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Mammary tumor (I think)

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Laure

Laure

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone,

got a probelm.

2 days ago I took Ginger out for a little check up (she is not a cuddly pig) and found a small lump undet her right nipple. It was about the size of a marble and I am pretty sure it wasn't there before but I now feel terrible that I might have missed it before :(

Today it's still there, not changed in size but does look a bit red and angry.
She is absolutely fine within herself, running around and eating as usual which is making me think that she has a mammary tumour. It looks similar but a lot less angry/inflamed to the second pic on GL:
http://www.guinealynx.info/tumor_mammary.html

I m going to see if the vets can fit her in tomorrow. However my usual cavvy savvy vet is about 1.5 hrs away so y firt queston is does anyone know a good vet in London or north London area.

Also does anyone have any experience with having a mammary tumor removed? I am really worried about putting her through surgery


thanks in advance for your help

L
 
My Charlotte has a lump just near her right nipple. It feels hard to touch, is uncomfortable for her when I check it and doesn't move freely with the skin. Poppy has cysts on her right side and they are significantly different to the touch and not a problem, when you move the skin the move freely and are not attached to the underneath tissue. Charlottes lump is suspected to be a mammary tumour and she is going in next Thursday to have it removed.

Sarah from Chucklebunnies has 4/5? year old pig who had a mammary tumour removed. She had a bit of trouble with after care as Columbine kept making it worse for herself but it healed up fine.

On the other hand I have just lost a pig due to her bad reaction to anaesthetic but a lumpectomy (sp) is a much less invasive surgery than what Rosie had so the time under anaesthetic is shorter. I have high hopes for Charlotte as the surgery is quicker, less invasive and she is quite fit and young.
 
Hi there,

Thanks very much for the reply.

How long did you have to wait for the surgery? I am going to give the vet a call tomorrow bu I am due to go away this weekend (piggy sitters are booked) but obviously if she is likely to have surgery tomorrow I will need to cancel my plans for the weekend - not a problem .

She seems absolutely fine within herself - eating, running around etc.. I am wondering if the op could wait for a few days so that I can book a few days of work? Would be better if I can be at home during the day to look after her post op in cse she need serynge feeding etc...
Obviously I don't want to wait if it means she is going to deteriorate.

such a dilema
 
Hi there,

Thanks very much for the reply.

How long did you have to wait for the surgery? I am going to give the vet a call tomorrow bu I am due to go away this weekend (piggy sitters are booked) but obviously if she is likely to have surgery tomorrow I will need to cancel my plans for the weekend - not a problem .

She seems absolutely fine within herself - eating, running around etc.. I am wondering if the op could wait for a few days so that I can book a few days of work? Would be better if I can be at home during the day to look after her post op in cse she need serynge feeding etc...
Obviously I don't want to wait if it means she is going to deteriorate.

such a dilema
 
It is unlikely that the vet will do the op right away. You will have to go in and see if the the vet thinks it is a tumour and then get booked in for the op in a week or two depending on how busy the vet is. Rosie and Charlotte went in for the appointment together but I wanted to wait until one was sorted before the other had an op as neither were currently life threatening. When Rosie died it took me a couple of weeks to get the courage to book Charlotte in. I am now going to wait till she is better before looking for a hutch mate for Rosies friends. One guinea pig at a time.

Charlotte could have had her op today but I was planning to be out a lot this weekend and didn't want her to have difficulties when I was not there.
 
Thanks I will call the vet in the morning and see what she says. I guess as long as ginger is Ok (which she is) then I could probabl wai until next week to get her seen? When I get back. Same as you I want to be around.

Though having re-red through the forum I have seen a few people advocating leaving mammary tumors alone unless they get too large and become painful. so a bit confused still..

Thanks for the adice, I hope Charlotte's op goes well.

L
 
Thanks
As far as I am aware the best option is to have it removed fairly soon. Charlottes lump is still very small and I am glad I found it early. A week of two is no big deal but the big problem with the idea of leaving it is not that it will become sore but that if it is malignant cancer it can spread round the body if ignored for a long time. They can stay small for a while but the bigger they get the faster they seem to grow. Sarahs pig Columbine had one the size of a large pea/small marble (I think) when it was found and in a month or so it was filling the whole inside of her back leg. I saw it just before she had it removed and it was quite big. The one I found on Charlotte is very small, the size of a little frozen pea, but it has grown a little in the last few weeks.

I hope everything goes ok for you. Is she able to be seen before you go away?
 
Mammary tumours should always be checked by a vet and not left alone as they are one of the guinea pig "lumps" that could possibly be malignant..adenocarcinoma......as opposed to some of the harmless fatty lumps (lipoma) which are quite common in piggies......therefore the longer it is left, the more chance of it spreading to other areas of the body.

If it is not increasing in size then a few days shouldn;t matter either way.

Ginger (male) had a large mammary tumour removed that had grown very quickly (and I mean within days it became the size of a quails egg) and had a nipple removed in the process..he had some difficulties with the wound healing because he was a very naughty boy and kept ripping open his stitches......however not all guinea pigs are such bad patients!

He is absolutely fine now and missing being fussed over by all the vet nurses......

HTH
x
 
I don't know. I am going to call the vet this morning and see what she says. Problem is hat she is about 1.5 half our away and I am working today.

She is a great piggy vet but I just haven't been able to find one in London (if anyone knows one pse could you let me know). I think sh works part time too so not sure if she works weekends.

I am due to leave tonight so I guees if she can fit me in tomorrow will have to cancel - no other option really.

Thanks fo your advise

L
 
Ok I have an appointement with a vet booked at 5.30 tonight.
Unfortunately the lady vet I normally see in Surrey only works Mon, Tue, Wed so Ihave have been looking around for another specialist vet. None of them could get me an appointement today or tomorrow :( so I have booked with these guys (one of the other vets recommended them as specialists). It's still 1.5 hrs away from where I leave but obviously I am willing to travel forthe right vet.

http://www.exoticvets.net/

Has anyone used these or hear about them? As she *** most likely need surgery I am very worried about letting the wrong vet do it!

Thanks

L
 
Sorry for all the posts but I am kind of desparate here - not sure what to do.
Just had another check on Ginger and it is looking less red and angry than it did last night. She 's absolutely fine, running around etc. I have just given her some spinnach which she absolutely woofed down. I gave the lump and little squeeze (it's about the size of a hazelnut) and she didn't even flinch so I really do not think it's bothering her in any way at the moment. There is no discharge or anyhing either.

Now I am thinking whether or not I should wait until next week when she can see a vet that I know and trust (she was Peter Gurney's vet and is brilliant) or go to this other vet I have found. It' s such a dilema as if I wait and she suffers I will never forget myself but at the same time I know how dangerous innexperienced vets can be.

What does everyone think?
Any advise most welcome please!

Lxx
 
Looks like you;ve found a well qualified exotics specialist from their web site so i would go to the appointment you;ve booked.

The first thing the vet will probably do is a needle aspiration to see if the lump is an abcess a cyst or something else. If they think it is a problem and surgery is needed they will determine whether the surgery can wait a few days. If it can;t, they will always be prepared to board your piggie while you are away.

However this could just be a cyst - and a few days delay is not anything to worry about. The most important thing is that your piggie is active and eating well and you are getting it checked by a vet now rather than waiting a month or two.

Let us know how you get on.

HTH
xx
 
Thanks for the advise Pebble. I will do that. I will cancel my trip (was soposed to travel tonight) and will play it by ear. If the vet decide to opperate and they can board her for the weekend, would you recommend that? I have never left pig at the vets so wondering how well they cope being away from home of if I should brieg her home to look after her myself?

Thanks

Lx
 
Quick update, I am on the way back from the vets. It is indeed a mammary tumor. The vet said she needs her boob removed - massectomy (sp)
:(

He didn't take a sample with a needle but felt it for a long while and sqeezed it (no discharge) and said it was solid lump so not an abses but definitely a tumor. He also said I did well to catch it so early.

Anyway, because they don't do surgery at the weekend and I have travelled a long way they are going to keep her in until they do the op on Monday.
He said she is a very chilled piggy so he doesn't think she will get too stressed staying there which made me feel a little better about leaving her.
I have chosen to pay to have the lump analysed so that we know if it is benign or not - the whole thing is costing me a little fortune but he did seem to know what he was doing and she is obviously worth it.

Please keep your fingers crossed for our (not so) little Ginger.

Xx
 
hi everyone. I hope you all are well. A few months ago I had lost one of my piggies due a few complications. Now her cagemate is ill. I found a few lumps near her nipple area and her stomach. I used to show the vet in Basingstoke but I moved to London and having trouble finding a good guinea pig vet. The Basingstoke vet said it could be hernia or enlarged lymph nodes but when i took her to the pets at home vets ( which is the regular now at the moment as we have moved to london), they said it is a mammory tumor. There's about 4 lumps. So a need aspiration was done yesterday and was waiting for the results. The vet has guinea pigs himself so i feel a bit better to show him as I think if the vets have guinea pigs themselves then they have a better understanding about them? He said that if the results do come back cancerous, then choco will have to have both her nipples removed and her lumps so its a major operation. I couldnt bear the thought of losing her due to the anasthesia but I'm in such a dilema at the momment. I'm worrying constantly because I dont want her to have cancer, and if she does I dont want her to have a major operation and then not survive through it. Please an anyone help me with this about what they would do in this situation and if they have had any experience of removing mammory tumors and chances of survival. Also does anyone know of a good guinea pig vet that I could do the operation with or is it best to stick with the guy at pets at home? I currently live in the Isleworth area, next to Brentford. Please message me asap. Thank you x
 
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