long term effects of hormone injections

[piggyme234]

I know that some of you have had good early experiences with the hormone injections for ovarian cysts but I was curious about the long term effects. Rosie is going for a scan on Tuesday and I want to sort out all my options.

 

[Laure]

Hi there,

Not sure about the long term effects but I had a sow who had 3 courses in the past and after the 3rd it stopped working.
The other option is to have the drained but it can be hard to find a vet who will do it withought GA.
Draining doesn't necessarily act as a permanent fix either unfortunately as they can re-fill.

Hope this helps

L

 

[piggyme234]

Hi there,

Not sure about the long term effects but I had a sow who had 3 courses in the past and after the 3rd it stopped working.
The other option is to have the drained but it can be hard to find a vet who will do it withought GA.
Draining doesn't necessarily act as a permanent fix either unfortunately as they can re-fill.

Hope this helps

L

Thanks. Did she have any side effects from the injections before they stopped working? When they did stop working was she spayed or did you get them drained?

 

[Doeylicious]

Whiskey had an injection around 2-3 months ago and ~touch wood~ it worked brilliantly, she had no side effects apart from getting her appetite back and eating me out of hay lol!

I haven't heard of any side effects from them, my vet is very piggy savvy and didn't mention any to me.

 

[Pebble]

IF......... the only option is GA...I would consider a spay instead...check the credentials of the vet,

Sorry cant help more with info/advice on a non-surgical or non-GA option as I have no experience....

Hugs for you - a very difficult position to be in ...I don;t envy you. Go with your gut instinct...and if that means consulting another vet for a second opinion before you make a decision then please do so!

xxxxx

 

[Pebble]

Oh piggie! Prior to replying to your post I just did a search for cavy savvy vets in Hull for another poster and was not pleased with what I found!

If you want another opinion and are prepared to release her into my care in Sussex I am happy to take her to my exotics vet who is pretty ace!

We can work out transport etc if you are up for it...

PM me if you want to chat further on this option


x

 

[Laure]

Thanks. Did she have any side effects from the injections before they stopped working? When they did stop working was she spayed or did you get them drained?

Sorry i should have given more detail really.

She has the injections 3 times and it worked brilliently for the first 2. Each time it lasted about 6 months before they filled again. the 3rd round of injections didn't work and I had the cysts drained without GA and that worked for a few months too.
I should have also said that she was 6 1/2 at the end and so fo me GA & spaying just wasn't an option as I felt she was too old to go through surgery.

For me the injections should alsways be the 1st choice as I have also known of piggies where the cysts have never come back following the injections. Not sure if you are aware but she will need 2 courses of injections (from memory about a week appart) sometimes up to 3. Have you spoken to your vet about this already - the hormone is not actually manufactured for piggies (but for cows!) so some vets will not know about it or refuse to administer.

Only if that didn't work then I would recommend draining - again this can be done without GA but some vets will not. I hope you have a good piggy vet?

If you have any questions, please shout, i am more than happy to help.

Thanks

L

 

[piggyme234]

Rosie is 4 and a half. She is in generally good health and is having an ultra sound scan on Tuesday without anaesthetic. My concern is that my vet has told me about some rare but quite serious side effects of the hormone injections and also my own thought was if the injections don't work and Rosie needs spaying her when she might be worse off heath wise that might be worse for her. My vet has spayed guinea pigs before and is good with my girls so I trust her and her opinion is that in the long term Rosie might be better off being spayed.

I know that there is a lot of people who think the hormones are the best and I am keeping an open mind still until I know the result of the scan and how bad it might be. Kate, the vet, said that if Rosie was hers she would consider spaying her. My head is all over the place cuz I know that which ever option I pick if it goes wrong I will feel awful.