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Guinea Pig Has Tumour. Not Sure How To Handle It.

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Lisa96

Lisa96

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi. I was at the vet today and was told that my guinea pig has a tumour. The vet seemed to be keeping a lot to themselves because I was upset but I think they said it was in her urinary gland or something like that. She has to go back on Monday so they can remove it. I'm just really really worried she won't survive the surgery. She's young, she's only 2 and the vet said she was a strong girl but I'm really attached to her. She's my best friend and I don't know how I'd live without her. Do you have any suggestions on how to cope if the worst does happen? Or even what to do until Monday? Thank you.
 
Hello, Welcome to the forum, sorry it is in sad circumstances.

Is she eating okay at moment, pooing and weeing fine?

We have a thread on post op care here Tips For Post-operative Care Please make sure the vet gives you some painkiller to give at home called metacam

Could I ask you to add your location to your profile please as it helps us tailor any advice to your location

Lee
 
Lisa96 said:
Hi. I was at the vet today and was told that my guinea pig has a tumour. The vet seemed to be keeping a lot to themselves because I was upset but I think they said it was in her urinary gland or something like that. She has to go back on Monday so they can remove it. I'm just really really worried she won't survive the surgery. She's young, she's only 2 and the vet said she was a strong girl but I'm really attached to her. She's my best friend and I don't know how I'd live without her. Do you have any suggestions on how to cope if the worst does happen? Or even what to do until Monday? Thank you.
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I am very sorry - these are the kind of news none of us wants to hear and they always hit you right in the gut. :(

However, please do not panic!
Firstly - the majority of guinea pig operations are successful. By far not every tumour is malign, and even those can be got out without problems as long as they are still encapsulated. Whatever your initial reaction is, it is not necessarily a death sentence. ;)
And as your vet did point out rightly - your girl is otherwise healthy and at the peak of her life, so she has got that in her favour to help her through the op and recovery.

The problem is - IF the tumour is malign, then letting it sit and spread would be a surefire long term death sentence. It is one of those situations where you are between a rock and a hard place, and you have to make the leap of faith for the sake of your beloved piggy.

There is no urinary gland. Could you please confirm with the clinic where the tumor is sitting? Is an external or an internal gland; do you remember that?

Here are our post-op care tips. You may want to read through them, so you are prepared. Make sure that you have got support care stuff at home so you can step in if necessary - which it hopefully won't be! That can make a real difference if things are not going quite smoothly.
Tips For Post-operative Care
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Administering Medications

Unless there is a sudden deterioration (loss of appetite, lethargy or the lump blowing up), then just keep her as normal as possible if she is still eating/pooing and behaving normally.

I would however recommend to switching to weighing once daily at the same time in the feeding cycle. Just before you give dinner is a good time, for instance. The daily weight variance can be up to 30g. You only need to be concerned if there is a larger weight loss from one day to another or if she is continually losing a little bit more weight with every day. In that case, you may want to start topping her up with syringe feed and water, and also contact vet clinic.
 
Hi. Thanks for getting back to me. My vet didn't say much about it but I remember she said it was internal. I'm really sorry I'm not good at describing things but the lump was sitting at her bottom nipple on the right side. They did X rays and said that everything else is ok. She didn't say if it was malign. My guinea pig is still eating and drinking ok and she's still full of energy but I feel bad because I didn't notice it sooner. I hope she's not in too much pain :(
 
sport_billy said:
Hello, Welcome to the forum, sorry it is in sad circumstances.

Is she eating okay at moment, pooing and weeing fine?

We have a thread on post op care here Tips For Post-operative Care Please make sure the vet gives you some painkiller to give at home called metacam

Could I ask you to add your location to your profile please as it helps us tailor any advice to your location

Lee
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She's eating, drinking, weeing and pooping ok. The reason I originally took her to the vet was because she was wheeking while pooping. It's not the news I expected to hear today I live in Glasgow in Scotland
 
Lisa96 said:
Hi. Thanks for getting back to me. My vet didn't say much about it but I remember she said it was internal. I'm really sorry I'm not good at describing things but the lump was sitting at her bottom nipple on the right side. They did X rays and said that everything else is ok. She didn't say if it was malign. My guinea pig is still eating and drinking ok and she's still full of energy but I feel bad because I didn't notice it sooner. I hope she's not in too much pain :(
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It sounds like a mammary tumour then. They are not that uncommon and can be either benign or malign; but you are likely only to find out from a biopsy afterwards - it is impossible to tell just from feeling them. They are generally also comparatively easy to get out as they are not too deep in the body.

Please don't feel bad - you have likely noticed pretty soon anyway. Unless it is really large, your girl should not be in any discomfort; her behaviour tells you that she isn't! ;)
 
Wiebke said:
It sounds like a mammary tumour then. They are not that uncommon and can be either, benign or malign; but you are likely only to find out from a biopsy afterwards - it is impossible to tell just from feeling them. They are generally also comparatively easy to get out as they are not too deep in the body.

Please don't feel bad - you have likely noticed pretty soon anyway. Unless it is really large, your girl should not be in any discomfort; her behaviour tells you that she isn't! ;)
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Thank you :)
 
Please let us know how she gets on, we are all here for you to talk to. Your vets sound like they are on the ball with it. Is that your piggy in your avatar? What is her name?
 
Hi, my Pumpkin had the same thing. Because she was healthy and eating well, we felt confident that she would be fine having the lump removed, and she was. She took a little while to recover from the surgery and wasn't eating much so she had a day back at the vets for observation but she made a full recovery. If we'd left it, the lump would only have got bigger and start to cause problems. We've only had bad experiences with surgery when the piggy was ill or not eating before hand. All should be fine :)
 
You've had a really big shock, none of us ever wants to hear that news. But your vet sounds really on the ball. Hope all goes well. Please let us know how she gets on. I know it's hard when your piggies are ill or in pain to stay positive, but please try to stay positive.
 
:wel:So sorry your guinea pig is poorly! :( I really hope she makes a full & speedy recovery. Lots of useful links and good advice above. It sounds to me like she has quite a good chance of getting better and i'm keeping all fingers & toes crossed that all goes well. I know how stressful it is to have a poorly guinea pig, but try and concentrate on how much nicer it will be for her to be able to poop with no discomfort. It's great that you took her to the vet promptly, you've already increased her chances of getting better just by doing that, so please don't be hard on yourself. Best of luck to you both - i'm sending a healing hug :hug:
 
Sorry to hear this. Obviously never nice to hear news like that.

As long as she's still eating and drinking okay, and producing normal poos, shes in a good position for surgery.

Fingers firmly crossed for you both. x
 
3Tyger said:
:wel:So sorry your guinea pig is poorly! :( I really hope she makes a full & speedy recovery. Lots of useful links and good advice above. It sounds to me like she has quite a good chance of getting better and i'm keeping all fingers & toes crossed that all goes well. I know how stressful it is to have a poorly guinea pig, but try and concentrate on how much nicer it will be for her to be able to poop with no discomfort. It's great that you took her to the vet promptly, you've already increased her chances of getting better just by doing that, so please don't be hard on yourself. Best of luck to you both - i'm sending a healing hug :hug:
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Thank you so much :)
 
JenniferG said:
Hi, my Pumpkin had the same thing. Because she was healthy and eating well, we felt confident that she would be fine having the lump removed, and she was. She took a little while to recover from the surgery and wasn't eating much so she had a day back at the vets for observation but she made a full recovery. If we'd left it, the lump would only have got bigger and start to cause problems. We've only had bad experiences with surgery when the piggy was ill or not eating before hand. All should be fine :)
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Thank you! This has put my mind at rest a little bit
 
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