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Early Stages Of Lung Cancer

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PiggieHerd

PiggieHerd

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Hello Everyone,

Two days ago, I heard Willow6 making a strange noise "woooo wooo wooo woooo" which I've never heard from any guinea pigs. I checked for obvious signs of crusty eyes, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, loss of appetite, weightloss and found none.

I made a same day appointment with an exotics vet, she did a full body check and also an X-ray of Willow6. She informed me that will had cancer/tumor in her lungs and also told me that there is no treatment available.

I didn't want to believe this Vet so I made another appointment with a different exotic vet and came to same conclusion. I asked if she can be mistaken, her answer "no" and then I asked if there is a remote possibility that what she saw can be an infection of the lung and her answer "no", but she said we can try treat it as if its an infection of the lung so she sent me home with baytril and metacam. Metacam is only to be used when her behavior starts changing.

I am weighing her twice a day now, she still eats and drinks, she eats her veggies with the herd, she accepts treats. I have critter care on hand just in case I need to start hand feeding her.

Can the vet be mistaken? Does anyone know if there is a treatment for Lung Cancer? I am willing to pay for any treatment.
 
I honestly don't know. The only pig I had that had a tumour the vet tried to remove it. Unfortunately it was too attached so we had to let our piggy go.

If there is no way to cure it I wonder if some sort of diuretic like Furosemide, or heart medication like Fortekor could at least help her breathe easier and have as much time with you as possible? That's just a random idea, I don't know if it would have any positive effect on her.

I'm sorry. Hopefully someone else has an idea xx
 
Its tricky because in a human you would take a biopsy to confirm the cancer, it would be too big an operation to biopsy a lung in a piggy. So the vets have to make a clinical diagnosis based on the evidence they have. It is possible that it is not cancer but a benign cyst or growth, but anything affecting the lungs is bad news in piggies as their lungs are so small. As long as she seems well and pain free try and enjoy her. Sorry its not good news.
 
That is what I was afraid of, I've been doing a lot of online researching on guinea pig cancer. I guess the best thing to do is monitor her health and give her a great home until it is time to put her to sleep.
 
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