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Jack's got a lump

baleofhay

baleofhay

Junior Guinea Pig
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Oh man, now that Russell is healed and going awesomely, it's time for the next crisis. Vet consults still over phone for covid btw.

Jack, my 1-2 year old neutered boar, was losing fur and very itchy, suspected mites, took to vet and confirmed mites. All pigs thus treated. While we were there the vet discovered a lump under his left elbow. Wut? Vet made it seem like a tiny thing, so we thought maybe just doing biopsy, but as more info came we've decided to outright remove it. When I got him back and found the lump holy crap is big. How I missed it I dunno? No way it was there at last nail clip with how I hold the pigs. It is fast growing and firm, so might not just be a cyst. I'm a bit worried. Tuesday he will have it done.

Jack had a terrible infection after his neutering earlier this year. I had to irrigate his stitches out with saline to try and give him any extra help I could. He'd cry and try to bite me. He's never really trusted me like he did pre neuter. He is very sensitive, so the decision to remove it was quite difficult, but if it grows bigger his walking will be impeded. With this knowledge tho, he will go on strong meds from the get go to hopefully knock any infection out.

Right now he's running around with his sow happy as a pig can be. At least mites are gone. Where THEY came from I don't know either.
 
Aw poor Jack, 🤞 for the operation, I hope it goes really well for him. Any op is always such a difficult decision, my Ginger had a cyst on her hip that seemed to appear from nowhere, we had the option to leave it but the larger they grow the less skin there is to cover the wound so we decided to crack on the get it done.
Try not to worry too much, I think you have made the right decision to get it done now before it impacts him further x
 
Poor Ginger. My Owen had a big one on his butt. Couldn't believe the size of it when they showed me post op. It was half the size of his butt! Owen didn't care one iota. It had to come out, and this too.

And then of course we gotta wait a bit to find out if its malignant. Better out asap. Better to not worry, just hard not to.
 
Hope everything goes well.
It sounds as if you’re really on the ball so caught it quickly.
 
Well done for getting it sorted sooner. Hopefully it will turn out to be benign.
 
Aw bless him :( My Edward is covered in lumps, his most recent one is marble sized and appeared on his neck. Thankfully it's just a fatty lump like the rest of his lumps and as none of them are affecting him in anyway' we've just left them but he is nearly 6. It sounds like you have found Jacks lump early. All the best for his op and fingers crossed it's just a fatty lump or harmless cyst x
 
Claire W said:
Aw bless him :( My Edward is covered in lumps, his most recent one is marble sized and appeared on his neck. Thankfully it's just a fatty lump like the rest of his lumps and as none of them are affecting him in anyway' we've just left them but he is nearly 6. It sounds like you have found Jacks lump early. All the best for his op and fingers crossed it's just a fatty lump or harmless cyst x
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Aww poor Edward. Glad you are aware what they are composed of. Yeah at his age, not the best to remove unless have to. Hope Jack's is just fatty or cyst.

Channeling all your positive energy into it to ensure is harmless.
 
Hi Guys. Jack is home. He had a successful op yesterday and the lump was removed. He stayed over night and came home with me this arvo. Due to me working and the vet being busy, unfortunately I have not managed to speak with them directly, only had messages passed thru reception/nurses. They of course are a great help, but can't tell me everything I'd like to know. I've got a followup booked for next week anyhow.

Jack is a bit quiet and dopey. I was told his appetite was not the best and am well equipped to CC. But he eagerly ate grass and some select veggies. Enough that I am not panicking about CCing him right now. As his wife is full on and boisterous, I have decided to keep him by himself for at least the night, I want to know exactly his intakes and poos. Poo so far looks normal. I wouldn't keep him by himself any longer than I think I need to.

I have attached a picture of the stitches, which seem to be full on staples. Due to me being unable to reach the actual vet, I am unsure why this and not just stitches. This is just behind his left forelimb. The sample has been sent off to lab and will unfortunately take a couple weeks to get back.

He is on tramadol and moloxican.
 

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Staples could well be due to the location. If it’s a moving part then there is a lot of tension and so staples might have been a better option.
 
That's a good point as it's a leg right there. What I don't know is if they fall out themselves or vet will remove them. They obviously won't dissolve as are metal.
 
baleofhay said:
That's a good point as it's a leg right there. What I don't know is if they fall out themselves or vet will remove them. They obviously won't dissolve as are metal.
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My sister had to have staples and I went with her to get them removed. They use something that looks like a normal staple remover. Very quick and easy. 😃

Do you have a follow up appointment or call? I’d mention it then. Hope he continues to improve. 👍🏻
 
weepweeps said:
My sister had to have staples and I went with her to get them removed. They use something that looks like a normal staple remover. Very quick and easy. 😃

Do you have a follow up appointment or call? I’d mention it then. Hope he continues to improve. 👍🏻
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Follow up this Tuesday :) And hope your sister is going better!
 
Jack went for his post op check today. Had staples removed. All healing really well, my initial fears of infection unfounded this time. Picture included. They described him as not missing a step in his recovery, which I can concur, as he bloody well can't help himself popcorning. He's really quite a happy boy when he feels well. I bought them a new tunnel and him and his wife love to parade around it, through it and of course eat it!

Now, I got to speak to one of the vet staff who did the surgery and she was able to tell me a bit about the mass. We don't have path results yet, still another week or so. It was apparently quite a yucky thing. Not just a cyst or lypoma. It is some kind of tumour. We don't know if benign or malignant yet. It was attached to the muscle layer lining his ribs. She described it as quite vascular, but discreet, meaning came out in one lump. There wasn't any tendrils going into surrounding tissue that they saw.

They gave me a lesson in identifying his lymph nodes as I need to now monitor them closely. I think this will just become a standard check for all during nail clipping. Also keeping an eye on his eating. With that kind of advice, I think she's all but telling me to expect it is cancer but is waiting for the path results to be conclusive. I'm just now hoping they got good margins on it and it didn't spread. She also suggested that the mites and possible cancer are connected, which would explain the hairloss, which is pretty much fully grown again.

With Jack only about 2, the idea of losing him is devastating, especially for all we've been through together. His brother and first cagemate, who remained with his original owners, died unexpectedly a couple months ago.

Trying not to get too far ahead of myself, at the moment he's eating with his girl and he popcorned and romped when I cleaned his cage this morning. He obviously feels okay. He's a special boy and I love him.
 

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So glad that he is recovering well!

Please don't fixate on him being young and any maybe's that may or may not come to pass.
What I do in comparable situations is turning back the life clock to zero and cherish every single day more with a piggy that has had a narrow escape. That way, I can only win because I have filled the time together with positive content and have not wasted it all on my own fears.

My Hywel, who nearly died from more unusual neutering post-op complications, managed to pack in 5 1/2 years of a very impressive boar career with up to 13 sows and died shortly before his 7th birthday. Had the band of swelling at the back of the area that caused painful gut adhesion contracted upwards against the gut instead of downwards away from it, it would have been a very different story. We didn't know for several months whether his recovery would be permanent or not.
I have piggies I only had for a few weeks or a year but they still make me smile with their happiness and enjoyment of their life in my home. In 2012 I adopted a 5 years old widower stuck in rescue, who packed so much fun into his time with my old ladies that it seemed like life time and not just a year when he died. I always have a silly grin on my face whenever I think of Bryn Oscar (the name deaf) and his antics even now all those years later!

Guinea pigs don't have a concept for longevity; they measure their lives in happy todays. As long as you focus on filling the time with a piggy with positive content, you are giving your piggies what they are looking for and are not failing them in any way. And you create lots of precious memories for yourself to warm your soul with for years to come. The rest is out of our hands anyway.
 
I’m pleased he’s healing so well. He’s gorgeous. I’m sure he’s got lots more amazing todays ahead of him. 😍
 
@Wiebke you have said some really wise words. I know I tend to fixate on the worst possible outcome which isn't the healthiest. Jack will absolutely be showered in attention and love and treats for being the wonderful boy that he is, whether years or months. He's got his sow whom he very much enjoys being around, if all the rumblestrutting is anything to go by lol. Your Hywel and Bryn Oscar were lucky boys to have you to help them and give them sows lol. You do good by taking those older guys in.
 
I have got the best news possible on the lump!

It is a congenital vascular hamartoma. Benign and not spreading. Complete mass, clear margins. Apparently been on him since a baby and just grew now. It is unlikely to come back and likely would've burst the longer it stayed, so important we got it out when we did. The vet I spoke to had never seen one on a piggie before! So Jack is back down to defcon 5 and should live happily ever after.

In the meantime, Sylvie has started to bleed from her vulva. She did a wee at the vet which was clear, so unlikely to be UTI. Gonna have ultrasound to look at her bits. She isn't spayed as I got her to be newly nurtured Jack's mate. Since Jack nearly died from his neutering, I was a little too traumatised to get her done at the time. Will get her done if that's what vet advises.

This has been a tough year with the guinea pigs, but I've won pretty much every battle.
 
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