Guinea Pig Health Concerns

[Larissa98]

Good day!
So I am a bit stumped around one of my guinea pig's health. Several months ago, I noticed that her nipples were very enlarged. I've volunteered with rescues and have worked with pregnant sows before, and her nipples looked ready for nursing. I found this very odd- and no, she can't be pregnant, the only male I have is neutered. A few days later, a crust like substance began to form around them. I became pretty concerned, did some research and came to the conclusion that the most likely diagnosis was ovarian cysts. However, she wasnt showing any other symptoms- no balding on her sides, odd bloating, change in eating or behavior. So I decided to wait a few days to see if anything changed- but alas, no change at all. I tried giving her a bath with special dandruff shampoo to ensure it wasn't ringworm (she had it when I rescued her)- however, I doubted that the crust was ringworm fungus because it was only on her nipples and hasn't spread to my other guinea pigs.
Due to the fact that she was still eating and behaving the same, I decided to wait a while longer- closely monitoring her weight (no drastic changes) and upping her vitamin C intake (couldn't hurt, right)?

Although her issue wasn't getting any worse, I wasn't seeing any improvement either- she hates having her tummy touched (as most piggies do) so actually taking the time to try to remove the crust is really stressful for everyone involved. A few weeks ago I finally took the leap and decided to take her to my vet (an exotics vet). After evaluating her, she was just as stumped as I was. We came to the conclusion that we had 4 choices. 1-Leave it alone and see what happens. 2- Do bloodwork to assess hormone levels (the testing would have to be sent out of country to specialists) costing approximately $700. 3- Call in the ultrasound technician and see if anything out of the ordinary is shown ( costing approx. $600). Or 4. Spay her outright, even if there aren't any real issues (again costing approx. $700).

Now you see, I am a Canadian college student without familial financial support, meaning that I have loans coming out of my wazoo. Don't get me wrong, my pets come first, and I do have some money set aside for emergencies. I just have no clue whether or not this is an actually emergency- and I don't want to spend my emergency funds now, god forbid a real emergency occurs somewhere down the line.

I am considering getting a second opinion, but I am not sure if that will help, or just drain my pockets some more. Although I understand that spaying her would be a good preventative measure, I don't want to put her under anesthesia and have a serious operation preformed on my nearly 3 year old girl if I don't have to.

While weighing her in again tonight and just doing a general health check with my piggies, I unfortunately found a small lump on her chest- beside her left front leg. It is quite soft and squishy, and I am able to move it around a bit, which leads me to believe that it is fatty. I've measured it and noted it down, and will monitor it's growth.
I am wondering if any piggy parents out there have had an experience similar to mine with one of their piggies. I am truly stumped. I will say with honesty that I have yet to find any truly amazing small animal vets within my area (Eastern Ontario, Canada) and am hoping that someone else out there has had a similar/ the same experience, and maybe received treatment from an awesome vet.
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
Thanks-

Larissa

 

[Lady Kelly]

Hmm it does sound like classic signs of ovarian cysts and in my experience you do not get all the symptoms for each piggy. I'm dubious that your vet seemed stumped and would probably feel that they aren't experienced with guinea pigs. If they aren't then they might not be able to pick up correct results from tests so that would worry me a bit. The usual process with ovarian cysts is to feel through the abdomen which usually confirms medium/large cysts but I have had a good piggy vet feel smaller cysts this way too. If not sure from feeling then it is usually an ultrasound to confirm. Following this there are options to spay (if large and impacting her life), hormone injection, or leave alone if she otherwise is fine in herself.

This list of piggy vets in Canada might help you if you are thinking of getting a second opinion Veterinarians: Canada - Guinea Lynx Records

 

[Claire W]

I agree with the above and it sound like classic symptoms of ovarian cysts.

My late Emma had one but showed no symptoms. My vet was able to feel it so an ultrasound wasn’t necessary. As it was causing no problems and as Emma had cancer too, we decided to leave it and just monitor.

I have a piggy now who’s 3.5 years old. I had suspicions that she had ovarian cysts (she became really hormonal and her nipples are large) but I trust my vet when she assured me she couldn’t feel anything upon examination. If she does have ovarian cysts, they are tiny. My Ellen is gradually losing weight so an ultrasound will be the next best thing if it carries in although she is no longer hormonal.

It is difficult to get blood from a piggy so I wouldn’t advise that and I wouldn’t advise a spay at this stage as it is a very invasive op.

I would either look for a second opinion (as like mentioned above, a good vet should be able to feel larger cysts), pay out for an ultrasound or monitor the situation