Queenie - Something On Ovaries + Bleeding

[Katherine]

My husband took Queenie to the vets today - she's been a bit subdued recently, and when I cleaned the cages last night, the towel underneath the fleece had lots of spots of blood on it. Her rear end was very wet too. We thought she might have a UTI, but apparently not. The vet said she could feel something on Queenie's ovaries; she wondered whether it might be inflammation, but more likely something that needs removing, so looks like a spay is on the cards. I don't think the vet actually mentioned the word cysts, but I suppose that might be what it is. I don't really understand why this would cause bleeding, but I know very little about these things. The vet said something about an egg detaching itself? I'm confused!

Queenie's got metacam to be going on with. I'm dreading the thought of her having to have an operation. We did have a guinea have a hysterectomy a few years ago, and the poor thing only survived the op by a few days.

If anyone has got any experience of guineas with anything like this, I'd be glad to hear your thoughts, especially about what could have caused the bleeding.

 

[Wiebke]

I am tagging @Abi_nurse for you. Ovarian cysts can cause bleeding in some cases.

We have got a recommended vet locator on the top bar; do you have one them within your reach for a second opinion?

 

[TAN]

Two of my sows had ovarian cysts - which was discovered due to bleeding - both were spayed and were fine - you just need to search around for an experienced exotics vets who has spayed guinea pigs - ask if they have ever done the operation before - and stress spaying sows not just neutering boars which is different and a much simpler operation - my local vet had only done a couple of spays and said he would prefer another vet at a different practice to spay mine as she had spayed lots of guinea pigs (including her own) - if you have a good vet with plenty of experience the outcome is usually great.

 

[Katherine]

@Wiebke @TAN Thank you very much for your replies. I didn't realise that cysts could cause bleeding. Our vet isn't on the locator, but to the best of my knowledge, she is a good small animals and exotics vet, although it hasn't been necessary for her to perform surgery on any of our pigs before. We haven't yet asked whether she has spayed many guinea pigs, but my husband says that when talking about it, she didn't seem to suggest that it would be anything out of the ordinary for her. By the way, she is Spanish, which is why I can be rather vague over what she has said, because it can sometimes be a little difficult to follow her accent! I've heard that Spanish vets are highly regarded, and I remember reading in one of the Peter Gurney books, that continental vets tended to have better small animal training than British ones - at least, I think perhaps that used to be the case, probably not so much now.

The guinea we had that didn't survive a spay, had very advanced cysts that had caused adhesions; removing them meant that her guts had to be taken out, then put back in again. She wasn't very well really at all before the op, so I think it was just too much for her little body to cope with. Hopefully it won't be anything like that bad with Queenie!

 

[Wiebke]

Hywel did see a Spanish vet yesterday as an emergency over a returned dental abscess, and yes, they are still very careful and deliberate in making a diagnosis and how to best medicate. I have a high opinion of any I have met so far.

 

[VickiA]

One of my older ladies recently had a spay for ovarian cysts and is right as rain now.

 

[Katherine]

One of my older ladies recently had a spay for ovarian cysts and is right as rain now.

That's encouraging! Glad she's doing well.

 

[helen105281]

There used to be a brilliant Spanish vet at the clinic I volunteered at a while back. Was a shame when he left.