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Possible Lymphoma after my GP Rosie started walking strangely :-(

Big Guinea T

New Born Pup
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Hi All
I'm new to this site & new to any forum based chat so am quite shy on here.
But myself & my daughter have just had bad news given today about our 4 year old piggy Rosie.
She's been totally herself until yesterday evening when we noticed she was walking strangely whilst on her run, possibly hobbling & constantly in her piggaloo. Eating and drinking well. I wondered if there was local pain in her leg or it was some neurological problem but the vet this morning didn't find anything specific wrong with her limbs (though this has not been investigated properly as yet) but found many enlarged lymph nodes around her body which is either Lymphoma or inflammation (the former being more likely). This is obviously devastating news & the vet suggests we look into this before her walking issue. She's really not herself, yet yesterday she was 'roaming Rosie' and full of energy. I'm so worried.
Diagnosis, is very expensive & though I will struggle to pay, I would find a way if this is needed - BUT- I wondered if anyone else's guinea had walking problems (suddenly) whilst presenting possible lymphoma?
Should I pursue her walking problems or take the advice of the vet to look at the lymph first? I guess I'm worried that whilst we concentrate on her lymphs which possibly have been there sometime, we are ignoring a different more painful problem right now. But the only way I'll know about the lymphs is paying for the test.
I'm so sorry for this long winded message but I feel really overwhelmed :-(((
Ps, Vet has prescribed Medicam 0.5 for today and 0.25 each other day this week.
Thank you so much in advance x
 
I’m sorry to hear your girl isn’t doing well. I just want to offer support as I’ve no experience at all with anything this serious. Did the vet think the walking was perhaps linked to the lymph node lumps? If you trust your vet perhaps go with what he thinks. But also ask if the walking can also be investigated.

I’ll tag @Wiebke
 
I'm sorry to hear this.
I don’t have experience of lymphoma either but wanted to offer support and just ask whether you’re been given dog or cat metacam? I only as because metacam can be given twice a day to guinea pigs - their metabolise their pain meds quicker than cats do - and in much higher doses with cat metacam being weaker than dog metacam. So if you’ve been given cat metacam and been told to give .25 once a day then that is a very low dose. You obviously have to trust your vet and can only go on their advice and guidance regarding the pain level piggy is experiencing, but it’s possible it won’t offer much in the way of pain relief at that level and it may be worth just checking with the vet.
 
I’m sorry to hear your girl isn’t doing well. I just want to offer support as I’ve no experience at all with anything this serious. Did the vet think the walking was perhaps linked to the lymph node lumps? If you trust your vet perhaps go with what he thinks. But also ask if the walking can also be investigated.

I’ll tag @Wiebke
Thank you so much for replying Siikibam, the vet said its a possibility but as it was so sudden, I'm concerned this is the main current problem and is not associated with the possible Lymphoma - and- without an expensive biopsy, this won't be checked further.
I'm wondering if others have put their piggy through the biopsy at this stage - I'm just so confused/ indecisive I guess :-( We've not had to use vets before so this is the only experience I have from them x
 
I'm sorry to hear this.
I don’t have experience of lymphoma either but wanted to offer support and just ask whether you’re been given dog or cat metacam? I only as because metacam can be given twice a day to guinea pigs - their metabolise their pain meds quicker than cats do - and in much higher doses with cat metacam being weaker than dog metacam. So if you’ve been given cat metacam and been told to give .25 once a day then that is a very low dose. You obviously have to trust your vet and can only go on their advice and guidance regarding the pain level piggy is experiencing, but it’s possible it won’t offer much in the way of pain relief at that level and it may be worth just checking with the vet.
Thank you for checking this. Its the cat one. At first, the receptionist gave treatment at 0.5 per day but later changed it to 0.25. I might call & check if it can be 0.5 everyday.
Ps, she said to put it on Rosies fav food. I did- apple. But she only ate half the slice of apple. I spread it onto spinach and nope.... Any recommendations at this stage happily received....
 
I’m so sorry for the possible diagnosis :( I’ve lost two piggies to lymphoma :(

The walking problem may be due to the lymph nodes being inflamed.

I would be inclined to have a fine needle biopsy done on one of the lumps so you know what you’re dealing with x

Ohh Claire, I'm so sorry to hear this.
Did you have a biopsy on both piggies & if you don't mind me asking, were they treated with any medication after? We're they otherwise happy in themselves?
I do feel a diagnosis may be the only option now x
 
As I said, it depends on what the vet considers to be the amount of pain piggy is experiencing and obviously the vet has to take into consideration the piggies weight when basing the dose but too low of a dose once a day isn’t going to be doing much if she is in pain. They metabolise their pain meds quickly so that is why pain meds can be given every 12 hours, not every 24 hours. We can only advise based on our personal experiences though

Most piggies love the taste of metacam and it should be easy to just draw it up into the syringe and put the syringe into her mouth without having to put it onto food. My Dexter was on metacam for a leg injury a few weeks back and he couldn’t get enough of the stuff, he only had to see the syringe and he was licking at it

Medicating your guinea pig - Instructional video on Facebook
 
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I wouldn’t put it on food because, as you can see, they won’t get the full dose if they don’t finish the food. I’d do as Piggies&Buns has suggested and just give it via syringe.

PS spinach is high in calcium so should only be given once a week max, and maybe one leaf only.

I hope you can make the right decision for your girl bits a tough one.
 
Ohh Claire, I'm so sorry to hear this.
Did you have a biopsy on both piggies & if you don't mind me asking, were they treated with any medication after? We're they otherwise happy in themselves?
I do feel a diagnosis may be the only option now x

Thank you. With Ena, she had a lump removed and sent to the lab which revealed lymphoma. Erika has a biopsy on one of the lumps.

We sadly had to have Ena pts on the day we got the results as her wound wouldn’t heal due to the lymphoma and she pulled her stitches out. Erika lived for two weeks past diagnosis until we had to make the decision to have her pts. The lumps in her dewlap were crushing her airways.

We just treated her with metacam to control any pain x
 
I’m so sorry to hear that Rosie isn’t doing so well, i’m afraid I can‘t offer advice but wanted to give my support
Sending lots of hugs ❤️
 
my guinea pig Carlton was diagnosed with lynphoma at 4 years of age,he lived for a further 2 1/2 years.I'm very sorry you have had a devastating potential diagnosis .please take it one day at a time.i hope you have a good diagnosis from your vet.Carlton just had lumps appearing,he did not suffer,he passed away peacefully,i was lucky it was not an aggressive form of Lymphoma.
:hug:
 
Hi
One of my piggie’s broke his leg when he was just a few months old and he was put on metacam. I didn’t put it on food either as my vet showed me how to syringe feed it plus he has a cage mate and I didn’t want to risk the other piggie eating it.

like piggie&buns said my boy just had to see the syringe and he would start wheeking at me as he loved the stuff.

I really hope Rosie gets better
 
Thank you. With Ena, she had a lump removed and sent to the lab which revealed lymphoma. Erika has a biopsy on one of the lumps.

We sadly had to have Ena pts on the day we got the results as her wound wouldn’t heal due to the lymphoma and she pulled her stitches out. Erika lived for two weeks past diagnosis until we had to make the decision to have her pts. The lumps in her dewlap were crushing her airways.

We just treated her with metacam to control any pain x
Ohh bless them. Thank you for sharing your story Claire, I appreciate it x
 
Hi
One of my piggie’s broke his leg when he was just a few months old and he was put on metacam. I didn’t put it on food either as my vet showed me how to syringe feed it plus he has a cage mate and I didn’t want to risk the other piggie eating it.

like piggie&buns said my boy just had to see the syringe and he would start wheeking at me as he loved the stuff.

I really hope Rosie gets better
Hi
One of my food either as my vet showed me how to syringe feed it plus he has a cage mate and I didn’t want to risk the other piggie eating it.

like piggie&buns said my boy just had to see the syringe and he would start wheeking at me as he loved the stuff.

I really hope Rosie gets better
Thank you Lanie, Rosie Must be real fussy!
It was so hard not actually seeing the vet through social distancing, explaining everything to the receptionist then chatting on the phone to the vet outside whilst Rosie inside. I’ve just YouTubed a tutorial with the syringe so I will try this shortly.

Thank you everyone for your support :-)
 
Hi All
An update on Rosie- the week long wait for a diagnosis has come with sad news, she has lymphoma :-(
You can tell she's not the roaming Rosie she once was but is eating and drinking happily & is on Metacam daily (which it turns out she loves- phew).
I guess my concerns lie now with whether to let her pass naturally (as long as the pain isn't there) or pts and my worries are also falling onto her sister Bella and how to go about finding her a friend after. So confused & I haven't told my 10 year old yet who will be devastated :-( (Rosie on the right) x IMG_9431.jpg
 
I’m sorry it’s not good news. Just enjoy the time she has left. I think you will know when the time comes.
 
Aw, I’m so sorry you’ve had such a sad diagnosis for Rosie, such a beautiful girl x
Take each day as it comes and enjoy as much quality time as you can together. Worry about tomorrow’s, tomorrow. She will let you know if she has had enough I’m sure, I hope you have lots of time left together x
 
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