• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Here we go again :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
Lady Kelly

Lady Kelly

Senior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
18,588
Reaction score
36,903
Points
2,115
Location
Leicester
I'm beside myself right now, after losing Buddy to an abscess in January I was shocked to find a small hard lump on Peter's side. It doesn't feel like an abscess, he hasn't lost any weight and is acting, eating and drinking normally. I phoned the vets first thing yesterday and they have him booked in on Monday morning. I think due to the fact that he is getting older and that I can feel pretty much all the way around the lump that its likely to be a fatty lump and hopefully nothing to worry about...

But when cleaning the piggies out today and doing their regular health check I noticed that Bea has lost a bit of weight and has a bald patch spreading down her tummy. Out of concern I checked her nipples and they seem to be a bit crusty, same colour as the skin but patchy and dry-ish. I'm really worried about my girl as I don't know what it could be and needless to say she is coming along on the vets trip on Monday. I just couldn't bear to lose another one of my babies right now :0

Here's a picture of Peter's lump
IMG_1075_zps6b2fe2d7.jpg

IMG_1074_zpsa876b495.jpg


And Bea's bald patch:
IMG_1076_zps2264a24a.jpg
 
Poor you! It never rains, but pours!

Bea sounds like she has an ovarian cyst or a hormonal problem; which is not at all uncommon in older sows. There are alternatives to spaying now.

I hope that Peter also gets a good report! You are doing very best by booking him in straight away.
 
Don't worry i know how you feel after losing my two males to a unknown diseases just head straight to the vet your doing the right and only thing you can do i cant offer much more advice than what your doing and i wish you luck please let me know how you get on.
Astrid and my six guinea pigs. x
 
Oh no I am sorry to hear about your two little ones. Fingers crossed all will be well.
 
Thanks Wiebke, ovarian cysts was my worry and after looking on guinea lynx I do think the most fitting diagnoses are ovarian cysts and a lipoma for Peter. My poor girlie, but I am so glad to hear there are alternatives to spaying as Bea is quite a nervous piggy (but has gained so much confidence again recently) and she was neglected in her original home before spending a long time in a rescue. I think for my own peace of mind I will book both Bumble and Jemima in for check ups when I go on Monday morning too.
 
Lady Kelly said:
Thanks Wiebke, ovarian cysts was my worry and after looking on guinea lynx I do think the most fitting diagnoses are ovarian cysts and a lipoma for Peter. My poor girlie, but I am so glad to hear there are alternatives to spaying as Bea is quite a nervous piggy (but has gained so much confidence again recently) and she was neglected in her original home before spending a long time in a rescue. I think for my own peace of mind I will book both Bumble and Jemima in for check ups when I go on Monday morning too.
Click to expand...

If you find that spaying is still the best way to go, please take her to Simon Maddock in Northampton. My Cariad has positively sailed through her emergency spay despite her age and low weight earlier this year, as well as through her massive bladder stone op last November. Simon is magic with fiddly ops and has a really good team of nurses behind him. He's currently on holiday, so just have Bea checked out with your usual vet and research your options.
 
I am sorry to hear you have two poorly piggies and I shall be thinking of you tomorrow.

As for the lump on Peters side, fingers crossed for a fatty lump or cyst. A fatty lump will move around under the skin where as a cyst will feel hard. My Erin (r.i.p) had a cyst drained earlier in the year and was perfectly fine x
 
Sorry to hear about your piggy illnesses - we lost one earlier this year and since then we have had one thing after another. I think losing one definately makes you more observant and twitchy over

Our sow has recently been diagnosed with Ovarian Cysts. We have opted for a course of hormones initially which are 5 injections over 5 weeks to try and see if they reduce. She seems to be reacting well after 3 injections and we are due to have her scanned this week to see if they are reducing. There are also hormone 'implants' which are used to in male dogs but have recently shown to be effective in female guinea pigs, so there are options.

Our's is very timid and we are worried that she may not react well to being spayed so it was definitely worthwhile trying the hormones first.

Good luck with yours tomorrow - I hope all is well.
 
I am exactly the same. I only recently lost Nibbles and now Nutty is sick I am worried silly. The best thing you can do is take them to be checked by a vet and you are doing that so don't panic!

Sending you lots of hugs. I'm also going with Nutty to the vet tomorrow so I will be thinking of you when I'm there.

Amy
x
 
My sow, Rosie was diagnosed with cysts a few months ago, she responded well to chorulon injections over three weeks and all her hair came back. I think though that the cysts are starting to make a comeback as her weight has increased quite a bit and she is looking more pearshaped than she had done.
I am back to the vets soonish with Esme so I will be taking Rosie as well.
 
Thanks everyone. It's interesting to hear other people's experiences. I will let you all know how we get on tomorrow
 
Well that's me another £125 lighter. Peters had a biopsy which is being sent off to the lab, the vet also asked if she could take extra for her to look at and learn from which I was more than happy for her to do. Bea's got mute treatment as her skins a little dry and she's prone to them, also have treatments for the other 3. I've got food to syringe her and have to seperate her in the evening for food to be able to closely monitor and then take her back on Friday.

In other news peters appetite hasn't changed at all and he was too heavy for the little scales so I had to take him to the big dog ones lol :))
 
Been away weekend, so only just catching up on threads Kelly. Lots of love to Peter and x) Bea. Good luck with the lab results hope it is nothing sinister and that you can get Bea's tummy cleared up soon. Healing vibes to them both x
 
I just wanted to wish Peter good luck! We've recently had our old man, Bernard, in to have a small fatty lump removed as it was causing him some discomfort as it was on his tummy and near his leg. The vets were fab and three weeks in he is a much happier piggy now.
 
A quick update for you all. Peters tests came back as inconclusive so he's going to have an operation to remove the lump and they will test it again to find out what it is/whether its malignant or not. Despite being taken out the group for feeding and being given cc bea hasn't gained weight (not lost weight either) and she's not presently near to being underweight so not in immediate danger. She is back at the vets tomorrow for an ultrasound to check for ovarian cysts.
 
It's good that she isn't losing weight. Hope it goes well tomorrow xx
 
Ok I have good news and bad news....
The good news is Bea did have a small cyst on her ovary but it burst while the exotics specialist (officially starting at the practice at the end of September woohoo!) was having a feel. No ultrasound needed and job sorted.
The bad news is that's not all that is wrong with her. She has a very high level of protein in her urine, its not glucose so she's not diabetic but that leaves a kidney infection or renal disease. She is on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory at the moment to see how she goes over the next few weeks. The only other option is for her to have gas so they can sedate her to take bloods from a vein in her neck to confirm renal disease but there is nothing they can do for her if it is.
The bald patch she had was so large so quick because she's done it to herself, they looked at the hairs under microscope and they were all broken showing that she has had some discomfort.

If the antibiotics don't help then she will lose weight for her urine. I would then look to possibly supplement her with CC and let her continue living a happy life while she isn't suffering too much and then obviously would just need to make the ultimate decision at some point in the future. She's at least 4 and a half years old now so heading into her old age and she has been a happy and much more confident girl in the last 2 and a half years she has been living with me so its a comfort to know that I have given her a good life. Lets just hope she is with me for a while yet.
 
All paws crossed here for Bea - I take comfort knowing my 'golden oldie' boy has had a great life for the past two years with us and constantly worry about him if he's quiet...:(
Bea has a wonderful mummy who will do the best for her and am certain she knows that :)
Hugs sent x
 
Hmm I know my scales aren't the same as the vets but according to mine Ms Bea has gained 200g in less than 10 days! I'm not overly concerned as she's still under her previous weight. Peters booked in for his lump removal on Thursday
 
Wow about time I updated you all and glad to say it is all very good news.

Bea - back to her normal self, all fur has grown back and seemingly no health problems at the moment.

Peter - Had his operation and two lumps removed. When the vet got in there she found a lot of tiny lumps throughout his body as well as the big lump he was booked in for removal. She took the big lump as well as a small one from the opposite side near his front leg and sent them both to the lab for testing. Peter's had a hard time recovering from the operation and has needed ongoing painkillers and CC. Luckily he is back to his normal feisty self now and eating on his own, he was the first down for veggie time last night :) I was at the vets with him today for a check over and he has gained some of the weight he lost, the results came back from the lab yesterday afternoon and they were both just fatty lumps. The vet said she had never seen a pig with so many smaller ones and she was convinced that it was going to be tumours but we are both very happy that Peter is well.

So for now my piggies are going strong, with Peter I just have to watch out for further lumps and consider further operations if any get too large but as he gets older the GA is not going to be easy for him to recover from so praying they don't grow too quickly
 
That's great news for Bea and Peter! :)
 
Great news Kelly! Give Peter and the Bea-a-licious one a cuddle for me. Really pleased all has gone well x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top