So on Sunday, I noticed a strange lump looking structure on my guinea pig's (Curly) lower back. I took him to the vet and he told me it was probably a cyst and that he would take Curly to the back and drain it. A few minutes later he came back and said that he was unable to drain it because it it was filled with more of a solid than a liquid. He looked at the small amount of material he was able to extract under a microscope and said that he didn't see any signs of it being cancerous. He guessed that it that the cyst had become infected. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that I had one of two options: either leave the lump there and monitor it and if I see any enlargement of the lump to come in and have it surgically removed, or remove it now and be done with it. The problem is that the "cyst" is already a good size and if I wait then it could become larger, leading to a much larger incision/surgery to remove it. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be bothering Curly and with surgery, there's the risk of him not handling the anesthetics well. He was born in November 2010, and the vet says there is no guarantee as to whether the cyst will get bigger or stay the same. Please give advice, I'm not sure which way to go!
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Infected Cyst...Help!
- Thread starter Curlster
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piglet_and_rogers_mama
Adult Guinea Pig
Sorry no advice 
. Just gonna take this moment to wish you luck and bump up the thread. Not sure where you're located, but since most of the members are UK based, you might need to wait a few hours for some advice to come along, since everyone's in bed!
. Just gonna take this moment to wish you luck and bump up the thread. Not sure where you're located, but since most of the members are UK based, you might need to wait a few hours for some advice to come along, since everyone's in bed!
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bumping for you
Abi_nurse
Adult Guinea Pig
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Your vet needs to send the sample (or take a fresh one) to the lab.That way you can find out if its definatly a cyst or not. That way you can know for sure. I have a sow with a marble sized cyst (sample was sent to the lab to confirm) and for now i have left it. Its not painful and not bothering her. Providing the lump is benign, then its completely up to you.There is no right or wrong answer. All i would say is that is if its causing issues/very large then have it removed. If not, i would leave it be.
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Stacey
Junior Guinea Pig
My wee Dexter has a cyst too. Its not very big and dosent seem to bother him. Its not been drained or anything either. My vet told us to leave it alone if its not bothering him but if it becomes irritated, bigger or changes in any way to take him back to get it removed.
We check him daily but if its not bothering him I'm going to leave it alone, but if it does change in any way or hurts him in anyway then i will take him to get it removed.
Dexter has had an operation before because his brother ripped his ear off, he was only about 20 weeks or something and he handle the anaesthetic fine. I sat in work crying my wee heart out and was so worried that he wouldnt handle it very well because he was so tiny but guinea pigs are tough wee guys
Thats what I'm doing with my wee guy. x
We check him daily but if its not bothering him I'm going to leave it alone, but if it does change in any way or hurts him in anyway then i will take him to get it removed.
Dexter has had an operation before because his brother ripped his ear off, he was only about 20 weeks or something and he handle the anaesthetic fine. I sat in work crying my wee heart out and was so worried that he wouldnt handle it very well because he was so tiny but guinea pigs are tough wee guys
Thats what I'm doing with my wee guy.
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