Possible Polycystic Ovary Disease

[Adrianne88]

Hi everyone, I'm writting in regards to my 2 and a half year old guinea pig named Jellybean. Recently she was diagnosed with a respiratory infection and is on antibiotics for the next 2 weeks, she has stopped wheaking completely, her appetite is great and she is drinking a lot more water than usual, my question is, is it normal for her to stop wheaking? It has been weeks since she has wheaked and i miss it so much. And when we were at the vet, he noticed that her weight suddenly increased over a month, she now weighs 2 and a half pounds. We discussed her diet and he strongly feels that I am feeding her correctly. She gained half a pound in just over a month, the vet was touching her tummy and brought up the fact that she might have polycystic ovary disease. He mentioned that she needs to have an ultrasound done and being spayed could help. But, my concern with this, is that it is incredibly expensive, I will find the money to pay to have this done if it comes down to it, because I love her so much, but she also has a neurological disorder, so is this even safe for her to have done? I need advice, please someone, help. She is still active and eating normally, but she has gotten very sensitive to being picked up and having her tummy touched. I don't want her to be in any pain and would like some suggestions. Thank you so much!

 

[helen105281]

I have had pigs lose their wheeks due to a URI too, my Buzz was the first one I think. It can come back but can be a bit husky.

Has your vet considered the possibility of hormone injections instead of a spay? In the UK the injections are called Chorulon and they have at least 2 injections a couple of weeks apart. Sometimes the cysts are drained first. It would depend how advance they are though, sometimes a spay is the only option.

 

[Adrianne88]

I have had pigs lose their wheeks due to a URI too, my Buzz was the first one I think. It can come back but can be a bit husky.

Has your vet considered the possibility of hormone injections instead of a spay? In the UK the injections are called Chorulon and they have at least 2 injections a couple of weeks apart. Sometimes the cysts are drained first. It would depend how advance they are though, sometimes a spay is the only option.

Thank you for your advice! We didn't go too much into detail when we were at the vet, he just suggested an ultrasound to rule out what's wrong first, so she will be going back to the vet after she finishes her antibiotics and I will bring up hormone injections when we are there.

 

[GPTV]

Hi there if its any help I had a 6yr old guinea Ellie who had reoccurring uti's & bleeding, she was given a conscious ultrasound. A walnut sized ovarian cyst was found &the vet wouldn't spay her as she was too old&it would be too risky.
I suggested the hormone injections (hcg/chorulon) &the vet was prepared to investigate further
She had 2injections about 7-10days apart, then about 12months later the lump had grown again &she wasn't her usual self. she had another session of 2jabs, each time her lump went down quite quickly&her persistent bleeding stopped too
i lost her aged 8yrs to multiple health issues

Apparently ovarian cysts are painful especially when they are small or growing, so see if you can get any painkillers to make her more comfortable.

can't help but notice the gorgeous Jellybean is on wood chips, might be worth a try to change to a paper based (non dusty shredded paper,fitch, auboise) or fleece bedding. the chemicals in the urine react with the wood based bedding, if its changed this may help her breathing & respiratory problems at the moment too

if it does turn out to be ovarian cysts feel free to ask for more info.... i can rattle on for ages about my Ellie

 

[Adrianne88]

Hi there if its any help I had a 6yr old guinea Ellie who had reoccurring uti's & bleeding, she was given a conscious ultrasound. A walnut sized ovarian cyst was found &the vet wouldn't spay her as she was too old&it would be too risky.
I suggested the hormone injections (hcg/chorulon) &the vet was prepared to investigate further
She had 2injections about 7-10days apart, then about 12months later the lump had grown again &she wasn't her usual self. she had another session of 2jabs, each time her lump went down quite quickly&her persistent bleeding stopped too
i lost her aged 8yrs to multiple health issues

Apparently ovarian cysts are painful especially when they are small or growing, so see if you can get any painkillers to make her more comfortable.

can't help but notice the gorgeous Jellybean is on wood chips, might be worth a try to change to a paper based (non dusty shredded paper,fitch, auboise) or fleece bedding. the chemicals in the urine react with the wood based bedding, if its changed this may help her breathing & respiratory problems at the moment too

if it does turn out to be ovarian cysts feel free to ask for more info.... i can rattle on for ages about my Ellie

Thank you so much! You've been very helpful. She seems to get a respiratory infection once a year, where I live it's very dusty and no matter what I do the dust is always there sadly. I myself suffer from allergies and get respiratory infections too. But I've tried changing the bedding and she ended up getting another respiratory infection again so I switched back to aspen. I've read about fleece and it's something I'd love to try but the vet didnt recommend it because she chews on everything. So I dont know if that would be safe for her. As far as the hormone injections go, I will certainly bring that up at her next appt. And thank you again so much for your help and advice. We get so attached and to these sweeties and I'd do anything for her.

 

[*kate*]

My Tilly had no symptoms of cysts but one day more or less stopped eating. Took her to the vet and, whilst he was looking at her teeth, I was holding her and felt a massive lump on her side. The vet recommended a spay and she was operated on the next day, where they found an enormous cyst on the left and another one on the right.

The operation and med's cost me around £120 and she made a really fast and full recovery.

 

[VickiA]

Violet and Connie both had ovarian cysts. Violet had an emergency spay and Connie's was elective. Our vet used a laparoscopic minimal invasive surgery with a small incision on each side. Both made superb recoveries from the surgery.

 

[Adrianne88]

Violet and Connie both had ovarian cysts. Violet had an emergency spay and Connie's was elective. Our vet used a laparoscopic minimal invasive surgery with a small incision on each side. Both made superb recoveries from the surgery.

Thank you so much for responding, I'm happy to hear that you're piggies recovered wonderfully. That really does give me hope that if my Jellybean needs surgery, she will do well.

 

[Adrianne88]

My Tilly had no symptoms of cysts but one day more or less stopped eating. Took her to the vet and, whilst he was looking at her teeth, I was holding her and felt a massive lump on her side. The vet recommended a spay and she was operated on the next day, where they found an enormous cyst on the left and another one on the right.

The operation and med's cost me around £120 and she made a really fast and full recovery.

Thank you for responding! I'm so happy to hear they made a full recovery. Reading all of these stories gives me so much hope and comfort. I live in the United States and they quoted me around $1400.00 for an ultra sound and I'm not sure if that included the spay or not, I'm guessing not.

 

[GPTV]

Thank you for responding! I'm so happy to hear they made a full recovery. Reading all of these stories gives me so much hope and comfort. I live in the United States and they quoted me around $1400.00 for an ultra sound and I'm not sure if that included the spay or not, I'm guessing not.

Holy crap! How much? Mine was included in the consultation fee I think- but definitely wouldn't have been more than £20 Stirling... Dont think the exchange rate is that bad!
Are there any other vets near you that u could ask ? I know US vets are fewer &dearer than in the UK.

For that price I would walk away with the ultrasound machine thinking I had actually bought it!

Double check on if it includes the spay- but that price just for the ultrasound is obscene!

The vials of chorulon were approx £20 each. Ellie needed two vials each treatment (£80 total for it for around 18-24months treatment). Its actually a cattle hormone so comes in a cattle sized dose. The vet only used a fraction of a vial &had to throw the rest away afterwards as it wouldn't keep each time. I have read that some people have paid around £60 per vial though. My vet is not an exotics vet practice but a large rural
One but their prices are usually cheap to reasonable generally compared to a lot here

Get your vets to itemize the quote /estimate just so u know roughly what's included for your money. Xx