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Abdominal tumour

Emx93

Emx93

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hi guys, so I plan to speak with the vet sometime this week (hopefully tomorrow but i know they're super busy as they were flooded last week) and try and either arrange extra pain relief or book her in so they can give her a full once over!
Princess has arthritis, she's on up to 1.2ml cat metacam twice daily, everything in her cage is accessible and I also give her oxbow joint support ground up and mixed with mushed pellets. This week she's having a bit of a flare up yesterday morning she really really scared me she was sat in the same position when I woke up as she was when I went to bed, I assume she'd got up and moved at some point as she wasn't covered in wee but it was enough to scare the life out of me! I spent the day encouraging her to move and she has perked up a bit but is still hobbly and drinking a lot which is usually a pain sign for her, this combinned with fluffy being extra snuggly with her is usually a sign of something not being quite right there! So as I said a conversation with the vet is in order as I think she needs extra pain relief! She is eating well thankfully! If anyone with more experience of arthritis piggies has any suggestions they'd be much appreciated! The wonderful Barbara has suggested gabapentin so it's definitely something I'm going to ask about!
She also has a lump in her side but it doesn't seem to be bothering her and the vet said to monitor it which is what we are currently doing!
 
Hi, I’ve also got an arthritic piggy. You could speak to your vet about using dog Metacam instead as it’s stronger. Hamish is on 0.35ml of this twice per day. He also has Tramadol for additional pain relief, again 0.35ml twice per day. He also takes Ranitidine (0.3ml twice per day) to keep his guts mobile as I believe Tramadol can bung them up a bit.

As it’s Hamish’s back legs which are affected, his vet recommended doing gentle leg rotations and stretches of the legs a couple of times per day. I found I could gradually build this up and Hamish would soon let me know if he’d had enough. We don’t do the exercises now as he doesn’t seem to want that but for many months he responded well to a spot of gentle physio.

I hope some of the ideas help. X
 
I had a piggy with arthritis previously. Let the vet review the current medication and whether it can be increased. Also discuss alternatives for if a higher dose (if able to be prescribed) is no long effective enough. I remember being told to watch for metacam not doing enough and to phone for another appointment to get tramadol. Sadly the day that I phoned for an appointment I also got home to her in the final stages of her life and we had to rush to the emergency vet to help her on her way. With arthritis it is very much about keeping quality of life and this can be different treatments for different pigs. Let your vet guide you
 
Thankyou, unfortunately due to licensing stuff they won't prescribe dog metacam, she was on dog metacam when we adopted her but our vets switched her to cat metacam (and initially put her on a tiny dose 😵) then I had a chat with them while there with my cat and they said she could have up to the cat metacam equivalent of what the dog metacam dose she was on was (though still haven't changed what it says she's on as the bottle is still saying give 0.4ml once a day) 🤦‍♀️ they are really good and I'd generally reconmend them to anyone ( they have an exotic vet) they're just picky about licensing xx
I'm so sorry about your piggy lady Kelly, she's definitely moving around more now I just don't like how much she's drinking/ the fact she's hobbling, she's well in herself other than this which is why I think it's just a simple case of she needs more pain relief but I will make a phone call to the vet to discuss this, I've spent more time at the vets than at home recently I think 🤦‍♀️😭 xx
 
Been to the vet, her lump has grown and there's signs of abdominal tenderness so they think this is the reason for the excessive drinking and not the arthritis, she's moving around well for them and her hips don't feel as bad as they expected them too, however despite weight been consistent she does feel boney and all her heft seems to be around where the lump is so she's booked for a conscious X Ray Thursday, I had noticed the boniness too 😔😔😔
 
Sending you my very best wishes, you are going through a tough time with your animals at the moment. I hope Thursday goes well for Thursday.
 
Thankyou she's getting lots of extra attention today, marshmallow is perking up thankfully I'm crossing my fingers for them both, and for babybelle and for alll other animals/children to please stay healthy cause mummy is exhausted and would like a week or two (or a year or two!) without a vet/ doctors trip! Xx
 
Not great news unfortunately, she had to be sedated for the x Ray which revealed abdominal mass they opened her up to see if it was operable but unfortunately it isn't, it's a tumour, abdominal and possible pancreatic involvement, stuck to everything and abcessed around it 😭 so we will give her the best life for however long we're blessed to have her and manage pain relief etc 💔💔
 
Such sad news Emma. I know Princess will be well cared for and loved in her final weeks. I am just sorry that she wasnt with you and Fluffy for longer xx
 
Has no one mentioned glucosamine joint support tablets by oxbow? , which can really help along side pain relief for arthiritis?
 
Well this girl amazes me, ran straight in the hay and started munching, I'm going to continue to top up with recovery food for the first few days as it can't hurt and she loves a bit of mush anyway 😊 we're all heartbroken with the diagnosis and even more so looking at her and fluffy together and realising how heartbroken fluffy will be but princess is a tough little piggy and we're hoping she has many happy today's ahead yet 💖

On a side note could anyone tell me how to change the title of this thread to abdominal tumour as while she does have arthritis it isn't the main problem and it may get a little confusing 😔
 
Emx93 said:
Not great news unfortunately, she had to be sedated for the x Ray which revealed abdominal mass they opened her up to see if it was operable but unfortunately it isn't, it's a tumour, abdominal and possible pancreatic involvement, stuck to everything and abcessed around it 😭 so we will give her the best life for however long we're blessed to have her and manage pain relief etc 💔💔
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So sorry for this news. Know how you feel. Hope u have as long as possible with quality of life for your little piggie. She will know she is being spoilt even more xx♥️
 
Sorry to hear this news :no: Hopefully with your vet's help you'll be able to keep her comfortable and give her a good quality of life for a while yet. :hug:
 
Shes definitely a little fighter, she sailed through the anesthetic and explorative surgery, and is still grabbing the syringe for more during syringe feeds 😍 all this is really positive, I think she'll fight the good fight and we will all be by her side making all her today's as happy as possible 💖 her post op is on Monday at the same time we drop babybelle off for her surgery and take Effie for her vaccinations! I'm so proud of her today 💖
The vets have been amazing too, we've had a tough year with poorly pets and they've really been great!
 
So sorry to hear your little piggie has had a poor diagnosis. Sending you hugs at this sad time, enjoy each day you all have together x
 
Still eating well both alone and from the syringe, she is loosing about 15g a day at the moment so I'm going to up the amount of syringe feeds for her, she seems well in herself though, slightly more sleepy but is active when she feels like it, her scar looks really good, much better than either of fluffys!
And moving away from the negative news of the tumour and to the positives from her scans etc, they Checked her bladder and kidneys as she had a history of cystitis (but thankfully hasn't had a flare up in a very long time) and both look great, they x rayed her legs and saw the arthritis in both knees but it's not as bad as it could be and definitely manageable! 😁
Overall very happy with how she's doing 💖
 
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