Munchie has lumps...

[ghostbusterbunny]

I've just done my daily check of my pigs and I've found two lumps on Munchie; one on the side of her neck, and one underneath her chin. I didn't do the check yesterday as my dad did the feed. They weren't there on Saturday, or if they were they were so small I didn't feel them.

I'm going to get her into the vet as soon as I can (hopefully tomorrow), but I want an idea of what it is I'm dealing with... I've never had a pig with lumps before. I thought they could be abcesses if Malteaser has got her (I've noticed a bit of nipping on her part, but nothing in your face aggressive) and a scratch has got infected, but they feel very hard and they sorta feel attatched to her neck...

What could we be dealing with here?

God I'm worried sick. I hope it's nothing sinister... :...

 

[Wiebke]

Thankfully, most lumps are not malign, but it is difficult to give a diagnosis over the internet without getting a look and feel of the lump. Good that you have already booked a vet! It could be a sebaceaous cyst, for instance.

Here is more about "lumps": http://www.guinealynx.info/lumps.html

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

I hope it's nothing serious!

Neither of them hurt her, I've had a good prod and feel of them. They're just quite hard the touch...

There are two little scratches by them, probably where Teaser has nipped her, but they aren't serious bites and as far as I can tell, despite the scratches being there, the lumps aren't connected to the cuts, they're under the skin and feel attatched deeper down, though they do feel a bit loose.

She's not booked in yet, I only found them an hour ago, but first thing tomorrow we'll see if we can get her in for the afternoon.

 

[Freela]

There are lots of potential causes of lumps... sometimes lumps in the neck are from cervical lymphadenitis (basically abscesses of the lymph nodes in the neck.) It's good that she's being checked out, that should give you some better information. Hope she makes a quick recovery!

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

Got her booked in for tomorrow evening, unfortunately they didn't have a spot for us today. Lumps still feel the same, not grown. If anything they feel slightly smaller... I hope it's just an infection, reading the link Wiebke posted and looking at threads here, it does feel like it could be her lymph nodes in her neck or something, like Freela said... I hope that's not too serious!

Hopefully I'll know more tomorrow evening!

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

Update: Munchie is fine! Took her to a vets that I swore I'd never ever go to again (after my rabbit died after anaesthetic... long story). The vet however was absolutely lovely and was very helpful. We're on the baytril and an anti-inflammatory to see if the lumps will disappear. If they don't then it's up to us to decide what to do. We can either monitor them and if they don't grow, leave her be. If they grow then we can pay for a sample to be sent to the lab for testing or we can save the money on that and just book her in to get the lumps removed.

She's very very healthy aside form the lumps, and the vet is happy that the lumps are neither painful to her or impairing her health/ability to eat. Time will tell us what the end result of this is going to be. I'm just happy that it's nothing for me to worry about and she's still a chirpy little girl.

 

[Pebble]

I have had piggies with lymphomas, lipomas, cysts and also CLA (cervical lymphadenitis - and this is what I immediately thought of when I saw your post in view of the location of the lumps).

CLA lumps can come out of nowhere..suddenly grow ..(and occasionally explode in pistachio coloured gunk >>>which is how i first discovered the delights of CLA....LOL. CLA is infectious as it is caused by a bacterium.. another 3 of my pigs got it too at the same time....)

Personally as far as piggie lumps are concerned, I always now opt for a needle aspirate of the lumps straight away, (my vet takes a sample and analyses it under the microcope while I wait) ....because then you know what you;re dealing with, get the right treatment and can relax.

If it is a benign lipoma/cyst you just need to monitor the size. Because of where they are (ie neck) I would be vigilant about any change in size. The bigger they get...and the more risk of impinging on her airway or oesophagus (food tube).....then the more chance she will need surgery to remove it.

If it turns out to be an infection then the sooner it is dealt with the better.
The good thing is that you have antibiotics so if the lump goes down that's great...but make sure you complete the course...and that the lump has COMPLETELY disappeared. Baytril is normally OK for killing the bugs that cause CLA and most of my pigs got rid of theirs with baytril - (However, for info: Beechie needed two ops to successfully get rid of it - his neck area recovered well but it then lodged in his cheek/mouth...we also had to resort to long acting tetracycline with him before he finally got the all clear)


Bottom line is: If it doesn;t go down with the baytril then it really is best to do a needle aspirate first to find out what you;re dealing with before the vet makes a decison about attempting to remove it....(unless of course by that time it has grown significantly and is impinging on your piggies wellbeing)

HTH


x

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

I have had piggies with lymphomas, lipomas, cysts and also CLA (cervical lymphadenitis - and this is what I immediately thought of when I saw your post in view of the location of the lumps).

CLA lumps can come out of nowhere..suddenly grow ..(and occasionally explode in pistachio coloured gunk >>>which is how i first discovered the delights of CLA....LOL. CLA is infectious as it is caused by a bacterium.. another 3 of my pigs got it too at the same time....)

Personally as far as piggie lumps are concerned, I always now opt for a needle aspirate of the lumps straight away, (my vet takes a sample and analyses it under the microcope while I wait) ....because then you know what you;re dealing with, get the right treatment and can relax.

If it is a benign lipoma/cyst you just need to monitor the size. Because of where they are (ie neck) I would be vigilant about any change in size. The bigger they get...and the more risk of impinging on her airway or oesophagus (food tube).....then the more chance she will need surgery to remove it.

If it turns out to be an infection then the sooner it is dealt with the better.
The good thing is that you have antibiotics so if the lump goes down that's great...but make sure you complete the course...and that the lump has COMPLETELY disappeared. Baytril is normally OK for killing the bugs that cause CLA and most of my pigs got rid of theirs with baytril - (However, for info: Beechie needed two ops to successfully get rid of it - his neck area recovered well but it then lodged in his cheek/mouth...we also had to resort to long acting tetracycline with him before he finally got the all clear)


Bottom line is: If it doesn;t go down with the baytril then it really is best to do a needle aspirate first to find out what you;re dealing with before the vet makes a decison about attempting to remove it....(unless of course by that time it has grown significantly and is impinging on your piggies wellbeing)

HTH


x

If a needle aspirate is what I think it is, she tried that while we were there. She just got a teeny (and I mean seriously small) amount of red fluid out which was more likely to be blood from piercing her skin than what was in the lump. She didn't look at it under a microscope, but she said that it is likely to be an abcess or a benign lump. Hopefully the baytril will sort her out though! If not then we're just going to monitor her and take her back if necessary. Whatever it is isn't hurting her one bit, she didn't even flinch when the vet tried to squeeze it to see if anything came out after the needle thing.

 

[Pebble]

From my experience with my own vet (having had many aspirates done for my many pigs).....it seems far easier to get recognisable "gunk" out of an abcess than it is to get any type of sample out of a cyst or lipoma...

So, providing your vet got the "trajectory" right, the fact that she ony got a small amount of "blood-tinged serous fluid" would indicate it is not an infection abcess but more probably a lipoma or cyst.

HOWEVER..My vet will always give me a definitive answer on whether it is an abcess or something else....(and, luckily, for the most part, most of my lumps are lipomas or cysts). What's concerning me is the fact your vet still said it "could" be an abcess or it "could" be a cyst/lipoma.....

......... (which "could" mean she wasn;t necessarily completely confident about her technique/success on this particular occasion and is hedging her bets).

Vets are human beings just like us..they have good days and bad days...and good procedures and ones that don;t quite go so well...so I'm not saying she doesn;t know what she's doing...I'm just pointing out to you that on this occasion the needle aspirate might not have been as successful as your vet might have planned in order to give you a definitive result.

At the end of the day as far as your piggie is concerned, your vet has prescribed her antibiotics so all bases are covered at this time........

..see how it goes and if you have any further questions/concerns then I'm happy if you want to PM me for my phone number for a chat.

x

 

[Deb H]

Literally just got back from getting lumps checked on my piggies. One has a cyst which just needs monitoring (on his rump) and the other piggie has some fatty lumps.

the vet aspirated each lump - poor Barbra she had four lumps 8... she was not a happy piggie