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Specialist Guinea pig infection and enlarged lymph nodes

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piggies04

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Had to take my 3 year old girl to vets yesterday. She has a lump in her dewlap that I found in the morning and got bigger during the day. She is eating, pooping and being normal apart from sitting away from other three girls. Took her to vet last night and she checked her over, said she had a high temperature and lumps were her lymph nodes swollen, in neck and behind front legs. Has given her Baytril for 7 days, do not have to separate her from others but need to check them to see if they develop the same problem. She thinks its just an infection, but how could she have got it, there are no signs of injury. Anyone been through similar?
 
Hello there.

Sorry your little one is poorly. This sounds like one of two things. Either...

Cervical lymphadenitis (infection in the neck lymph nodes) or lymphoma (cancer of the lymph system). I would be asking your vet to do a fine needle aspirate biopsy of the lump in the neck to find out which one of the above it is. Sadly if cancer it's just about keeping her comfortable but if an infection the lump in her neck may or may not need to be surgically removed depending on how big it is. Often they need removal.

Hope this helps.
Abi
 
Have finished course of Baytril and the lump in her throat has gone down from approx. 3cm circumference to less than 1cm. will speak to vet tomorrow and see if need to take her back. Don't want it coming up again now antibiotics have finished.
 
piggies04 said:
Have finished course of Baytril and the lump in her throat has gone down from approx. 3cm circumference to less than 1cm. will speak to vet tomorrow and see if need to take her back. Don't want it coming up again now antibiotics have finished.
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I would recommend to ask your vet whether another course should be given as the lymph node is still larger than it should be.
 
Just got back from the vets, happy it has reduced in size, but still not as should be. Took one of her sisters with her today, so vet checked her over as well! She's fine. Two more weeks of baytril twice a day, did mention to her about weight loss with baytril and she said" not a proven side effect" she had nothing else to offer. So I will be keeping a close eye on her weight, she's a large 1215 g at the moment and eating well. Just hoping this will clear up, she's such a sweet gentle girl and I just want her well again.😥
 
Sending continued healing vibes I hope that the Longer course of antibiotics works, please keep us updated x
 
Healing wheeky wheeks from my lot. Christian and Velvet are both in sympathy with your piggy as they hate Baytril.
 
piggies04 said:
Just got back from the vets, happy it has reduced in size, but still not as should be. Took one of her sisters with her today, so vet checked her over as well! She's fine. Two more weeks of baytril twice a day, did mention to her about weight loss with baytril and she said" not a proven side effect" she had nothing else to offer. So I will be keeping a close eye on her weight, she's a large 1215 g at the moment and eating well. Just hoping this will clear up, she's such a sweet gentle girl and I just want her well again.😥
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Hope she continues to heal. Baytril is a strong antibiotic but it does not have as many side effects as people worry about. However keep an eye on her weight and you can always give some extra syringe feeds to up it. The weight loss is likely to be down to the infection.

Let us know how she gets on.
x
 
Did she loose weight prior to going on the Baytril?
I only ask as our guinea pig had similar symptoms, combined with serious weight loss, and it turned out to be lymphoma.
Hopefully it is simply an infection and Baytril does the trick.
 
Swissgreys said:
Did she loose weight prior to going on the Baytril?
I only ask as our guinea pig had similar symptoms, combined with serious weight loss, and it turned out to be lymphoma.
Hopefully it is simply an infection and Baytril does the trick.
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Hi, no she hasn't lost any weight since she became ill, am checking every two days at present.
Lump is continuing to reduce in size and she is okay in herself.
 
Getting to the end of the third week of Baytril. she is still fine in herself, eating and is the same weight as always.
Booked her in to vet tomorrow evening, as can still feel lymph nodes in dewlap and behind front legs don't want her to stop Baytril and have them flare back up if all of infection has not cleared, but do worry that more Baytril is not good for her.
Will wait and see what vet can suggest tomorrow.
 
Back from vets. Baytril isn't working still not reduced lymph nodes behind front legs. Vet suggested trying to draw fluid from nodes, but says this doesn't always give a conclusive result and would only show if cancer, which previously she had ruled out because of her age and no change in her weight. Trying out another antibiotic which she went and looked up. Now on Co-trixomazol Paediatric Suspension, for one week 0.5ml twice a day. She seems well in herself, had wee and poo checked by vet that she did on table, all okay. Fingers crossed this helps.
 
Update. Still eating, weight stable and acting normally. Lump in dewlap gone down, but ones behind legs feel larger but softer. Vet gave another antibiotic last week as last attempt to clear it up. Don't think she really knows what to do now.
She has been on antibiotics for a month now, am at a loss as to what to do next. Don't want to do unnecessary/painful
procedure that will prove nothing when she is so well in herself.
My vet is on approved list but most of the vets I've seen previously seem to have left.
Will keep a close eye on her and look for alternative treatments if things change.😥
 
piggies04 said:
Update. Still eating, weight stable and acting normally. Lump in dewlap gone down, but ones behind legs feel larger but softer. Vet gave another antibiotic last week as last attempt to clear it up. Don't think she really knows what to do now.
She has been on antibiotics for a month now, am at a loss as to what to do next. Don't want to do unnecessary/painful
procedure that will prove nothing when she is so well in herself.
My vet is on approved list but most of the vets I've seen previously seem to have left.
Will keep a close eye on her and look for alternative treatments if things change.😥
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Sorry to hear your ongoing troubles! Have they actually tested it to see what bacteria could be present? Some antibiotics are more/less effective against certain bacteria’s. We had to do this when Tonks had a bacterial infection. Are you giving probiotics as well? All those ABs will be stripping the good bacteria from her tum. Also what weight is she and what dose was she given? Co-trimoxazole I’ve found to be quite good but again it depends on the bacteria.

There are other antibiotics like marbocyl (great success with that!) so it might be worth having a test for bacteria and getting in touch with the Cat & Rabbit vet in Northampton, they were so helpful when I was desperately looking for a cure for Tonks.

Fingers crossed for you!
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
Sorry to hear your ongoing troubles! Have they actually tested it to see what bacteria could be present? Some antibiotics are more/less effective against certain bacteria’s. We had to do this when Tonks had a bacterial infection. Are you giving probiotics as well? All those ABs will be stripping the good bacteria from her tum. Also what weight is she and what dose was she given? Co-trimoxazole I’ve found to be quite good but again it depends on the bacteria.

There are other antibiotics like marbocyl (great success with that!) so it might be worth having a test for bacteria and getting in touch with the Cat & Rabbit vet in Northampton, they were so helpful when I was desperately looking for a cure for Tonks.

Fingers crossed for you!
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The vet did mention taking fluid and having it checked but she said it would be "inconclusive" as they never get enough cells, so she doesn't see the point in doing it.
Her weight is stable at around 1240g, had Co-trimoxazole for 7 days at 0.5ml twice a day, now finished.
I do have probiotics to sprinkle on veg but her appetite and weight have been stable - she is always eating!
She is happy in herself, but am worried its not completely gone, vet was reluctant to give last antibiotics and only tried when I requested she do something else as baytril after 3 weeks should have "cleared it" in her opinion.
 
piggies04 said:
The vet did mention taking fluid and having it checked but she said it would be "inconclusive" as they never get enough cells, so she doesn't see the point in doing it.
Her weight is stable at around 1240g, had Co-trimoxazole for 7 days at 0.5ml twice a day, now finished.
I do have probiotics to sprinkle on veg but her appetite and weight have been stable - she is always eating!
She is happy in herself, but am worried its not completely gone, vet was reluctant to give last antibiotics and only tried when I requested she do something else as baytril after 3 weeks should have "cleared it" in her opinion.
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Perhaps it’s worth a second opinion? We’ve had a lot of samples done and we’ve never had an inconclusive before, I think it must be worth a go rather than taking a stab in the dark with the treatment. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when we got the results back on the bacteria Tonks was fighting, it gave us an enemy we could see so it made it a lot easier and quicker. They wanted to use baytril even though I didn’t, 2 weeks of it and when we got the results on the bacteria it wasn’t even affected by baytril 🙄

It sounds like you’re doing really well by her, everything else looks great I guess it’s just a case of getting some answers now to know where to go next with the treatment.
 
Have taken Misty to another vet yesterday.
She was happy with her weight, general wellbeing and gave her a good check over.
She agreed that her lymph nodes are all still bigger than they should be, and she has taken cells from 4 different nodes to be screened in the hope of finding out what this is. Was happy to send us away with no "drugs" as she is doing okay without any for the last week or so, she doesn't want to start on a course of treatment only to change according to the results of tests.
Should know results in under a week.
Fingers crossed.
 
piggies04 said:
Have taken Misty to another vet yesterday.
She was happy with her weight, general wellbeing and gave her a good check over.
She agreed that her lymph nodes are all still bigger than they should be, and she has taken cells from 4 different nodes to be screened in the hope of finding out what this is. Was happy to send us away with no "drugs" as she is doing okay without any for the last week or so, she doesn't want to start on a course of treatment only to change according to the results of tests.
Should know results in under a week.
Fingers crossed.
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Fingers very firmly crossed! Great that your girl is hanging in there.
 
Fingers crossed for you and Misty here too.
You are doing an amazing job trying to get to the bottom of things for her.
 
Vet has just phoned, test results are back but "inconclusive". Fluid on slides was too thick, all show they are lymph nodes no abscess or cysts. Got to go back on Tuesday when she will take 2 more samples to try again.
 
Vet phoned me Friday night to confirm Misty has Lymphoma.
She is so well in herself and eating its hard for me to believe shes dying.
Have to work out what to do and phone vet later this week. She has offered Steroids - either to start now or to start when she deteriorates.
Don't know how much they will help, will try and find some info or if anyone has experience please let me know.
x
 
piggies04 said:
Vet phoned me Friday night to confirm Misty has Lymphoma.
She is so well in herself and eating its hard for me to believe shes dying.
Have to work out what to do and phone vet later this week. She has offered Steroids - either to start now or to start when she deteriorates.
Don't know how much they will help, will try and find some info or if anyone has experience please let me know.
x
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So very sorry to hear this.
We went through lymphoma with Oreo last year, and whilst it is very hard, we also tried to see it as a blessing.

Oreo wasn't suffering, she didn't know she was ill and it gave us several precious weeks to totally overindulge her.
My advice would be to give yourself a couple of days to breath before you make any major decisions.
Snuggle Misty a lot (if that is her thing), feed her all her favorite veggies, sit outside with her in the sunshine, take photos.

I am so sorry :hug:
 
So sorry, this must be a shock.
Please take time to make loads of memories with Misty and spoil her.
I did this with my piggy George last year when I knew time was limited with him.
George was with us longer than we thought and I hope this is the case for you.
Sending hugs.xx
 
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