Gemma was spayed 3 weeks ago (July 5)for suspicious lumps that turned out to be cysts. The vet found a tumour too so her incision was bigger than normal and the surgery was more complicated than normal.
Gemma had a extremely bad reaction to the sutures and we almost lost her. The entire line became infected. Lab analysis confirmed the sutures were most likely the cause. She was cleaned out and stapled up. Last Weekend noticed she was incontinent. By Sunday she had a mother of a urine scald that crept up under her lower staples. Since she´s on 2 antibiotics we doubt it´s a UTI.
The staples came out and there was still pus happening under the lower third of the incision. Nylon sutures to close that after cleaning it out.
So far so good. She is feeling much better after getting the staples out, but the urine scald will be an ongoing problem. It appears to me that her supersensitivity to sutures extends to her own urine.
My vet was thinking about her problem last night and hit on a possible cause. With dogs they sometimes become incontinent after a spay due to lack of estrogen. It takes a long time before the incontinence shows up(a couple of years?). Since pigs are so much smaller the same incontinence might show up much sooner. Naturally, there is no documentation and we haven´t had enough pigs spayed to draw any conclusions.
She´s ordered the med she gives to dogs in a pig dose. She said it works like a hotdamn. So if Gemma´s incontinence clears up on this med we can assume it´s caused by lack of estrogen.
Has anyone else noted incontinence in spayed sows?
Spayed sows and incontinence
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KarasKavies
- For the love of my girls!
Not in pigs, but a friend of mine has a female dog with the same problem. She was spayed about 2 years ago. She JUST stated her on estrogen.
Who knows? It could work! Would that be a first?
Who knows? It could work! Would that be a first?
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Josephine
- Little Jo Wheek
It´s not very often. Usually it´s apparent in older females. The hormone treatment usually works. For some dogs, though, it can be a combination of problems or something else altogether, like a UTI, stones, or tumor. It´s a good idea to follow up with a vet to rule out these other possibilities like pinta is doing.
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Karen
- Slug Whisperer
Charlotte is our only spayed female and we had to have her spayed as a result of a large ovarian cyst. I haven´t noticed any problems with her in regards to incontinence. Her hind end seems to be dry all the time, the odd time it is damp but I think that is from her sitting in an area where there was pee. Charlotte was spayed approx. a year ago.
Gemma got her med today - PPA 2MG/ML. 0.5cc once a day for 20 days.
Hopefully it works. She is dripping like a leaky faucet. Major bitch trying to keep her urine scald wound clean. It now has biodress on it. There was enough granulation for the vet to remove the dead skin. Nasty raw nickel sized wound.
2 toes on one foot are swollen and one toe on the other. We did xrays - all soft tissue swelling. Too coincidental for her to have caught and sprained all the toes and if she had - they´d be less swollen by now.
We´re surmising that she truly is allergic to her urine and if got into her nail bed.
She is swaddled in a body bandage to protect her tummy. I slip in clean gauze pads as I notice dampness. She can run around but it´s obvious her toes hurt like hell.
If anyone wondered what post-op complications are - wonder no more.
Hopefully it works. She is dripping like a leaky faucet. Major bitch trying to keep her urine scald wound clean. It now has biodress on it. There was enough granulation for the vet to remove the dead skin. Nasty raw nickel sized wound.
2 toes on one foot are swollen and one toe on the other. We did xrays - all soft tissue swelling. Too coincidental for her to have caught and sprained all the toes and if she had - they´d be less swollen by now.
We´re surmising that she truly is allergic to her urine and if got into her nail bed.
She is swaddled in a body bandage to protect her tummy. I slip in clean gauze pads as I notice dampness. She can run around but it´s obvious her toes hurt like hell.
If anyone wondered what post-op complications are - wonder no more.
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KarasKavies
- For the love of my girls!
Oh, that poor baby.
I hope the meds work for her sake and yours. She is lucky to have you with all your "swaddling" knowledge!
I hope the meds work for her sake and yours. She is lucky to have you with all your "swaddling" knowledge!
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Karen
- Slug Whisperer
I don´t know if you do this but when we had hedgehogs one of our rescues had a wound on the belly and after wrapping it up with a bandage we would take a sock and cut of the toe area and cut to appropriate length and slip the sock on over it to hold it in place and help as extra protection. You could do the same with a pig but would just need a bigger sock (man´s work sock or something), it works well.
Hope all goes well for her, good luck.
Hope all goes well for her, good luck.
Gemma peed properly. The first time in a week. She´s still dribbling but she actually peed a pee that I could hear.
Hopefully it wasn´t a fluke and her incontinence is coming to an end.
Her first dose of the med was 11am Thurs. So about 42 hours and 2 doses I see a result - I hope - knock wood.
Hopefully it wasn´t a fluke and her incontinence is coming to an end.
Her first dose of the med was 11am Thurs. So about 42 hours and 2 doses I see a result - I hope - knock wood.
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