for the night and she seemed to perk up and start eating. Throughout the night though she pain squeaked occasionally.

I called the vet this morning and I am going ahead with bladder stone removal. We're going in at 9am tomorrow to have it done. She's doing alright this morning, she is eating veggies and hay, not as much as normal but she is definitely eating.

I am just so anxious for tomorrow morning and I hope everything goes well and Margaret can feel better. I hate to see and hear her in pain.

 

[Rywen]

Let us know how she does, Ferb and Penny and I send our wishes for an easy surgery and a fast recovery!

 

[sallyvh]

In an amazing turn of events, Margaret has passed her bladder stone!

I took her in for the surgery this morning and they X-rayed her before my Mom and I left the clinic which revealed that the stone was gone. We were beyond shocked but extremely pleased!

The vet gave us another 2 weeks of sulfatrim and told me to continue her two weeks of metacam because she is probably very tender from the stone passing.

I am extremely happy though that she doesn't have to go through the difficult surgery and it is a big weight off my chest financially.

Now she may still have ovarian cysts but the vet said to give her a couple weeks to recover and calm down before moving forward with that. In a few weeks we can look at doing an ultrasound and moving forward but it isn't urgent.

This has just been a crazy experience! I'm so relieved that she is doing alright now and won't be in pain!

 

[dani_starr]

Oh that is just absolutely wonderful, I'm so happy for you! That must of been the best news anyones every told you! Yay!

Hopefully the ovarian cysts will just miraculously disappear as well