Struggling With What To Do?

[Cuddles With Cavies]

My Amber is going in for a ultrasound scan with the view to spaying next Wednesday to remove suspected ovarian cysts but I’m torn as to what to do. I’ve read a lot online about how these cysts and tumours can quickly grow and cause life threatening problems and so I want them removed as soon as possible.

The only issue is that I go away on holiday from the 7th to the 11th. That means there are only 11 days between Ambers booked surgery and me going away. I keep thinking I need to wait until after I come back, because if there are any complications or anything I won’t be here to sort them. Plus when I’m away they’ll have to go back on to bedding, which I’m worrying about with the wound. Plus it’s not fair to expect my parents to deal with a sick piggy.

But, if I leave the operation until I come back we’re looking at leaving it another 3weeks and that scares me as well. By that time I’m worried the cysts will have grown massively or caused other issues and it’ll be too late. The vet already said the cysts felt pretty big and that was just last week!

Ambers still eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. She’s still active and alert just a little bit quieter and hormonal than normal perhaps.

I feel trapped like no matter what I choose I’m wrong either way. If I do the operation before, I run the risk of having to leave a very sick piggy if something goes wrong, or at best ruining a holiday because Ill spend all my time worrying about her. But if I leave it by the time I come back it might be too late to help her, and so I’ve condemned her to death. The easiest thing would be to just cancel the holiday, but unfortunately I’m the driver so I’d be ruining other peoples holiday as well.

I’m just hoping someone maybe has some thoughts or advice. Thanks

 

[Reenie]

What a dilemma. Why not have a word with your vet about the chances of the cysts growing significantly in the timescale, as just now you are going by what you've seen on line rather than your piggy's individual case. If it won't make much difference, then you can go without worrying. If it would make a difference to leave it a few weeks, then any complications are likely to be in the first few days after surgery, so she would probably be well on the mend in 11 days. If, by the time you're going she's not as well as you'd want, could you board her with the vet while you're gone?

 

[Wiebke]

My Amber is going in for a ultrasound scan with the view to spaying next Wednesday to remove suspected ovarian cysts but I’m torn as to what to do. I’ve read a lot online about how these cysts and tumours can quickly grow and cause life threatening problems and so I want them removed as soon as possible.

The only issue is that I go away on holiday from the 7th to the 11th. That means there are only 11 days between Ambers booked surgery and me going away. I keep thinking I need to wait until after I come back, because if there are any complications or anything I won’t be here to sort them. Plus when I’m away they’ll have to go back on to bedding, which I’m worrying about with the wound. Plus it’s not fair to expect my parents to deal with a sick piggy.

But, if I leave the operation until I come back we’re looking at leaving it another 3weeks and that scares me as well. By that time I’m worried the cysts will have grown massively or caused other issues and it’ll be too late. The vet already said the cysts felt pretty big and that was just last week!

Ambers still eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. She’s still active and alert just a little bit quieter and hormonal than normal perhaps.

I feel trapped like no matter what I choose I’m wrong either way. If I do the operation before, I run the risk of having to leave a very sick piggy if something goes wrong, or at best ruining a holiday because Ill spend all my time worrying about her. But if I leave it by the time I come back it might be too late to help her, and so I’ve condemned her to death. The easiest thing would be to just cancel the holiday, but unfortunately I’m the driver so I’d be ruining other peoples holiday as well.

I’m just hoping someone maybe has some thoughts or advice. Thanks

I would recommend talking to your vet as to whether they think that the op can wait three weeks. By far not all cysts are very fast growing, you know! Online research has very much got its drawbacks when you are confronted with all the horror stories and far too few of the majority of operation that go without a hitch.

There were only 14 days before we were off on holiday last year for Iola's spay, but I'd already had to postpone her spaying op for VERY large cysts twice due to an expensive emergency incisor extraction and several costly overnight emergency trips when I lost 4 of my piggies in very quick succession; I'd had her operated as soon as I could afford to - I'd spent well over £1000 on my piggies during that difficult time. Thankfully Iola recovered just fine and was perfectly OK to be left; it was the dental piggy that I boarded with a friend as she still needed support feeding.

If your vet recommends to operate, perhaps you can leave your girl with an experienced forum member for a rescue donation if she is not stable again by the time you go away?
@VickiA @Merrypigs Sanctuary