Hyperthyroidism In Guinea Pigs

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

We are sending off a blood sample from one of our TEAS piggies, who is showing possible signs of hyperthyroidism. She also has a nodule in her neck area.

I am just after as much info as possible, with regard to other piggies who have had positive diagnoisis of hyperthyroidism and how it was diagnosed, the treatment given and the outcome.

 

[VickiA]

@BertisKing had a piggy who underwent surgery.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Simon was saying removing the thyroid shouldn't be difficult, but for now we will see what the results show. He said he spoke to the lab recently about hyperthyroidism in guinea pigs and they said they had never had a positive result and they are the lab that lots of the exotic vets use.

 

[BertisKing]

I saw this on Facebook and was going to post but @VickiA tagged me here before I had a chance!
Humphrey had a growth on his thyroid that was causing over production of the hormone so he had the lump and half his thyroid removed and he has bounced back to a phenomenal degree.
He has always been small and skinny, very warm to the touch, very fast, sort of quivery but suddenly his weight more than halved to less than 400g in a week. The vet found the lump by chance- just catching it on an xray and confirming it on USS. We tried to get his weight up to help his chances but in the end we had to just go for it, as his weight continued to plummet.
He's now a very healthy fat piggy- weighs more than he ever has and has also calmed down some. He also doesn't need any medication as his thyroid has compensated.
Hope Sweetpea feels better soon!

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Thank you, that is really interesting. The fact that you say that Humphrey lost weight so quickly is exactly how it has happened with Sweetpea. I had started to feel that I must've missed something as I had been concentrating on her cagemate, Josie, who we lost last week to Lymphoma. However, I looked back at a video I had taken of Josie with her cagemates and you can see that Sweetpea has lost a huge amount of weight since then. I will keep you posted. xx

 

[pig in the city]

I have experience of two piggies with thyroid problems. Both had the thyroid nodule removed (one was malignant) and both did well without medication.
My understanding is that blood tests for thyroid disease are difficult to interpret in small furries.
Fingers crossed for your piggy x

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Sweetpea's blood test results came back showing an elevated thyroid level. She has tonight started taking the drug Thyronorm. This is an oral solution for treating hyperthyroidism in cats. She seems to love the taste, so that is a good start

:-) Will keep you all posted!

 

[VickiA]

Let’s hope it helps Sweetpea’s symptoms & she gains weight again. Please let us know how she gets on.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Let’s hope it helps Sweetpea’s symptoms & she gains weight again. Please let us know how she gets on.

I will definitely keep you all posted. I am logging her weight each morning and evening and noting any changes in her behaviour.

 

[VickiA]

Must have been like being high on caffeine for her charging around the cage.