• 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

Hernia In 1.5yr Old Sow

Status
Not open for further replies.
Shauny

Shauny

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 17, 2014
Messages
85
Reaction score
64
Points
230
Location
Stockport, United Kingdom
Just came back from the vets with my cute little Taffy, who was diagnosed with a hernia. She has a large pea/small marble sized lump under her bum on the inside. I noticed it a few weeks ago and it hasn't changed in size at all, and she is otherwise completely normal in herself. Has anybody heard of hernia in Guinea pigs or had any experience?

She is booked in for surgery on Wednesday, upon leaving I was instructed by the nurse to make sure not to feed Taffy from 8pm onwards the night before. Does that seem correct?

I'm really worried about the effects of the surgery, as my work isn't really understanding and if I needed to take a day off to look after her I'd get in trouble.
 
Sorry my break is nearly over but I dont think I would recommend starving her. This is likely to cause gut mobility problems/ gut stasis.

Usually I think a general anaesthetic makes people feel nausea/sick that's why no food is given but piggies have no vomit reflex so are normally fed right up to the operation &again as soon as possible afterwards. But I am no expert-please get your vet to check. @helen105281. @Elwickcavies @MerryPip

Speedy recovery to your little one xx
 
Definitely no to starving her, I had to tell my vets this too, pigs need to keep eating or their guts shut down and as @GPTV has said, they can't vomit so it is not an issue.

I have no experience of hernias in pigs but @Abi_nurse may do.
 
Hernia?

:hmm:with her having a pee sized lump, I would maby think along the lines of possibaly a surbatous syst , or a fatty lump , or even a
Hematoms (blood filed lump)
All relertivly easy for you vet to deel with i would think :hmm:

That is not to say it is not a hernia :hmm:
 
Having being on GuineaLynx and thoroughly reading all the help guides on this site I knew g-pigs couldn't regurgitate and I bought up the fact Guinea pigs needs to constantly eat to the nurse but she seemed pretty adamant not to feed from the night before, so thought it best to just double check on here that that was wrong. I have also found this link on GuineaLynx:
Guinea Lynx :: Surgery

Which basically says only a 2hr fast is necessary before surgery. I have to drop her off before work around 8am and the surgery is happening around 11am, so I'll just feed her as normal then have to hand her over without any food.

I have to admit I was a bit surprised when he said hernia, I thought he was just going to say it's a fatty lump an nothing worry about. But having been routing around on google for other piggies with hernias I have found a couple of them who have reported hernias in roughly the same place.
 
Thanks for the replies, it's given me a bit more confidence as to what to do.

Just 1 more question though, after the op should I put her back in with her cage mate or keep her separate? I couldn't find any info of this on guinealynx.
 
Hernia in this area would be unusual. Do you have a photo by any chance?

Most definitely no to starving her. Ensure she has food at all times, including the morning a fm travel to the vets.

As for after and keeping separate, I would put them back together if she is awake enough but keep an eye on them to ensure the companion isn't interfering with the wound at all. It's often a good idea to separate them for short periods of time so you can monitor eating and pooing post op.

x
 
Thanks for the reply @Abi_nurse unfortunately I don't have any pictures, the lump is on the inside and would be hard to photograph.

The surgery was moved up to today, I've just dropped her off at the vets. Luckily I put a handfull of hay in the carry case with her an told the nurse that she needs to constantly eat. So hopefully it will be alright.

She is getting picked up at 4pm by my boyfriend (he's had a huge email briefing him on what to do until i get back around 7pm!).
 
Sorry I've come late to this thread but I'd agree with all of the above!

I hope everything goes well today and as long as she is alert enough I'd pop her back in with her friend. Seperation can cause extra anxiety and sometimes they feed better when with their friends too. If mine have to stay at the vet for an op or something else then they always go with their buddy to help them stay calm and happy. Only once with a very serious illness did we have to separate.

Just keep a close eye on her when she comes home. They can be slow to get back eating after an anaesthetic so make sure you have some of her favourite bits and pieces around to tempt her and if needed check out our hand-feeding guide... Making sure they keep eating is really important. Also make sure you get some pain relief home with you (probably metacam) as unfortunately some vets seem to think that as piggies don't show pain as much as some animals that they don't feel it! But most surgery causes some pain and if there's no pain relief then recovery is slower and eating is much harder for them if they feel awful.

Good luck! x
 
So the other half has just collected her and the vet hasn't given and meds at all! He said he had an argument with the vet in the waiting room, but the vet has refused to give any saying she is fine. He told the vet he would rather have the meds an not need them than not have them and need them, but still the vet didn't budge. Needless to say I wont be going back there.

Does metacam go off? About 2 months ago Taffy had a nail come off an the young vet (at the same practice) gave us some metacam and loxicom and I still have some left. I'm at work so can't check the boxes, but I don't suppose if she needed them it'd be alright so give her some?
 
Otherwise right now, she's all good; eating, pooping and generally being happy. Coco her cage mate is also apprently being all extra sweet to her too :)
 
That's really bad. Ideally you need to agree Metacam dosing with the vet and you also need to make sure that she wasn't given any pain relief during the op. The Metacam that you have should still be in date though.
 
It's so so bad. To have an arguement with a paitent over painkillers, seems stupid. By doing so he's lost custom. It's not like we we're asking for anything crazy. But alas atleast I have some in, so in terms of pain we should be able to monitor it.
 
Guinea pigs are be hard to monitor for pain. I wouldn't give any meloxicam tonight just in case your little one has had an injection of it (which can last 24hours.) no it's most definitely not silly to have an argument about pain relief. Analgesia is proven to speed recovery and ensure piggies eat. I would make a complaint personally if you are not happy with the service.

Hope your little one makes a good recovery.

x
 
update: Taffy is doing great, she's her cheeky little self. She goes next Saturday to get stitches taken out. However after an analysis on the lump that was removed is wasn't a hernia but a benign fatty lump.
 
I'm glad it was nothing but a fatty lump, that is great news! For future reference, at least according to my vet, it's not necessary to limit food preop in a guinea pig. The reason why this is recommended for most animals (and humans) is because it decreases the risk of vomiting and aspirating the vomit under anesthesia. However, since rodents cannot vomit, vomiting and aspiration are not an anesthetic consideration. I've been given the 'no food after 8' warning by the front desk staff who are most accustomed to dogs and cats, only to have the vet call me back and tell me to keep unrestricted access to food for the guinea pigs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top