Hard growing lump under the skin

[Dilly's Piggies]

My 3 year old sow presented with a soft small pea sized, movable lump about 6 months ago on her shoulder, I took her to the vet and they put a needle in to draw out fluid to test under a microscope. They only managed to get a tiny bit of clear watery fluid, the test showed there was a very tiny amount of bacteria present but nothing else, so it's more likely to be a sebaceous cyst, she did not need any meds. At that point it wasn't bothering her at all, so I decided to leave it alone.

However now, it has almost doubled in size (about the size of a marble) and is less movable and has turned quite solid, it also appears to be uncomfortable for her when I touch it, however she's still acting normal and moves fine etc, no weight loss, there's no hair loss, skin changes or lumps appearing elsewhere. My vets recommendation is to do surgery with anaesthesia and remove whatever is in there, but with her being almost 4 years old, I am really nervous about it. I just wanted to come here and ask if others have experienced this, what you did, what the outcome was, what the lump ended up being and if it ever came back after removal. Thanks!

 

[pig in the city]

My 3 year old sow presented with a soft small pea sized, movable lump about 6 months ago on her shoulder, I took her to the vet and they put a needle in to draw out fluid to test under a microscope. They only managed to get a tiny bit of clear watery fluid, the test showed there was a very tiny amount of bacteria present but nothing else, so it's more likely to be a sebaceous cyst, she did not need any meds. At that point it wasn't bothering her at all, so I decided to leave it alone.

However now, it has almost doubled in size (about the size of a marble) and is less movable and has turned quite solid, it also appears to be uncomfortable for her when I touch it, however she's still acting normal and moves fine etc, no weight loss, there's no hair loss, skin changes or lumps appearing elsewhere. My vets recommendation is to do surgery with anaesthesia and remove whatever is in there, but with her being almost 4 years old, I am really nervous about it. I just wanted to come here and ask if others have experienced this, what you did, what the outcome was, what the lump ended up being and if it ever came back after removal. Thanks!

The main issue is what is the lump. If it's definitely a sebaceous cyst and it's not troubling her you can leave it be, but they can burst and be a bit of a nuisance. But u could be a number of other diagnoses. If your pig is generally healthy l would tend to get the lump removed. 4 isn't old in my book. I have had plenty of piggies have lumps removed older than this and they have done very well
And if it's some sort of tumour you will have caught it early