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Found What Feels Like A Ball On Piggies Shoulder

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I wouldn't take your son with you if he finds it stressful, that will also stress Speedy as well. You do need to see a vet, if it is an abscess it can easily be removed by a competent vet; see our vet locator at the top of the page for our recommended vets. The longer you leave it he will be in discomfort & it will be harder to remove.
 
Been to the vets sweet, saw two in house vets there, could be wrong but from what I got from them is they aren't comfortable treating small furies as the general vibe. Could have a test £75 might not show up anything or removal £300 plus biopsy that he might not pull through from (earlier in the thread)
 
You don't really need a biopsy to be honest, most piggy savvy vets know if it's nasty from the look of it when removed :) I would go for removal, check our locator above for a good vet who can do the surgery :)
 
Yeah just spoke with another local vet, they see piggies (have a iggy too which they see & can treat) good to know! £20 for consultation, £75 for removal without biopsy as a quote, it's not about the money although is a factor, say he gets another one in a short period of time again abit worried about that. if i got out insurance would it bump out? My springer is uninsurable due to her pre existing condition of eating stones she's too much of a high risk :( deep thinking going to happen.
 
Insurance won't cover an existing condition unfortunately. I think that's very reasonable for an operation, providing the vet is really piggy savvy regarding anaesthetic etc & if it is an abscess hopefully he will remove the whole capsule if possible, or you will need to keep flushing the gunk out after the op. I've had several piggies have successful removal of abscesses but the vets have always removed the whole capsule so after the op there was little to do except keep an eye on them & take them back for follow ups etc. Abscesses don't usually occur again unless you are very unlucky :) Is he a lone piggy? You can insure him after he has been treated, it is well worth doing, I insure mine with Exotics Direct :)
 
ggreene said:
Yeah just spoke with another local vet, they see piggies (have a iggy too which they see & can treat) good to know! £20 for consultation, £75 for removal without biopsy as a quote, it's not about the money although is a factor, say he gets another one in a short period of time again abit worried about that. if i got out insurance would it bump out? My springer is uninsurable due to her pre existing condition of eating stones she's too much of a high risk :( deep thinking going to happen.
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think i would try going for them (the first vets practice didn't sound like they wanted to do anything:()
if the quote is £75 removal & £20 consult i think i would take it- they sound like they are more exotic based if treat iguanas too, is it one of the recommended vets from here?

does that include everything painkillers afterwards - or any antibiotics if needed - ask lots of questions, how often they operate on guineas, their success rate, do the operate on many lumps/bumps similar, what do you need to do for aftercare if anything, etc? then if you decide to go ahead with the op then you'll know their experience before he goes in&even if you trust them enough to operate in the first place

if it turns out to be a fatty lump then it doesn't matter, but if its anything else its best to get it removed before it grows & becomes more complicated to remove or even inoperable if it gets left too long, an abcess would generally heal quickly if the entire capsule has been removed as @Tiny says hers was in, out, over, done with & recovering nicely at home now & panic over.

insuring guineas i think is only done by 'exotics direct' here, i requested a quote & it came out as £15 a month per piggy, so with the 3 i just put some money back each month into an account for them & use it when required, but a few members on here have definitely benefitted from insuring their guineas, but as @Poppy'sMum says they wont pay out for pre-existing conditions or the premium will be a lot more expensive/all according as to what the lump turns out to be.

when the vet needle tested my guineas lump it was just included in the consultation so i guess i was lucky :tu:
if its appeared quickly & he's young its most likely to be an abscess, which a cavvy savvy vet will diagnose quickly & should be a quick fix hopefully - Speedy may even get away with just antibiotics if this is the case.

think i would try & take Speedy to the vets when your son is at school, hopefully he would get less stressed that way, tell him the vets could fit Speedy in so you had to take him when they were available to treat him or you might have told/taken him too, you just wanted to make Speedy better quickly.

Speedy recovery handsome little Speedy :nod:
fingers & paws all crossed for you. x
 
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We have 3 piggies, boy of 8/9 months an the brothers speedy an Archie ..took Archie with us to the first vets no lumps/bumps. It's amazing how I can get a dog insured for 7.50 a month but a piggie is double! I canceled the policy when I wasn't covered for paws! OMG wasted my money cost £250 two separate ops - both unsuccessful so animal trust they're with, not often they need treatment to be honest; my springer has a water infection £49 last week. I'm a bit worried here as animal trust (none profit vets) want £300 for removal but this private vets want £75 which I'm thinking too good to be true! Hmmm. Think I should ring around tomorrow. Whatever it is he's not in pain nor effecting his mobility so think I might have sometime (week or so) just to find out the right vets for treatment unless it blew up huge then it will be an emergency thing ... Thinking long term at in vets they will go to in the future as will stick with them for piggies & iggy.
 
Right, rang round this morning a few more vets in a 5 mile radius consultation for each is Approx 25-35 won't give me a full quote of surgery till they have been seen.. If I take speedy by the time I've seen 2/3 vets Could of half way paid for the surgery etc :/ one vets practice said we do perform ops on Guinea pigs not ever often although as they don't take well to/during anaesthetic we try to monitor them unless it's life threatening. Rang Pdsa, local ones miles a way! They are the same would need notes from animal trust faxing over then see if we need to go in for a check up/consultation. From what I've asked about abcesses they grow huge speedys hasn't changed shape or grown. If it's just a fatty lump does it stay the same or grow?
 
ggreene said:
Right, rang round this morning a few more vets in a 5 mile radius consultation for each is Approx 25-35 won't give me a full quote of surgery till they have been seen.. If I take speedy by the time I've seen 2/3 vets Could of half way paid for the surgery etc :/ one vets practice said we do perform ops on Guinea pigs not ever often although as they don't take well to/during anaesthetic we try to monitor them unless it's life threatening. Rang Pdsa, local ones miles a way! They are the same would need notes from animal trust faxing over then see if we need to go in for a check up/consultation. From what I've asked about abcesses they grow huge speedys hasn't changed shape or grown. If it's just a fatty lump does it stay the same or grow?
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Sometimes they will grow and sometimes they won't. There really is no way of knowing until it is biopsied; but by the time you pay for that and put speedy through an anaesthetic for it you'd be better just electing to have it straight out. You won't get a quote if a vet hasn't seen an animal as they have no idea what's involved but you will get an answer about wether they are happy to treat a Guinea pig.
 
A lot are I've found, whether its successful is a whole different situation.
Would rather have it out than mess with biopsy, would of thought being able to treat a piggie they would have a rough idea from previous treated piggies. Pdsa receptionist was like if he wasn't eating/drinking in pain with it it's a 50/50 chance nothing lost trying but because it's not effecting him it's a huge risk to take with surgery of any type. I wouldn't ever leave a animal pet or wild in pain that I could prevent or help. Arghhhh this is the hardest thing I've faced in a long time, life threatening etc no brainer same if he was in pain (I do poke an prod it 3 times a day myself) have a feeling it could be a fatty lump but at this point I'm doing my head in, as it's just the same as we found it, not moved nor got bigger, if it blew up huge one day (abcess wise etc) i could take that an do something straight away... Limbo! Vets aren't happy sticking a needle in him awake :(
 
Firstly I wouldn't be prodding it 3 times a day! You could rupture it if it is an abscess & he could then end up with blood poisoning :( Vets won't usually stick a needle into a lump whilst an animal is conscious because they have to put the needle deep into the lump in order to get the cells to biopsy :( That would be very painful for him :( You definitely need to get him to a piggy savvy vet who will remove the lump as a whole. It will almost certainly grow & impair his movement as it attaches itself to the leg muscle & that will make it difficult for him to move. Some of the vets that are in our list plus more if you click on the link above.
  • Ashleigh Veterinary Centre
    Aidan Raftery
    221 Upper Chorlton Road
    Manchester
    , Lancashire M16 0DE
    0161 881 6868

  • Cheshire Pet
    Molly Vagra
    Holmes Chapel Clinic
    Manor Lane
    Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 8AB
    01477 544554

  • Rose Cottage Veterinary Centre
    Jen Quayle
    Chester Rd
    Sutton Weaver, Runcorn
    Chershire West and Chester, WA7 3EQ
    01928 7175
 
These vets are unfortunately too far away :( I've spoke with another vet this morning, advice was if piggie wasn't eating or drinking in pain this something that needs monitoring rather than treating at his point as he might not make it through the op they said its 50/50.
I spoke to my mum yesterday she was like This is why I stopped letting you have small furies after snowy died of old age - he was my hamster I loved him dearly.. I remember I took him everywhere with me! Guess my youngest son is the Exectly the same as me as a child, my younger brother tried to give snowy a bath in the sink while I was at school I came home to find him on a water bottle with a blanket over him infront of the gas fire (this was in the 90s) he survived the 'bath' my brother gave him for a number of years afterwards. I'll keep monitoring speedy & finding the right vets unless it's an emergency job.
By poking and prodding didn't mean it literally, just while I'm giving him a cuddle I'm checking if it's getting bigger or moved which it hasn't.
family & friends - some have said take him back & get a new one! I'm utterly shocked at the thought! Liam doesn't want any piggie he wants speedy! Is like saying to me with my springer after spending £1800 on her with 3 stomach ops/infections oh just get a new one it's okay the kids won't notice! Again Liams highly attached to Macy an she is a brilliant family dog as well as my other two.
As for insurance my grandads good with that side, when I told him it's would be £45 ish a month for 3 piggies he was blown away! Think putting £30 Ish a month away as a safety net is the best thing to do.
 
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