Ovarian Tumor, Neutered Sow?

[Leeni]

(i'm sorry that I only write on the forum when one on my piggies is ill but Finland has a very limited amount of knowledge in treating sick guinea pigs... so I come here to seek knowledge and support. I'm sorry this is a long story.)

My girl Hupakko (I've written about her sister Tyllerö who suffers from bladder stones from time to time) has had all sorts of lumps and bumps for at least last two years. She is now 4 yrs. She was neutered over a year ago due to ovarian cysts. Left one was large, over 6cm, right one 2cm. These were the first "lumps". She has had also one lump removed from her bum (consisted of solid fat and connective tissue) and one from her back (sebum? It was only removed because it used to come back after draining) at the same time. She also has small fat tumors under her nipples, in her armpit and under her chin, so a lot of them located near the lymph nodes.

A week ago, just a few months after the remowal of the lumps on her bum/back I noticed a huge lump in her abdomen, on the right side . Maybe a month before that she started showing signs of being in heat (rumbling and climbing to other girls backs) which I thought was odd considering her being neutered and that she didn't have this behaviour ever before. I mentioned about this to the vet when she examined her and she said that there is a possibility that this might be an ovarian tumor, possibly cancerous, considering the location and consistence of the lump. The lump is huge, already 8cm and has grown really quicly because it wasn't there at the time of the other lumps removal and I hadn't noticed it until now.

However the vet had never heard of ovarian tissue spreadding outside the guinea pig ovaries though this is possible with some other animals.

Do you know if this could happen? And are there a lot of piggies around this prone having lumps or is it uncommon?

Also it is possible that she didn't manage to completely remove the right ovary though she read through her case file and said that the surgery went well, there was nothing suspicious on the left side that time.

No metastasis could be seen in the ultrasound but the machine is not good enough to see everything.. the other possibility is that the tumor is attached to spleen, which is not goot either. But the ultrasound can't see through piggy guts to locate the spleen. The tumor is solid, consist only about 15% of fluid and definately attached to something and only way to see how things are would be to operate. There is a strong possibility of cancer and with Hupakko's history of continuous lumps, I decided that I won't have her operated now. The vet said that it is very possible that they can't help her even if they tried to op.

The vet said that if the growth is not cancer after all and in a month or so she would continue to feel ok, we could try to operate. If it is cancer she would start to go downhill soon. She is still looking happy and eating well. I give her metacam to keep the possible pain away. I am pampering her and monitoring her closely for now. I'm feeling so sad.

 

[Wiebke]

HUGS
I am very sorry! Some piggies have a tndency to get very "lumpy". Sebaceous cysts and fatty lumps are the most common and perfectly harmless. Unless they impede the guinea pig or get infected when they burst, they are often just left by vets.

There is a certain risk that an ovarian cyst that hasn't been completely removed can grow back to a certain extent. I have been warned of this when my Iola was found to have one of her ovarian cysts stuck to the bowel and and the adhering little patch could not be completely removed - any accidental cut into her intestines would have been fatal and there was very little space for operating vet to do his job. However, I was assured that even if it did grow back, it wouldn't get as large again, so should not pose any major problem.

I guess that all you can do is keeping your fingers firmly crossed. Whatever the mass is, it may impact on the guts if it grows bigger (even if it is not cancerous) and can cause gassing etc.

@helen105281 @Jaycey @Freela

 

[Freela]

((HUGS))- poor girl! There are definitely guinea pigs (and humans!) prone to having lumps... cysts, fatty masses, etc. Unfortunately she may just be one of these. It seems suspicious that the mass would be ovarian following a spay where no complications were reported to suggest that ovarian tissue was missed, but I can personally vouch that ovaries can grow all kinds of horrible lumps (and this is from my experience, not my pets... fortunately in my case the mass was benign, but I still had major surgery and lost an ovary to remove one.)

Unfortunately there is probably not much to do but watch an wait if you don't want to put her through a biopsy (which I totally understand.) Keeping her comfortable and giving her good quality of life is the most important thing right now. If she is eating, drinking, and behaving normally, that's all to the good.

((HUGS)) and I can totally understand your sadness. I hope the lump is benign and she does well over the coming months.

 

[DM030819]

I had a pig about 10 years ago that was prone to lumps. He had mammary tumours, and various sebaceous cysts. He did very well throughout.

I've never had a female piggy so I can't comment on the ovarian cyst side of things unfortunately.

I did have a piggy a few years ago that had a huge internal lump. He was a new foster to me, and the lump was discovered on a wellness check with my vet. After speaking to his previous owner we opted for surgery, and unfortunately to the complexity of it he didn't survive the surgery.

But, on the other hand we have no idea how long the lump had been there. He was perfectly fine and healthy in all other ways, he had no idea it was there. I would enjoy your time with her and keep a close eye on her for any changes. I hope she has many days/months/years left. It might be worth having a scan or xray done every so often so you can monitor it's size.