DisneyPig
Junior Guinea Pig
Does anyone have any experience with guinea pigs with leukaemia? Last week I took Merida to the vets as she had lost a lot of weight in a short time. I adopted her last year at 6 years old and a tiny 750g. I bonded her with a neutered boar and a sow and she transformed into a happy and settled piggy weighing 1.2kg. Just before Christmas I noticed she'd dropped down to 1.1kg and I found a large lump in her groin. I took her to the vets (my usual vet wasn't on so I saw a different vet) and she went to take a sample and it appeared to bleed out. Merida was fine afterwards and the lump was gone. A few days later it returned and a week later her weight dropped to 940g.
I rang the vets and requested to see Aiden my normal vet, he gave Merida a thorough health check and couldn't find anything to indicate the weight loss but was concerned as it was so much in a short space of time. I made the difficult decision to let him give Merida a general anaesthetic so that he could re-drain the cyst and take bloods. He is very experienced and I trust him with my piggies. The lump was in fact a benign cyst that has not returned since he drained it properly. Merida's bloods showed that all her organs were working fine but she was producing very high levels of lymphocytes which could be because of two reasons, an internal infection somewhere or that she has leukaemia. He said the best thing to do would be to treat her with some antibiotics and if she starts to improve, then it's likely that it is an infection but if she continues to lose weight then he'd like to re-do the bloods to confirm the diagnosis is leukaemia.
It's been a week since Merida was put on antibiotics and there has been no improvement. She's actually lost a bit more weight and is now around 915-920g. I am certain that she does have leukaemia as she seems to be deteriorating rather than improving. She's showing less interest in her veggies, although she is still eating and is still munching away on her hay, she just doesn't seem as active as she was. He said they do go downhill very quickly once symptoms of leukaemia start to show. I'm reluctant to take her back to the vets for more bloods as she is 7 years old, I don't want to cause her any more stress than absolutely necessary. She still has an appetite and is still active and although it's not as much as she used to be, she's not quite given up yet.
I just don't know what to do for the best
Here's my gorgeous girl!
I rang the vets and requested to see Aiden my normal vet, he gave Merida a thorough health check and couldn't find anything to indicate the weight loss but was concerned as it was so much in a short space of time. I made the difficult decision to let him give Merida a general anaesthetic so that he could re-drain the cyst and take bloods. He is very experienced and I trust him with my piggies. The lump was in fact a benign cyst that has not returned since he drained it properly. Merida's bloods showed that all her organs were working fine but she was producing very high levels of lymphocytes which could be because of two reasons, an internal infection somewhere or that she has leukaemia. He said the best thing to do would be to treat her with some antibiotics and if she starts to improve, then it's likely that it is an infection but if she continues to lose weight then he'd like to re-do the bloods to confirm the diagnosis is leukaemia.
It's been a week since Merida was put on antibiotics and there has been no improvement. She's actually lost a bit more weight and is now around 915-920g. I am certain that she does have leukaemia as she seems to be deteriorating rather than improving. She's showing less interest in her veggies, although she is still eating and is still munching away on her hay, she just doesn't seem as active as she was. He said they do go downhill very quickly once symptoms of leukaemia start to show. I'm reluctant to take her back to the vets for more bloods as she is 7 years old, I don't want to cause her any more stress than absolutely necessary. She still has an appetite and is still active and although it's not as much as she used to be, she's not quite given up yet.
I just don't know what to do for the best
Here's my gorgeous girl!
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