Injections For Ovarian Cysts

[sazmatazz]

Hi all. Our Mabel has suspected ovarian cysts on both sides which seem to have gotten a little bigger recently. She also has some hair loss on the area.
She doesn't seem in pain or any different to her usual self, singing her heart out, eating & pooping well.
We previously had one of our piggies Dora spayed due to very large cysts, she appeared well prior to the operation but unfortunately she died within 12 hours of her surgery (done by specialist exotic vet) and we were devastated. We didn't know about other treatment options at the time, weren't offered anything & didn't know to ask. I feel guilty about it all the time.

I'm wondering if we should try to treat Mabel's cysts with hormone injections, to try and make sure they don't become larger and to help with hair loss. She also gets dry nipples. Does anyone have experience of the injections, what is involved, how long is a course, are there any risks/side effects and what should we be asking for? How much (approx) would an injection and a course of injections cost?

Any help much appreciated. We are definitely not going to opt for surgery after our previous experience.

Thanks

Saz

 

[helen105281]

It's a few years since my Terk had them, and hers were for an ovarian tumour and not a cyst. I think she had at least 2 injections, possibly 3 and they were about 2 weeks apart. As far as I remember she had no side effects. We were considering using them with Fuzzy when she had cysts, but my own vet did not diagnose cysts and by the time she got to Simon Maddock it was too late for the injections and so she was spayed. Lots of people on here have used the injections though so you should get some answers.

 

[GPTV]

Aww sorry to hear about Dora

My Ellie was 6yrs old. She kept getting problems with bleeding when pooping& repeated uti's.

The vet decided she needed to investigate as she wouldn't give any more antibiotics.

She had an ultrasound scan(conscious but a little shaved patch on her tummy). The vet let me hold her &watch -all very fascinating watching everything moving around.
There was a walnut sized ovarian cyst found. The vet said the only option was a spay, but she wouldn't do it as Ellie was too old &the risks were too high.

I asked her if she would consider hcg chorulon injections as I had read up about them(mostly on here). Its a cattle hormone &not licensed on guineas but all I had to do was sign a disclaimer.

The vet phoned the drug manufacturers whilst I was there ,she asked their advice on info/dosage &ordered some in.

She had 2x injections around 7-10days apart. She squealed the place down-then stuffed her face with prepicked grass
I think she had some metacam for a few days too. As ovarian cysts are apparently quite painful. So maybe sort pain meds in the meantime.

There were no bad side effects.
She had a softer smoother more glossy coat within a few days. She hadn't been particularly grumpy but she did seem less stressy afterwards.
The lump took around a month I think to decrease in size enough to not be able to feel it.
I think she only had 1more bleed if that afterwards

About 1yr later she had a second round of chorulon injections. The cysts had grown again &she was uncomfortable.
They worked again the second time &I lost her aged 8yrs to multiple health issues.

I would definitely recommended them if the cysts are treatable with them, sometimes members haven't had much success but they dont seem to have any negative side effects.

The scan was included in my consultation fee &I think each injection was around £20 plus the consultation.
I have heard of members that have paid £50each for them though.

My vets are not exotics &are quite cheap compared to a lot of vets.
Also I think the vet was keen to make the injections a learning curve for her too.

Oh &Ellie never had textbook symptoms -hair loss, crusty nipples, hormonal etc. Just the stubborn uti's &bleeding.

Good luck with whatever u decide.
Xx

 

[Deleted member 114675]

My Bess was diagnosed with ovarian cysts earlier this year. Like you, I will be very reluctant to put her through surgery.

She doesn't require treatment at the moment - but, when she does, I will consider injections or keyhole surgery ....

Information About 'keyhole Surgery' To Treat Ovarian Cysts

 

[Kerrie74]

Coco was diagnosed with small cysts last year, tried her with hormone injections, she had two shots two weeks apart, thought she was doing ok, but no her fur loss is terrible, so we took her to Alfreton Vets to see Ellie, she confirmed cysts and said if they were causing her a problem then she could do an ovarectomy on her which is what I've now chosen to do.

I trust Ellie, she's just removed a mammary tumour from one of my boars (Snow) and he's doing really well

 

[Beans&Toast]

This is interesting, I've been looking at injections for Toast as she's having hormone issues being in a long season and now Beans also is having issues. At 5am yesterday I had to take Beans to emergency vet because I found Beans squealing in agony, seems she may have passed a stone, but also turns out the vet thinks she may have cysts. I would be reluctant to put her through surgery I think as she's an older piggy and as she's a rescue so I don't know her past history. I feel it's too big a risk so I'd be looking at injections if it came to it..

I'm glad to hear they do well on the injections, definitely reassuring

 

[pig in the city]

The injections do work in my experience in about 50% of cases. They work better for things like hair loss than reducing cyst size or helping with urinary symptoms. They can take a while to work and the effects do wear off. I would use them if a piggy was unfit for surgery but otherwise would have an ovariectomy performed by keyhole surgery.

 

[TAN]

I have had 4 spayed sows - 2 spayed by Simon Maddock 4 years ago when they were both 2 - and my other 2 sows when they were both over 4 years old by my specialist exotic vet - all 4 came through with flying colours. - no experience with the injections as my vet said in her experience you usually end up having to have them spayed anyway further down the line.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I chose to opt for spay for Buffy this week. She had the op on Wednesday and was eating well on Wednesday evening, although slightly quieter than normal. By Thursday night she was completely back to her old self. Apart from a nice neat wound on her tummy, you wouldn't know she had had anything done.

Buffy had large cystic ovaries and was losing weight and condition. I preferred to go straight for spay as we have an excellent guinea pig vet, Simon Maddock, and Buffy is only 3, so I felt getting rid of the problem, once and for all, was the way to go.

 

[Adelle]

The injections worked for crunchie- hormonal behaviour stopped (she was very bad, aggressive, Constant chasing and mounting and extremely agitated.. ) She had to live on my bedroom floor for a while as it was the only way to calm her down having so much space. Her cysts also shrunk, but she never had hair loss to start with. She had urinary issues which the injections didnt help and still remain to this day.

She ended up being spayed at 4 yeats old as her uterus was badly diseased and caused her pain x