Ovarian Cysts

[AmyP&M]

I posted a thread yesterday about my guinea pigs acting weird https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pigs-fighting.129356/#post-1776872
Somebody mentioned the possibility of ovarian cysts, I replied to her asking if I should be worrying about the possibility of this but she never replied. Could someone tell me a bit more about this?
Also somebody said she may be fishing for poos to help her digestive system. Her poos are very light brown and small at the moment she has been diagnosed with bladder stones and shes booked in for an operation on Thurday (eventhough shes no longer squeaking when she urinates and as far as i'm aware there is no blood in it) i'm assuming the colour of the poo has something to do with the bladder stones but regardless i'll mention it to the vet on Thursday, she is eating and drinking as normal. Today when I had them both with me Maisy the healthy one had a poo and Pippa the one with bladder stones went mad to try and eat it and she did get it. I also saw her yesterday eating Maisys poo.

I'm not sure what to think it seems like shes having problem after problem and i'm very worried and paranoid about her health.

 

[helen105281]

Ovarian cysts can cause dominance in sows, especially if they are small ones. They can also cause hair loss on the flanks and the pig may have crusty nipples. The preferred treatment is hormone injections, which can be very effective, though if the cysts are very large they can encroach on other organs and so cause other issues such as digestive upset, or they can leak urine. Some vets opt for a spay if the cysts are causing issues, others will drain the cyst followed by a round of hormone injections.

The poo colour may be related to the bladder stones in that she may not be eating as she normally does which is affecting her vitamin intake. It does sound like she is lacking in something if she is trying to steal her cage mates poos. You could give her a vitamin supplement such as Metatone (0.5ml a day for one week, followed by 0.3ml a day for a second week) and/or probiotics which will help replenish any good bacteria. Has she been on antibiotics at all as this can kill off the good bacteria.

Were the bladder stones diagnosed by xray or scan?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I think you are talking about this thread here in the Behaviour and bonding section? https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pigs-fighting.129356/

If you want somebody specific to answer, please either click on the "reply" button under the person's post to quote it of you have a question about it or tag the member by clicking on @ and start typing the username. When the full username pops up, click on it. Either action will generate an alert for that member.
Please be aware that this forum is entirely volunteer run, including all moderators. We do so in our free time around our day jobs, our own guinea pigs and a private life. Please be patient if you don't get an immediate answer and if necessary tag us, so we can answer when we come on next. it can also happen that an alert goes unnoticed if things are busy on the forum and there is an emgergency or lots going on with lots of alerts.

As to ovarian cysts, many adult and older sows develop them. In the majority, they don't pose a problem. Especially smaller growing cysts can pose hormonal/behavioural issues; it depends on how bad the issue becomes. Ovarian cysts that are very large can also pose a problem if they burst. If cysts become a real problem, you can have her checked. Not all cysts come with a full panoply of symptoms; in fact many don't.
There are now alternatives to a full spay available, like hormone treatment (HCG) or draining a cyst by a knowledgeable vet.

Please mention any ongoing medical issues if you start new threads that possibly relate to them, as that can influence the answer. Ideally you keep all issues potentially connected to the same case to one thread, so we have all information together and you are less likely to have things thrown into the ring that are irrelevant to your specific problem. In your case, the behaviour is more likely related to digestive issues in connection to the bladder stone rather than ovarian cysts. The medically experienced members get alerts on any new posts in an ongoing medical thread.

 

[AmyP&M]

She has been on antibiotics, when we first went to the vet she said that its either bladder stones or an UTI. She gave up the option of either treating it as a UTI or giving her an x-ray. We chose the UTI option which was the antibiotics. Once we did give her the x-ray the vet says to continue to give her the antibiotics however it is almost finished. The bladder stones were diagnosed by an xray.

 

[helen105281]

Thank you, just wanted to check they could not have been confused with small cysts.

 

[Wiebke]

She has been on antibiotics, when we first went to the vet she said that its either bladder stones or an UTI. She gave up the option of either treating it as a UTI or giving her an x-ray. We chose the UTI option which was the antibiotics. Once we did give her the x-ray the vet says to continue to give her the antibiotics however it is almost finished. The bladder stones were diagnosed by an xray.

Antibiotics don't just kill the bad bacteria, but also the good bacteria that is necessary for processing fibre in the guts. Baytril is especially harsh on the guts. The incessant digging in the bum of a companion is often a sign that a guinea pig is trying re-stock their guts with an injection of good bacteria from the guts of a healthy guinea pig.

We recommend to always give a pinch of probiotic about 1-2 hours after any antibiotic to help prop up the guts. Otherwise, the poos soup that I have mentioned in the other thread, will do the same, ideally at the same time; it mimics natural behaviour and is usually pretty popular. You can see the bum digging (which can become quite a nuisance for a few days) typically once a guinea pig is over the acute illness and recovering. However, as the companion is aware of the why this happens, it is not going to lead to fight, just some robust answers to signal when it becomes too much for the companion. You can minimise the nuisance behaviour with either syringing poo soup or supplementing with probiotics.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/probiotics-recovery-foods-and-vitamin-c-overview-with-product-links.115404/

As your girl has had an x-ray for her stone, you can be pretty certain that your girl doesn't have a cyst problem, as it would have shown up as a round cavity on the x-ray.

 

[AmyP&M]

Antibiotics don't just kill the bad bacteria, but also the good bacteria that is necessary for processing fibre in the guts. Baytril is especially harsh on the guts. The incessant digging in the bum of a companion is often a sign that a guinea pig is trying re-stock their guts with an injection of good bacteria from the guts of a healthy guinea pig.

We recommend to always give a pinch of probiotic about 1-2 hours after any antibiotic to help prop up the guts. Otherwise, the poos soup that I have mentioned in the other thread, will do the same, ideally at the same time; it mimics natural behaviour and is usually pretty popular. You can see the bum digging (which can become quite a nuisance for a few days) typically once a guinea pig is over the acute illness and recovering. However, as the companion is aware of the why this happens, it is not going to lead to fight, just some robust answers to signal when it becomes too much for the companion. You can minimise the nuisance behaviour with either syringing poo soup or supplementing with probiotics.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...vitamin-c-overview-with-product-links.115404/

As your girl has had an x-ray for her stone, you can be pretty certain that your girl doesn't have a cyst problem, as it would have shown up as a round cavity on the x-ray.

Thankyou for your advice, its calmed my worrying!