Is lymphoma hereditary in guinea pigs?

[Claire W]

This isn’t me wanting to know this but someone on Facebook who knows I have lost piggies to this awful illness has just lost one of hers. Sadly, she didn’t realise until the pig was on deaths door and her vet sounds pretty useless and has over charged her for carrying out tests that wasn’t needed just to pts the piggy anyway.

Anyway, this person has the son and daughter of the piggy that has just died and she’s asking me if lymphoma is hereditary in guinea pigs as she’s very concerned and wants to be prepared if that’s the case. I sadly don’t know the answer. Does anybody here?

 

[Wiebke]

This isn’t me wanting to know this but someone on Facebook who knows I have lost piggies to this awful illness has just lost one of hers. Sadly, she didn’t realise until the pig was on deaths door and her vet sounds pretty useless and has over charged her for carrying out tests that wasn’t needed just to pts the piggy anyway.

Anyway, this person has the son and daughter of the piggy that has just died and she’s asking me if lymphoma is hereditary in guinea pigs as she’s very concerned and wants to be prepared if that’s the case. I sadly don’t know the answer. Does anybody here?

No, I am not aware that lymphoma is hereditary or can be transmitted/is infectious. We do not yet know exactly what is causing it. Please keep in mind that only 10 or even 6 years ago nobody had yet heard of lymphoma in guinea pigs.

But I would strongly urge that person to find a better vet if at all possible.

 

[Claire W]

No, I am not aware that lymphoma is hereditary or can be transmitted/is infectious. We do not yet know exactly what is causing it. Please keep in mind that only 10 or even 6 years ago nobody had yet heard of lymphoma in guinea pigs.

But I would strongly urge that person to find a better vet if at all possible.

Thank you so much. I will tell her as she’s going out of her mind with worry and advise to find another vet! Rather than examine the piggy who was clearly very poorly, the vet jumped straight in with an X-ray which revealed the swallon lymph nodes and injected the piggy with a cocktail of drugs just to pts. I paid nowhere near that with my cat although he didn’t have the X-ray. Now this distraught lady has a £220 vet bill to pay on top of losing her piggy in a horrible way

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much. I will tell her as she’s going out of her mind with worry and advise to find another vet! Rather than examine the piggy who was clearly very poorly, the vet jumped straight in with an X-ray which revealed the swallon lymph nodes and injected the piggy with a cocktail of drugs just to pts. I paid nowhere near that with my cat although he didn’t have the X-ray. Now this distraught lady has a £220 vet bill to pay on top of losing her piggy in a horrible way

£220 for an x-ray and pts? That is ridiculous indeed!
Recommended UK vets: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Recommended vets in some other countries: Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

 

[Bill & Ted]

Maybe we should have an un-recommended vets list too! That’s awful.

 

[Claire W]

£220 for an x-ray and pts? That is ridiculous indeed!
Recommended UK vets: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Recommended vets in some other countries: Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

Yes, that’s what I thought My vet charges £60 for an X-ray and that’s often by two angles. If she can’t do it contious, she will only give a whiff of gas but it sounds like this piggy was given a full GA even though she was already weak My vet is even reluctant to do xrays on guinea pigs to save them the stress unless it’s absolutely necessary. The lymph nodes were obviously inflamed so it worries me that the vet didn’t pick up on this upon examination although it sounds like she didn’t even bother with a proper examination. My vets only charge £16 for pts of a piggy. Not sure about larger animals as I haven’t been through it.

Anyway, I have advised the owner as best as I could but she says she is definitely changing vets! x

 

[Wiebke]

Maybe we should have an un-recommended vets list too! That’s awful.

Sorry, but as a public area we are legally liable to defamation suits. That is why you can complain and moan about bad vets, high bills and neglect keepers, pet shop practices and sub-standard rescues etc. on here, but you are not allowed any concrete naming and shaming. If you do, your posts will be pulled. Anybody who so, is making themselves also vulnerable to prosecution. This also and specifically applies to any blacklists!

 

[Claire W]

Sorry, but as a public area we are legally liable to defamation suits. That is why you can complain and moan about bad vets, high bills and neglect keepers, pet shop practices and sub-standard rescues etc. on here, but you are not allowed any concrete naming and shaming. If you do, your posts will be pulled.

I wish we could name and shame There was an article in the local paper about a vet at my local practice a good few years ago who dropped a rabbit during an operation which resulted in a broken back. She didn’t even bother to inform the owners until they realised something was wrong and the poor rabbit had to be pts. Thankfully that vet never had anything to do with mine and was sacked shortly after the rabbit incident but it gave my vets a bad name for a while Thankfully my vets have their good reputation back now

 

[Swissgreys]

That is outrageous - your poor friend.
Not only is she dealing with e loss of her piggy, but also a huge vets bill.

When Oreo was diagnosed with lymphoma the vet did it based solely on a physical exam and her sudden unexplained wight loss.
She did offer us the option of a needle aspiration of one of the lumps (she had 4 enlarged lymph nodes), but said it wouldn't really change anything, so we opted not to put Oreo through it.
She prescribed a couple of basic meds and some high calorie food and sent us home.
A week later we returned ot have Oreo put to sleep, and in total the whole thing (at an expensive, Swiss vet) cost less than what your friend paid.

We did ask about the causes of lymphoma, but the vet said very little is know in guinea pigs becasue in most cases it is simply not possible to trace the family line of affected piggies.
Plus given the way Oreo deteriorated so rapidly, I think many piggies will simply die before they ever even see a vet and receive a diagnosis/treatment.
Our vet who is a specialist and has a lot of interest in guinea pigs, did say she thinks it is highly unlikely to be hereditary though.

 

[Claire W]

That is outrageous - your poor friend.
Not only is she dealing with e loss of her piggy, but also a huge vets bill.

When Oreo was diagnosed with lymphoma the vet did it based solely on a physical exam and her sudden unexplained wight loss.
She did offer us the option of a needle aspiration of one of the lumps (she had 4 enlarged lymph nodes), but said it wouldn't really change anything, so we opted not to put Oreo through it.
She prescribed a couple of basic meds and some high calorie food and sent us home.
A week later we returned ot have Oreo put to sleep, and in total the whole thing (at an expensive, Swiss vet) cost less than what your friend paid.

We did ask about the causes of lymphoma, but the vet said very little is know in guinea pigs becasue in most cases it is simply not possible to trace the family line of affected piggies.
Plus given the way Oreo deteriorated so rapidly, I think many piggies will simply die before they ever even see a vet and receive a diagnosis/treatment.
Our vet who is a specialist and has a lot of interest in guinea pigs, did say she thinks it is highly unlikely to be hereditary though.

It is awful isn't it. When Erika was diagnosed, she had 3 swallon lymph nodes. Deep down we new it was lymphoma and so did my vet but due to my anxiety, I had to know for sure. But she would never have taken xrays etc to a dying piggy

 

[pig in the city]

I wish we could name and shame There was an article in the local paper about a vet at my local practice a good few years ago who dropped a rabbit during an operation which resulted in a broken back. She didn’t even bother to inform the owners until they realised something was wrong and the poor rabbit had to be pts. Thankfully that vet never had anything to do with mine and was sacked shortly after the rabbit incident but it gave my vets a bad name for a while Thankfully my vets have their good reputation back now

She could write a letter to the practice manager and threaten to report them to the Royal veterinary college. It probably wouldn't come to anything but it will shake the vet up a bit. Other people may have complained. Overcharging is frowned upon.

 

[DMS260820]

My old boar died from lymphona. At 7 years old , he lasted roughly 6 weeks from diagnosis.

 

[Sophie B]

That’s a shame, if she needs any help it support you could always recommend the forum?

 

[Claire W]

Yes, this was on a group on fb. I hate when vets take advantage. I’ll mention her threatening the vet to the Royal veterinary college @pig in the city shes still distraught from the treatment given. My vet told me that the naughty vet at my practice was struck off from practising after she was reported.

We had to have Ena pts one the day she was diagnosed with lymphoma and Erika had to be pts two weeks past diagnosed. It’s an awful illness @Skypipdot