swollen lymph glands, lumpy mammaries, bad teeth, nasty receptionist

[Lilly]

Well, it was quite the vet visit with Peanut Butter today. Following on from Friday's dental where it was discovered his lymph nodes were enlarged, PB went back in today. The vet confirmed all 4 lymph nodes by his limbs were enlarged. Also his mammaries seemed lumpy (PB is a boy).

Needle aspirates were done on one lymph node and one mammary gland. The mammary sample turned out to be full of fatty cells which the vet said is not a problem. On the other hand, the lymph node sample did have a high count of lymphocytes but nothing the vet could determine why, so the sample is off to the lab and I should get an answer tomorrow.

PB had an X-ray from head through to digestive tract. It was immediately apparent to me looking at the X-ray, and the vet subsequently confirmed, that the boy has a serious overbite! I had always suspected because I can never see his top lip. His molars were great. This overbite explains why only his incisors get overgrown. This is actually a positive outcome as far as the teeth are concerned. It means so long as he gets his incisors trimmed every month as we have been doing he should not really experience any problems on account of his toofies.

The rest of the X-ray showed no abnormalities, heart good and so on. The vet even showed me the poopies in his digestive tract pointing out that the spacing indicated things were moving along as they should.

I had the bad luck to be presented the invoice by the same receptionist who several months ago made comments that made it clear she thought it silly to spend money on monthly guinea pig dentals. Today she put the invoice on the counter and said "With everything he has had done today it is $305.00. You must really love that guinea pig." It was all I could do to say calmly "I love all my pets, past and present". For you UKers, that is about $175 pounds. I hope she's not there when I go to pay for the lab results tomorrow which are going to be another $150.00. She really should not be a vet's receptionist. At best it isn't good business practice to dissuade your clients from being your clients. At worst, if a vet's receptionist is perpetuating this idea of guinea pigs don't matter, why would we expect others to think otherwise?

Because both PB and his cagemate Hazelnut are lively, eating well, pooping well, I am somewhat worried that this is not going to be a bacterial infection but possibly something more serious.So, on pins & needles until the lab results tomorrow

 

[Guinea pig slave]

Aw, poor Peanut Butter
Hope the results are clear and you manage to stay sane...hate the waiting game for results.
Ignore the receptionist or possibly mention it to one of the nurses/vets. We've always been fortunate wherever we take our piggies, the staff are all amazing and make a fuss of them and make sure we're clear on instructions for meds. etc. although I did get into a debate over hay with the head nurse at our Exotic practise and could see the other staff rolling their eyes at her so must be her general personality The usual comment I make if irritated is 'and just how many guinea pigs do you own ?' It's not a job I could do as I'd get too upset or be going home with all sorts of furries
Massive healing vibes for little man and hugs sent for you x

 

[piggyfan]

Oh my! What a lot for poor Peanut butter. It all sounds positive though. That receptionist is a turd! You should make a complaint about her. It is bad enough worrying about your little one without that rudeness.

 

[sport_billy]

Was thinking of peanut Butter on the bus this morning and wondering how the vets would have gone. Glad yuo have some more answers o nthe dental front and hoping the results come back with some answers soon and it is nothing sinister.

People like the receptionist are best ignored, can't beleive someone with that attitude is working in a vets. I am always amazed when I find cat and dog lovers who adore their pets but can't understand my love for piggies.

Lots of love to Peanut Butter and healing vibes his way. Will keep checking back in on PB's thread. Big hug to you too x x

 

[sport_billy]

That receptionist is a turd!

lol An effective and accurate insult

 

[Lilly]

Aw, poor Peanut Butter
Hope the results are clear and you manage to stay sane...hate the waiting game for results.
Ignore the receptionist or possibly mention it to one of the nurses/vets. We've always been fortunate wherever we take our piggies, the staff are all amazing and make a fuss of them and make sure we're clear on instructions for meds. etc. although I did get into a debate over hay with the head nurse at our Exotic practise and could see the other staff rolling their eyes at her so must be her general personality The usual comment I make if irritated is 'and just how many guinea pigs do you own ?' It's not a job I could do as I'd get too upset or be going home with all sorts of furries
Massive healing vibes for little man and hugs sent for you x

Yes, the waiting game is a killer. It is now morning here so am going to be useless for the day until I get the results. I keep looking at PB for any signs of distress, but no, so far he has no idea he is ill.

Oh my! What a lot for poor Peanut butter. It all sounds positive though. That receptionist is a turd! You should make a complaint about her. It is bad enough worrying about your little one without that rudeness.

I echo sport_billy, what a great insult! I fell over laughing when I read that line. My 9 year old granddaughter thinks that is the best insult ever. I have no doubt she'll be trying it out on her 15 year old sister very soon. Anyway, I now have a rather hilarious picture of that receptionist in my head. It's lightened the worry over PB somewhat.

Was thinking of peanut Butter on the bus this morning and wondering how the vets would have gone. Glad yuo have some more answers o nthe dental front and hoping the results come back with some answers soon and it is nothing sinister.

People like the receptionist are best ignored, can't beleive someone with that attitude is working in a vets. I am always amazed when I find cat and dog lovers who adore their pets but can't understand my love for piggies.

Lots of love to Peanut Butter and healing vibes his way. Will keep checking back in on PB's thread. Big hug to you too x x

Thank you for your thoughts. It is a relief that at least we now know what we are dealing with on the dental front and that it is really not too bad - can't believe I never thought to ask for X-rays before! PB has an overbite and my dog Oreo has an underbite!

 

[Claire W]

I'm afraid I have no advice but just wanted to say that I am thinking of you and Peanut Butter and I hope you get the results you want.

As for the receptionist, you should show her the job section in the paper! x

 

[Lilly]

As for the receptionist, you should show her the job section in the paper! x

Yes I'm debating what to do about her once PB's problem is under control. There is only me and one other client who bring their piggies in on a regular basis as both have problem teeth. So if I make a complaint to the vet she will know it is one of us or just me if she is not making similar comments to the other client. So, I'm thinking it is best to just think of something I can say to her directly and discreetly. Any ideas anyone?

In the meantime I have jut been telephoned about PB's lab results, unfortunately not conclusive. Will post the details later as I'm rushing PB off to the vet to get him started on Baytril.

 

[Lilly]

Unfortunately the needle aspirate sample of Peanut Butter's lymph node had a lot of blood and not enough architecture for the lab to determine anything. To take another needle aspirate might give the same results. The lab wants a tissue sample. That means GA and surgery.

The vet and I have decided instead to put PB on a course of Baytril for 14 days and see if that makes the lymph nodes smaller. If not, then the tissue biopsy will be next. He had a Baytril injection at the vet's and I will be syringing him the rest. She measured his lymph nodes at the back legs so we have a base size to compare. Each lymph node is a whopping 2 centimeters and they are very symmetrical. Again, his temperature was normal, heart good, tummy good and so on.

I had one of the nice receptionists yesterday, the one who loves PB. She has a rattie she has spent $1500 on so does not consider small animals expendable. Unfortunately he eventually died of mammary cancer - it does happen to males. This is actually what I an worried about as Peanut Butter's mammary glands are also large symmetrical lumps.

Anyway, I have the Baytril, the pro-biotics, the critical care and many syringes all ready.

 

[piggyfan]

Let's hope the baytril helps. It is better to try that before anything involving anastetic. You may like to give him a pro biotic to help line his little tummy.

 

[Lilly]

Let's hope the baytril helps. It is better to try that before anything involving anastetic. You may like to give him a pro biotic to help line his little tummy.

Yes, that's what the vet and I thought. Let's start with least invasive. I do have pro-biotics to give him. It was because of this lovely forum I discovered about that.

The other perplexing thing about PB is that he has gained weight again despite these pesky lymph nodes. He has gone from hovering around 1.27kg for months to 1.31 last month and with this latest exam he now weighs 1.37.