I think Peggy May have a cyst. I’m taking her to the vets today. It’s hard for me to check her as she is still so skittish and squeals and panics iF I attempt to pick her up. I’ve noticed she’s lost weight and thought it may be because their dominance seems to have shifted but at the weekend, I was able to get her and attempt to trim her nails. She has lost quite a considerable amount of weight, lost hair from both her sides and is extra moody strutting around and squeals when picked up more than usual. my question is, if I am able to choose a hysterectomy (or what treatment they offer) would this affect her relationship with Betty (because she wouldn’t have seasons?)
It’s so hard with them being ex breeding piggies to handle them well without stressing them out too much!
Wish me luck
Hi!
Having and having had a fair number of piggies born to stressed out mothers and living with a high stress level as their 'normal', I know what you mean!
A spaying operation is not going to impact on the relationship, whether just one sow or eventually both are spayed. Except that the operated sow is no longer as moody and the pair are back to normal.
Here is our information on ovarian cysts and possible treatment options:
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Our post-op home care guide:
Tips For Post-operative Care
Hafren (2011-19) and Iola (2011-18) - Partners in crime 2015-18:
I adopted Hafren already spayed in 2012 from a now defunct rescue with a total spaying/neutering policy, she bonded with bereaved Iola in 2015 over a shared outlook on life; I nicknamed them my Two Fat Ladies. In 2017 Iola also required a spaying operation for very fast growing large cysts. Apart from some domince rumblestrutting and mounting from Hafren to test the hierarchy shortly after the operation, there was no change in their relationship.
Nesta (2011-17) and Nerys (2008-16)
I adopted Nesta spayed together with Hafren from the same rescue. After the split of my big Tribe group which Nesta and Hafren had been part of, socially awkward Nesta teamed up with her unrelated lookalike Nerys who she seemed to regard in the light of an auntie. The Terrible Teddies were quite a memorable pair. The fact that Nesta was spayed didn't impact at any stage.
Cariad (ca. 2009-14) (The long-haired one on the left)
Very skittish ex-breeder sow and not very bright but living up to her Welsh name (which means Darling), has always lived in groups; at the breeders, then in the big Tribe until 2012 and lastly in the Pensioners group (2012-14). The picture is from 2014, nearly a year after her emergency spay in 2013, caused by her womb gone badly wrong with a nasty ovarian cyst thrown in only months after a major bladder stone operation.
Cariad on the morning after her operation with neutered boar Bryn as her 'paw-holding' companion and with her operation scar.
Amazingly and despite only weighing 700g, she sailed through her operation and never lost more than 30g - the weight of her womb and cysts. She was back with her group within 2 days as soon as I was sure that she was able to hold her weight without any further support from me.
Sisters Mererid and Morwenna (2014- )
Morwenna on the right needed a spaying operation for a hard cyst that would turn cancerous if left in last June and her sister Mererid joined her in September as an emergency spay when her non-hormonal fluid filled cysts started growing very quickly.
No change in their behaviour or relationship.
A spaying operation is nevertheless a major operation. At the moment, risks and benefits are about balanced, which is why people are increasingly looking at alternative options. Especially as large ovarian cysts are more of a problem in older sows. The hormonally active ones that are more typically plaguing 2-4 year old sows tend to be smaller cysts.
fluffy was never accepted back but lives very calmly with her new friend (the bond broke beyond repair before the spay fluffy was very aggressive) she had a full spay and recovery was tough. Nugget had an ovariectomy which is keyhole surgery to just remove the ovaries, it is much less invasive and she did much better afterwards, if you do go for a spay and you can get to a vet that does ovariectomies I would reconmend this! There was some disruption and dominance shifts between nugget and marshmallow post spay but this settled down after a couple of weeks. The best thing to do is contact your vet, book your girlie in for a hands on examination and go from there! Before I asked about an ovariectomy my vet hadn't done one but she practiced on two of her own pigs and then did nugget, I trusted her fully 
