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Soft Tissue Sarcoma

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LilPiggyLulu

LilPiggyLulu

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My Little Pig (5yrs old, boy) had a large lump removed last week from near his hip. He had a lump removed 3 months ago from almost the same place.

The original lump was removed by my previous vet who decided not to get any histology as it 'looked benign' I have since found an amazing exotic vets who saved his life when he suffered bladder stones/gut stasis (he has been a poorly piggy!)

The lumps have been extremely fast growing. My pigs are handled daily and i was upset with myself for not noticing the lumps sooner as they have been quite large.

Little Pig handled both ops very well and i've had no problems with the stitches/post op. He is eating/pooping lots and the vet commented he was eating his cucumber i left him before he had even fully woken up!

The 2nd lump was found to be attached to a smaller growth between his muscles which the vet says she is confident she got it all out. She warned me it looked bad so sent it away for testing.

Today the results came back. It is high grade soft tissue sarcoma. She is happy to continue operating where possible as long as his quality of life is good-which at the moment, it is.

I am so worried this will be a 3 monthly thing and can't face putting him through lots of ops but the alternative is even worse to think about.

Just wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience? x
 
I've not experienced this cancer personally, but it is always a difficult situation. Try not to worry about the what ifs. It may be that the tumour has been competely removed and may not even grow back. If it does return, you will have to consider the effect of frequent surgery. Each GA will put strain on his heart and I doubt the vet would really consider it. So it would come down to quality of life. If Little Pig (great name by the way) is happy and comforttable, that's good, but you will know when he stops enjoying life and then will you need to consider the options. I have had to make this awful decision for my own pigs and all I can say is that you know when the time is right.
 
Thankyou Elwickcavies :)

Fingers crossed it does not return. I'm hoping the first vets only removed the large lump near the surface and failed to spot the deeper growth and that is why another lump grew so fast in the same area.

I have a lot more faith in our new exotic vets so i'm hoping it has all been removed, but for now i will enjoy spoiling my Little Pig (We lost his beloved cagemate 'Big Pig' this time last year and have since gained a 'Baby Pig'-now 1yr old and a 'Missy Pig'-approx 1yr old) x
 
Big hugs to you and Little Pig - that's not what you were wanting to hear from the vets, but I guess at least you now know what you are facing. Just take each day as it comes and try not to torment yourself with the what ifs (easier said than done ).
 
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