Can Ovarian Cysts Cause Obesity?

[Dilly's Piggies]

My 1.3 year old sow Aspen has always been bigger than the others, but her size is beginning to concern me, she is fed a good diet as it is and lives in a huge C&C cage, she is quite active in general. From about 8 months old she has remained a steady weight of around 1350g, but recently she has gained 50g in just a few weeks, she is now about to hit 1400g+ and I'm concerned that she is obese. I have 8 girls and the others are all between 1000-1200g, Aspen outweighs them all by 200g and is the same size as my boar! I do believe she is naturally bigger, her bone set is much thicker than the others and she's longer in body length too, but her shoulders seem out of proportion compared to her belly/hips, I hear this is common with ovarian cysts. I haven't seen any hair loss at the sides, she does lose hair everywhere constantly not just in shedding season also, but she still has a rather nice thick coat, so I'm unsure if this is an actual symptom or just how she is. She has also become very snappy with her cagemates, not the typical dominance displays, she never rumblestruts and has always seemed happy with her friends, the past 4 months she has been lunging and snapping, pushing the other pigs around, acting bolshy, which is not how she used to be. Aspen also used to be a little cuddle bug, she loved being held, now she's extremely highly strung and hates to be touched, she will not hold still even for a second, which is not like her either. Aspen has a very strong relationship with food, she could eat for the whole of England and is willing to eat just about anything, I don't know if she's just a chubster or a condition is making her eat more, she could even be diabetic!

Aspen also hoots regularly as though she has a URI, although no URI was diagnosed at the vet and no other symptoms have come up in the 6 months she has snuffled, they also listened to her heart with a stethoscope and said it sounds healthy and strong, I have asked here about this before and came to the conclusion she has a dust sensitivity causing her to snuffle, since managing the hay more strictly there has been huge improvement with her breathing although it's still there, just slightly. I worry she also has a heart problem, possibly caused by her weight, possibly caused by cysts or something else. I don't know, I just feel I need to vent at this point. She acts like she's pregnant but she's not lol!

I've attached some pictures of her, what do you guys think about her, should I remain concerned and have her seen again or accept she's a big pig?

 

[Wiebke]

Ovarian cysts generally cause loss of weight in the body, but as the cysts are growing very large, they gain weight themselves.

 

[Adelle]

A hormonal imbalance thats making them permanently in heat can cause weight gain. Humans get a little bloated around their cycle.. So imagine this happening constantly.
It's normally if the hormonal issue is causing pain and general affecting health that they lose weight. The large shape you mention that can develop when they have cysts is more to do with the sheer size of large untreated cysts causing an increase in abdomen size.

Ofcourse she could just be a big girl with a growing personally since she is still under 18 months! The weight could be putting a bit extra pressure on her airways.. Or she could just be dust sensitive which can happen in any pig of any weight.

A vet check and maybe a scan of her ovaries could help give you an answer. X

 

[Wiebke]

PS: Ovarian cysts don't appear until 18 months at the very earliest, and the large ones are usually most common in older sows.

Once guinea pigs reach a settled adulthood at around 15 months of age, they generally don't grow lengthwise, but they can continue to put on weight if they are on too rich a diet. They reach the peak of their lives at around 2-3 years of age when their weight is usually highest.
if you want to find out whether your girl is a good size for her weight, look up the chapter under "heft" in our weight guide. The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight

 

[Adelle]

There is other causes for homonal imbalances other than cysts.

My late coronet, Mallow, was spayed at 14 months old for a discoloured, diseased ovary that caused all the same symptoms as an ovarian cyst.

On the flip side, my 7 years 10 month old sow Fudge has hormonal hair loss. Normal sized ovaries, no cysts. Nearly 6 months later the ovary enlarged.. Then went back down. Hormonal injections fixed the imbalance and her hair grew back. A few months later, she is losing her hair again- still no cysts on her ovaries.


Cysts are the most common hormonal issue and usually appear after 18 months old, but it's not the only cause and realistically.. Whilst they have ovaries, they can develop issues with them regardless of age.

 

[Tiamolly123]

Got to admit Tia's a porker but I don't know if I should reduce her weight or not. To me your piggy looks fine, but then I'm used to Tia. She's only about 50grams small than yours. One of mine went through the hormonal bit, she was confronting the others, nipping. If you pop her to the vet & hopefully they'll allay your fears.

 

[Wiebke]

My Nerys was that weight at the same age and went on to weigh 1500g in her best years - and she lived to 8 years old.

If the weight gain was due to heart insufficiency, you would see a fluid build-up in the body as the cause of the weight gain, but she would also exhibit other symptoms, of which you have mentioned none.
Ovarian cysts and heart problems are not related. It is much more likely that they snuffling is due to a sensitivity to hay dust and pollen. Have you tried placing a bowl of steaming water next to the cage to see whether that helps? Dry indoors air can make any breathing issues worse.

In my own experience with sows of mine, the sows that have been constantly in season have all gradually lost weight but have not had large ovarian cysts, whereas sows with large ovaries can often suffer from bloating issues etc. as the enlarged cysts are pushing on the guts. The sow herself has been losing weight, most noticeably becoming bonier around the ribcage (heft). My 5 year old Iola is currently in the second group and is waiting for a spaying op as her two large cysts are not hormonal.

If you have doubts or suffer from anxiety, please have your piggy vet checked. A scan could bring clarity.