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My Guinea Pig Has A Lump

TaraS-D

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
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Location
Oxfordshire
As i was recently just chilling with my guinea pig i noticed she had two hard lumps on her chest and on her neck (i feel bad because I'm not sure how long she has had them!). She is about 5 years old (so an old guinea pig) She eats well and poops normally but she has started to look a bit more tired than usual.i was wondering if you have any tips or suggestions on what this could be!

(also we have a vet appointment tomorrow)


Thanks for reading!
 
As i was recently just chilling with my guinea pig i noticed she had two hard lumps on her chest and on her neck (i feel bad because I'm not sure how long she has had them!). She is about 5 years old (so an old guinea pig) She eats well and poops normally but she has started to look a bit more tired than usual.i was wondering if you have any tips or suggestions on what this could be!

(also we have a vet appointment tomorrow)


Thanks for reading!

Hi!

I am very sorry. Unfortunately there is quite a range of lumps, so we cannot tell you anything else than what you are already doing - having them vet checked because they need a hands-on examination.
They can range from perfectly harmless fatty lipomas (which can come up in clusters and grow quickly to quite a large size) to benign or malign cancer at the very worst. Lumps are much more common in older piggies.

Lumps can come up very quickly to quite a size, so I very much doubt that they have been there for very long. It just throws any good owner when they suddenly discover a sizeable lump or a number of them! Don't feel bad; you haven't done anything wrong and you are doing exactly the right thing that any good owner should do. Your are not failing your bloved piggy! ;)
 
Hi!

I am very sorry. Unfortunately there is quite a range of lumps, so we cannot tell you anything else than what you are already doing - having them vet checked because they need a hands-on examination.
They can range from perfectly harmless fatty lipomas (which can come up in clusters and grow quickly to quite a large size) to benign or malign cancer at the very worst. Lumps are much more common in older piggies.

Lumps can come up very quickly to quite a size, so I very much doubt that they have been there for very long. It just throws any good owner when they suddenly discover a sizeable lump or a number of them! Don't feel bad; you haven't done anything wrong and you are doing exactly the right thing that any good owner should do. Your are not failing your bloved piggy! ;)

I appreciate your response! Is there anyway i can give further information to recieve a clearer answer? such as its diet or living conditions? Or maybe things about her cage? If any of these will help get a clearer view on this lump please let me know!
 
I appreciate your response! Is there anyway i can give further information to recieve a clearer answer? such as its diet or living conditions? Or maybe things about her cage? If any of these will help get a clearer view on this lump please let me know!
Are they visible through a photo? If so, feel free to post one.
 
There doesn't seem to be diet or environmental factors that necessarily cause these lumps. All my piggies have had the same diet and environment but only one was plagued with lumps. My late Peter had a range of harmless fatty lumps and quite a sizeable sebeacous cyst on his back which was hard. It's easy to diagnose cysts from a needle prick and most of the time they can be left alone as long as they aren't causing pain, getting in the way of moving freely or they burst.
 
I appreciate your response! Is there anyway i can give further information to recieve a clearer answer? such as its diet or living conditions? Or maybe things about her cage? If any of these will help get a clearer view on this lump please let me know!

Generally, lumps that sit loose in the skin are harmless. If they are firmly connected to the body, then they are more of a worry.

However, we are a) not qualified and b) legally not allowed to diagnose from a picture. Especially with lumps and especially if a number of them come up quickly at the same time, only a vet visit can tell and all that we can do is guess as much as you. :(

There is nothing you can do to prevent lumps apart from trying to avoid heavy chemicals. There is often a genetic disposition for lumps. Some piggies seem to be much more prone to them, even if they are related or live in a group in the same conditions.
 
Are they visible through a photo? If so, feel free to post one.

The lumps on my guinea pig aren't very visible, you can only really tell its there if you feel her belly or neck. Also as shes pretty much all white and by photo you cant really tell its there
 
The lumps on my guinea pig aren't very visible, you can only really tell its there if you feel her belly or neck. Also as shes pretty much all white and by photo you cant really tell its there
Do they feel loose? Or tightly attached to the skin?
 
Both of the lumps are quite loose and i can jiggle them around a bit if thats what you mean- also if you are wondering the lumps are on the left side if that is important
Usually, loose lumps are harmless. Just see what the vet says. Hopefully, your vet is a cavy-savvy.
 
Both of the lumps are quite loose and i can jiggle them around a bit if thats what you mean- also if you are wondering the lumps are on the left side if that is important

If you can jiggle them a bit, then that means that they are loose in the skin and are more likely harmless sebaceous cysts or fatty lumps. In older piggies they are usually left alone because they'll only refill if they are drained.

The side of the body is not important; lumps can appear anywhere. More important is whether lumps are under the nipples or swollen lymph nodes.
 
If you can jiggle them a bit, then that means that they are loose in the skin and are more likely harmless sebaceous cysts or fatty lumps. In older piggies they are usually left alone because they'll only refill if they are drained.

The side of the body is not important; lumps can appear anywhere. More important is whether lumps are under the nipples or swollen lymph nodes.

ok, thank you for the information!
 
I took her to the vet today and the vet says she has a tumor, I can either let them get a sample of the tumor but it would be risky as the results aren't definite and see if she needs surgery which my piggie might not survive. Or let squeaky deal with the tumor and we check on her every week and see if it gets worse.

She says the tumor isn't causing any pain and that shes a very happy piggy but i dont want to risk anything!

Tips and opinions please!
 
I am very sorry; that is the news nobody wants to get.

You have to weigh up the pros and cons of the operation or of letting her live out her life as she is for as long as she has to got.

Neither decision is easier and there is no right or wrong. I've gone either way with piggies of mine over the years, so I know from my own experience that either decision has its own challenges and heart-breaks. I generally base my decision on how confident my vet is, whether the chances of a good outcome are over 50% in an op, how old and fit my piggy is, how much of a fighter and how much time an op will buy.

My own piggies where I have decided to not to operate, taking the advice from my then vets into account have been between 3 weeks for an advanced abdominal tumour that was already spreding into the guts and 15 months for a slow growing one in an elderly piggy.
Two other piggies have lived longer after a successful op (1-2 years; they were not young), but I have also lost one in an emergency op when she was to have a very irregular heart-beat, which raised the risky op of a very fast growing blood-filled mammary tumour, which would have caused sepsis (blood poisoning) within a fortnight, to a high risk make or break operation. Sadly her heart gave out just at the end of the op, but I still think it was worth it to have given her at least a chance and saved her a very unpleasant death.

In the end, you have to go with what you feel you can live with best in the long term. There will be inevitably the what ifs. As long as you put your piggy's wellbeing and interests first and foremost, you can't go wrong.

You are also within your rights if you want to get another vet's opinion before you may any decisions.
 
Today as i was regularly feeding my guinea pigs i was just putting their hay in when i saw something weird about one of them (the one that already has two lumps) I gently took her out the cage and examined her, i realized there was one or two lumps more than she had before (so now 3 or 4 in total) one on her neck and one on her upper leg/thigh (I'm not 100% sure if that last one was a lump though or just nothing.) i'm really nervous if this is too much for my guinea pig to handle but fortunately she showed no sign of pain (but keeping in mind guinea pigs are very good at hiding pain/illness)Also the ones she had before look a tiny bit bigger.

We've scheduled another vet appointment but are these lumps bad for my guinea pig?
 
@TaraS-D - I just noticed that you are in Oxfordshire and wonder if you would like to come to a forum meet next Saturday in Salisbury?

It’s short notice I know but you may not have picked up on it.

Check the thread “Anyone Else for Salisbury “ for more information.

It’s s way to meet each other and talk guinea pig over lunch
 
@TaraS-D - I just noticed that you are in Oxfordshire and wonder if you would like to come to a forum meet next Saturday in Salisbury?

It’s short notice I know but you may not have picked up on it.

Check the thread “Anyone Else for Salisbury “ for more information.

It’s s way to meet each other and talk guinea pig over lunch

okay ill have a look and think about it!
 
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