Bianca is our piggy with ovarian cysts. Looking back I first posted about the possibility of her having these over two years ago. When it was finally clear that this was indeed the problem, we decided to go for cyst-draining rather than an operation. Ever since, we have kept a very close eye on her behaviour so as to judge when she appears to be getting uncomfortable. We took her back many months ago for a check, but it would have been too risky as the cysts were small and too near an artery. So, the one drainage of the cysts seems to have kept her going for almost two years.
In the past couple of weeks, we noticed that she had lost more fur around the middle (because of the cysts) and looked more rotund in that area (I assumed because of the cysts). Her behaviour remained, and remains, lively, so I held off taking her to the vets just yet ... until yesterday, when we found bright red blood on some hay and we noticed that her bottom was dirty. £200 later, we learnt that she has an inoperable mass around both kidneys (I think 4 cm in diameter). Nothing to do with the cysts, which couldn't be seen because of the tumour.
So, although she still seems her normal self, lively and with appetite, she is a very poorly piggy. The vet has given her a larger dose than usual of a stronger painkiller than usual, to be given twice a day. We continue to monitor her behaviour, albeit even more closely and anxiously, as we now need to judge when the right time comes for euthanasia.... The vet counselled against us taking a larger sized bottle of painkiller because it wouldn't all be used ... so it's most definitely less than six months. Perhaps one.
My question at the moment pertains to her bottom. It is even dirtier than when we took her to the vets yesterday. My supposition is that she is too uncomfortable to bend over to clean it, although I would have thought that the strong painkiller would have alleviated that. Perhaps she is just too distended. I attach some photos of her. My daughter tried to clean her bottom very gently with water on a cloth yesterday, but didn't get it all off then. What do you advise we do? They are not piggies that like being handled (Bianca will barely tolerate a stroke) and so we only really handle them for weighing and nail clipping. The vet commented, after doing the ultrasound, that she is very tender across her underside. We can't leave her bottom like this, though, can we? We don't want to distress her.
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Ophelia and Bianca turned 5 today, so I also attach a picture of them with a special birthday vegetable platter.
In the past couple of weeks, we noticed that she had lost more fur around the middle (because of the cysts) and looked more rotund in that area (I assumed because of the cysts). Her behaviour remained, and remains, lively, so I held off taking her to the vets just yet ... until yesterday, when we found bright red blood on some hay and we noticed that her bottom was dirty. £200 later, we learnt that she has an inoperable mass around both kidneys (I think 4 cm in diameter). Nothing to do with the cysts, which couldn't be seen because of the tumour.
So, although she still seems her normal self, lively and with appetite, she is a very poorly piggy. The vet has given her a larger dose than usual of a stronger painkiller than usual, to be given twice a day. We continue to monitor her behaviour, albeit even more closely and anxiously, as we now need to judge when the right time comes for euthanasia.... The vet counselled against us taking a larger sized bottle of painkiller because it wouldn't all be used ... so it's most definitely less than six months. Perhaps one.
My question at the moment pertains to her bottom. It is even dirtier than when we took her to the vets yesterday. My supposition is that she is too uncomfortable to bend over to clean it, although I would have thought that the strong painkiller would have alleviated that. Perhaps she is just too distended. I attach some photos of her. My daughter tried to clean her bottom very gently with water on a cloth yesterday, but didn't get it all off then. What do you advise we do? They are not piggies that like being handled (Bianca will barely tolerate a stroke) and so we only really handle them for weighing and nail clipping. The vet commented, after doing the ultrasound, that she is very tender across her underside. We can't leave her bottom like this, though, can we? We don't want to distress her.
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Ophelia and Bianca turned 5 today, so I also attach a picture of them with a special birthday vegetable platter.
and sympathy
picked just for them… Don’t worry - we’re not over-feeding and I’m now 5 years into being trained in which foods Bianca can tolerate and what would constitute too much. As far as they’re concerned, we’ve now become very compliant and responsive slaves. About time too, they would say with a nose rub.