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Is this behavior normal for a spayed sow?

Leeni

Leeni

Junior Guinea Pig
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I have a 5-year old spayed sow Tyllerö who had to be separated from the rest of the group (four sows and a neutered male) since after a separation they didn't get along anymore with the leading male. I wrote about it here . I just want to make sure (since we don't have a lot of spayed guinea pig sows in Finland at all for reference) if this is normal: Tyllerö has started to act like she is in high heat all the time. She is chasing her pen mate all the time, rumblestrutting and humping her. Do spayed sows usually act like this?

This behavior seems more hormonal than dominant to my eye but I might be wrong. She didn't do this for almost a year and a half after she was spayed two years ago due to ovarian cysts that made her aggressive and hormonal all the time. Now her behavior is a lot like it used to be before the operation and I'm worried since the male of the pack also started to reject and bully her at the same time this behavior started to increase. Her sister was spayed at the same time (ovarian cysts, no change in behavior but the cysts were very large) and she died a year ago due to a cancerous growth that was either attached to an ovarian remnant or her spleen and also she showed the signs of being in heat before she had to be euthanized. So I am worried if this could be also something like that.
I will take her to vet's soon but I also wanted to hear opinions from you who are experienced guinea pig owners.
 
Did the vet remove both ovaries or just the one with cysts? I agree, this does sound hormonal. I have had guinea pigs for over 35 years and in my own experience, serious aggression in females is usually hormonal. One thing I did discover when I bred Argentes though, is that sows of this breed can be real bullies, and many I had, had to live on their own!
 
Geeky said:
Did the vet remove both ovaries or just the one with cysts? I agree, this does sound hormonal. I have had guinea pigs for over 35 years and in my own experience, serious aggression in females is usually hormonal. One thing I did discover when I bred Argentes though, is that sows of this breed can be real bullies, and many I had, had to live on their own!
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Tyllerö had both her ovaries and uterus removed so there's no reproductive organs left. The issue is new, she has lived happily with othets for 4 years before now.
 
I have 3 spayed sows. None of them shows any of this behaviour. Please have her checked out by the vet to see if there is some other underlying problem.
 
The only time I have had a spayed sow do this was with Fuzzy but it was not long after her spay and the vet told us that it was learnt behaviour. It soon stopped though. I agree a vet visit is needed especially as it is so long after her spay.
 
Yes mine did this despite having a full hysterectomy with ovaries removed. From what I remember it was a good few months before she stopped doing it as much. Remember it is a dominance thing anyway & she will use mounting to assert her place in the herd :)
 
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