Chronic Bloating & Ovarian Cyst

[defairmans]

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in these forums for ages. I'm looking for reassurance and advice more than anything.

Ruby is about 4.5 years. We noticed bloat two weeks ago and took her straight to the vet. She was Emeprid for a week or so. We did all the usual bloat stuff, massage pad, probiotic, extra floor time, the Emeprid, later introducing Cisapride and Zantac.
The bloating wasn't going down so we thought we may be dealing with cystic ovaries.
Long story short, we visited Sarah Pellett, at Animates in Thurlby. She was able to do a conscious scan and spotted a smallish, medium maybe cyst on one of her ovaries and detected blood in her urine.
We gave her a hormone injection then and Sarah advised us only use the Emeprid if she was looking puffed out again.
We scheduled another hormone injection for two weeks time.
I really don't want to put her under for a spay especially if the cyst is not the only cause or may go away with injections.
Well, this weekend she is puffed out again and seems in pain. She is supposed to finish her Metacam (due to blood in her urine) this weekend.
But she is back on the Emeprid, Cisapride and also taking antibiotic (I think it is Bactrim) for a few more days. The Metacam is supposed to stop today. She is getting Zantac but another guinea pig owner advised me that it slows the gut down. I'm giving her probiotic and Vit C.

The whole time she has been eating and drinking as normal. But she is obviously in pain at some points. I can't stand seeing my babies in pain.

Sarah said she would want to put her on gas for a short time to take bloods and do a clear X-ray or scan so I think this is something we will have to do this week. The sooner the better. Our car is going away from Mon-Thurs to be worked on so the earliest we can book her in is Friday, if Sarah is available to see her.

I just feel so useless and horrible in the meantime. I'm giving her every treatment I can think of and deep down I know things are not looking good.

I'm writing this in the hope that someone can offer some insight. Does this sound like a kidney issue to anyone? If I put her under for the tests, is it going to weaken her if she does need a spay?

I've been through so much with pigs over the last ten years and it never gets easier.

Any thoughts are very much appreciated and welcomed. I have seen other members post of similar situations but I didn't want to PM the person because the indicated that they would be taking a break from piggies and I didn't want to message them and bring up horrible memories.

 

[Adelle]

Hi there, sorry to hear your little one isnt very well.

My 5 year old sow was diagnosed with ovarian cysts last year. Hers where several small cysts on both ovaries. Her symptoms where being extremely hormonal which meant she couldnt even live with her cage mates anymore due to constant mounting and rumbling.

Very soon after she developed bloat, which i managed with metocloprimide (same function as emeprid to my knowledge), zantac and gripe water. It was so frequent she ended up not able to have any veg at all.

She then started peeing blood.

I opted for the hormonal injection, which calmed her hormones n made her more comfortable. On ultrasound, it had shrunken the cysts too.

But she continued to have frequent episodes of bloat and blood in urine.

A further scan revealed a nasty looking, diseased uterus which was decided to be still causing her problems- in the end she was spayed. She recovered well and bloat never returned, although blood in urine is now a monthly occurence but we are getting there with that.

It is a risk but in crunchies case, a spay was needed. And I'm glad we went for it as she was so
Much happier once shed recovered.

Xx

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Hi @defairmans if Sarah has recommended Zantac please continue with it. Can you ring her first thing in the morning? I really would recommend you bringing her to see Sarah tomorrow as an emergency. Sarah did a spay on my 4.5 year old sow successfully so please have every confidence in her surgical abilities. If you can get someone to take you tomorrow or postpone your car going to the garage maybe? If it's me you are talking about having similar issues with a piggy I am happy if you want to pm me too x

 

[Wiebke]

I second the advice - please continue with the zantac and have her seen as an emergency tomorrow.

 

[defairmans]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your replies. Adelle, your story sounds just like my Ruby's. I hope and pray that if she has to undergo the surgery, she will survive but I don't have a good feeling about it. I definitely won't let her live in pain either way. It is always reassuring to hear about successful surgeries. Ruby hasn't been much more hormonal, a bit more mounting but I wouldn't say it has increased significantly. She has some areas of hair that look pulled out and a bit of dandruff but both of those are mild. When we first noticed she was looking unwell, we thought it was bloat but it didn't appear as classic bloat because she was still eating and drinking and seemed well enough in her self.
Her belly is still much the same since it started. It is mostly round underneath. It's not super firm but definitely large and varies between being softer and more firm throughout the day. When you look at her from above, she looks like a completely normal shape.
I cut veg out for a few days but it didn't really change the size of the bloating. Sarah Pellett found blood in her urine and she is almost finished with antibiotic for that. Last night her pee seemed clear but obviously, I can't see everything.
She is still eating, drinking, moving around and seems happy enough during most of the day. It's just those moments when she sits and puffs out and looks very unhappy. I try to get her moving again and use the massage pads but it just doesn't seem to shift the gas. She is eating a lot of her own poops. I was thinking I should maybe try some poos from one of the other girls but she is on the probiotic. Obviously all this stuff is treating some of the symptoms but the main cause is still there. I still want her to have a quality of life in the meantime, especially if we are looking at a dangerous op.

We will call Sarah tomorrow but I don't think we are going to be able to see her until the end of the week unless anything major changes with Ruby. I am hoping I can keep her comfortable and healthy for a few more days so we can get the tests done. If she starts to go downhill, we will definitely take her as an emergency. The timing is really unfortunate because our car has to be sent away as it is an adapted vehicle for my husband, who drives from a wheelchair.
We've always been very on top of things with our pigs and have tried in the past week to get all the info and meds we need to get her through these four days. Fingers crossed it will be ok.

Poppy's Mum, I was going to message you yesterday because I saw that you have seen Sarah in the past but I couldn't work out how to PM you. I've followed you instead. I am happy to know that Sarah seems to have a lot of good feedback. She is definitely the most knowledgeable vet we have ever seen. It's such a change. We usually walk into a vet with the diagnosis ourselves and ask for the meds. Last week she said she was away from Thurs-Mon so I don't know if she is in tomorrow but I am going to try to call. The other poster with a similar situation was Alana, I think. She hasn't logged on since last year. I did read your posts re Sarah and bloat, though.
I am going to keep up with the Zantac.
Is it ok for me to give her the metacam once a day if she looks like she is in a lot of pain? Sarah said to give it for three days so she is not supposed to have anymore for now.
Thank you very much Adelle, Poppy's Mum and Wiebke (I always see your tribe on FB!)
I will keep you updated.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Yes continue with the Metacam, exactly as Sarah has prescribed because your piggy is probably a bit fluffed up because she is uncomfortable. I would stop veggies for the time being, make sure she is eating lots of hay & let her eat pellets too. Massaging her tummy very gently, even with a battery toothbrush will help move any gas & also step in with syringe feeding if she isn't eating enough for herself. Please weigh her at the same time every day too. Sarah doesn't usually work Wednesdays & now only works every other Saturday I believe. If you get stuck at all feel free to pm me (Click on my profile "Start a conversation") & let me know if you need help getting to see Sarah urgently as I might be able to help x

 

[defairmans]

Thank you Poppy's Mum. I've been worried about the pellets because I know a lot of people say to stop them during bloat but I wanted her to get her vitamins and haven't noticed a correlation between her bloating and the pellets. I was syringing her Critical Care on top of everything last week to try and really get fibre in and get the bloat out but I stopped when we worked out it was a cyst. She is definitely eating as normal. I've been adding even more fresh hay than normal. Thank you again

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Cysts can cause bloating if they are large & press onto the intestines, however if it's a small cyst I doubt whether that is what is causes her bloat. It's either because she is in pain & stopped eating properly or that there is something else going on, ie early womb infection (Hence the blood present if an apparent UTI has been treated) My piggy still had blood in her urine even after antibiotics because we worked out she had a badly infected womb which eventually needed to be removed x

 

[defairmans]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to bump this thread but I thought I would give an update for those interested and also leave a record for anyone who looks this topic up in the future.

As I originally suspected, Ruby did not have traditional bloat. She had suspected stomach cancer. We put her to sleep two weeks ago today and she is at rainbow bridge now. I'm only just able to type this now. It has been really hard.

We went through one conscious ultrasound and bloat treatment before seeing an exotic vet, who was wonderful. I think we must have spent £1000 on Ruby but it was worth it for the extra few weeks with her.

She didn't present with usual bloat symptoms and her spirits were fairly high until the last few days.

She had further ultrasounds and xrays which showed thickening of the stomach lining and a slightly odd shaped stomach. She did have an ovarian cyst as we thought, but it was small and burst on aspiration. I don't think the cyst was the major problem. She started hormone injections, was on Metacam, Cisapride, Zantac, Emeprid, probiotic, vit C and towards the end, Tramadol. I've never used Tramadol in a pig before but I think it helped her have a comfortable few final days.
The exotic vet wanted to track her digestive system using dye but I thought it was too much for her to go through and seeing as we didn't know exactly what was causing the problems, I didn't want her to go through a major surgery. We were hoping she would respond to the medicine and have a comfortable enough time to be with us a bit longer.
She was still eating, drinking and didn't seem to be in too much pain.

She started bleeding one evening and the poops coming out were starting to look bloody and she quickly started looking unhappy. By the next morning, there was quite a bit of blood coming out with her feces so we took her to be put to sleep. I am happy that she didn't suffer for too long and she really fought but she got to that point where we knew it wasn't right for her to keep being poked and prodded with syringes and tablets.
I'm pretty sure we made the right decisions. Ultimately, I think the tumour that was in her stomach (it may have been somewhere else in her digestive tract and/or her reproductive system) burst that evening and she was starting to bleed out.
I knew from the beginning that it wasn't typical bloat. It doesn't get any easier no matter how many times we lose pigs.
Thanks to the ladies who gave advice. <3

 

[7squeakers.]

So sorry to hear of the sad loss of your beloved Ruby. You fought so hard and did everything you could to save her. As you say, it never gets any easier. Rest in peace, sweet Ruby.

 

[VickiA]

I'm so sorry to read this, but you did everything you could have for Ruby. So sorry for your loss x

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I am so sorry to hear this, massive ((hugs)) I am glad you found Sarah at Animates though, she is a wonderful caring vet xx

 

[defairmans]

Thank you everyone <3

 

[TAN]

Sending you big hugs