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Strange Shaped Sow

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stripypig

stripypig

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Hello again..

After a break from piggles after losing my last pig earlier in the year I have "acquired" two sows from a home where the kids had lost interest.

Gizmo is approx 3 years old and is very healthy looking, eats, drinks etc, apart from some skin issues (which are being treated by the vet).

She does appear however to be a strange shape. She is quite slender until her hip/pelvic area which is very large.

The vet has had a feel and doesn't think it's anything nasty, but I'd like to get to the bottom of it, as she is quite sensitive around there. It feels very fluidy and seems to be underneath either side of her hips, the middle is normal, and it is very symetrical.

I've normally only had boars and am wondering if it could be syptomatic of ovarian cysts?

Would like some feedback before I ask the vet about this at the next appt.
 
Hi there :)) new piggies yay!

Firstly, are you sure she isn't pregnant?:)

Secondly, sounds a bit like cysts, could you post pigtures? I do think girlies have a differentish anatomy to boars, but I'm no expert. In fact I just want to see pigtures to drool over them heehee! drool

I'll let someone else reply with more knowledge :p

Alyson xx
 
First thing I did was check sexes when I got them, both def sows and vet said it didn't feel like a pregnancy or digestive issue.. will try and get a pic now.
 
It could be that she has had a few litters and has a mum tum? I have a couple of sows that have had litters in the past and they are a very distinctive shape.
 
Yes I agree they do seem more squashy round the tum if they've had babas x
 
photo.JPG


The nose poking her bum belongs to her buddy Pip
 
It could be just her shape, it could be ovarian cysts. My four year old Fflur was found to have huge (and still growing ones) when she came to me. She had no other signs but a rather bony front and a huge, heavy back end.

Sows who have been pregnant tend to have a squishy tummy.

Here is the link for ovarian cysts. I would strongly recommend to have her checked for them and to enquire into hormone therapy if she is found to have OCs. http://www.guinealynx.info/ovarian_cysts.html
 
One of my pigs got this shape when she got bad cysts, she has never got back to a normal shape, despite having a spay. My other girl had cysts though and has never been this shape, although thye were less severe cysts.
 
They'd show on an ultrasound?

She's def not pregnant, there would be something to feel surely? Plus I've had them for a couple of weeks now and she's not changed/got bigger. Her cage mate is def female also.
 
We have only ever kept sows, 4 out of the 8 we have had, have had a 'light-bulb' shape- narrow at the front rather wide at the back end. 2 have had cystic ovaries and had them removed but their shape remained the same. We recently took Midge to the vets for a check up, she has the light-bulb shape, the vet said she was just FAT. I think it's all dependent on the individual pig -(ruling out any underlying health problems though)
 
Doris who's had one litter of one baby has a very large back end. She seems to always have been that way :/
 
stripypig said:
Hello again..

After a break from piggles after losing my last pig earlier in the year I have "acquired" two sows from a home where the kids had lost interest.

Gizmo is approx 3 years old and is very healthy looking, eats, drinks etc, apart from some skin issues (which are being treated by the vet).

She does appear however to be a strange shape. She is quite slender until her hip/pelvic area which is very large.

The vet has had a feel and doesn't think it's anything nasty, but I'd like to get to the bottom of it, as she is quite sensitive around there. It feels very fluidy and seems to be underneath either side of her hips, the middle is normal, and it is very symetrical.

I've normally only had boars and am wondering if it could be syptomatic of ovarian cysts?

Would like some feedback before I ask the vet about this at the next appt.
Click to expand...


This is unusual, but if she walks around and eats she is probably okay, but if not then she may have a congential disease...also she may be greiving her previous hime and not eating enough, or perhaps she didn't get enough to eat while growing as a pup? Very thin piggies are usually sick, try taking her take her to another vet...I suspect the spongy feeling could be mastititis--infection of the mammory glands?...Or a problem in her diet -- let me know what happens; I have opened my own forum called "Piggie Health" -check in, I am not a vet but have many many years experience! :) Good Luck! Sherrilynn770.
 
When we rehomed our 3 girls they were so thin that bones were poking out. A year later all of them got a lot bigger (almost double) and because one of them is very greedy when eating she became almost overweight and now looks like a while furry pear. I guess that's just because she eats too much. If I were you I'd visit a vet even if just to determine if she's overweight and should go on diet: weight problems can cause serious health issues in guinea pigs.
 
She's been to the vets every week for the past couple of weeks to treat the mites (which are now all gone) and I finally managed to convince them to xray and scan her (they put her in a little box for the xray so she can't move and therefore didn't need sedation)

Everything came back normal, and they said on the ultrasound it looked like healthy guts, and she just has a large gut.

It's good to know there's nothing sinister wrong with her, but was hoping I'd be able to make her more "normal" again.

I'm thinking of trying a probiotic incase she's a bit bloaty, an recommendations?
 
Noodles my sow is like that, and just, well, is...!

She is perfectly healthy and happy, she has always been this shape, we are pretty sure she never had babies as she was only 6 weeks when we got her, and is a little on the bigger size but not overweight.

Even when she loses weight, it all comes off the front and the 'big bum' won't shift!

It is strange but we suppose she is just made that way...I wonder if it is something to do with who the mother and father as (dodgy/inbreeding - she was a pet shop piggy), who knows.
 
One other incidence in sows for squishy tummy is ascites (ie fluid in abodmen). Two causes...heart probs or lymphoma.

Lymphoma would manifest itself with enlarged lymph nodes (eg in neck, or abdomen) which vet could discern on palpation and be confirmed on histo of blood film to show preponderance of abnormal lymphocytes

Heart isues is a bit more problematic....as there is not often an audible sound on listening with stethoscope. It needs some X rays...... to show fluid around the heart/lungs or an enlarged heart.

HTH
x

Personally atm she looks fine
x
 
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