Hi all,
I am looking for some advice and I think mainly some mental support. Also maybe from people who have experience with this particular disease my guinea pig has (lymphoma).
So here's the story. My girl, Stella, is an older guinea pig. We do not know exactly how old she is, but my guess would be over 5. Just two weeks ago, we were at the vets for a regular check up. She has kidney cysts, for which she is under treatment and that seemed to be going very well, she was happy and healthy, running around through my living room, and sharing her opinions (mostly about food) very loudly. During the checkup she was just over 900g. She used to be more, but she was fluctuating quite a bit, mostly between 920 and 1000g, which was due to the kidneys (made her drink a lot, so she had a lot of liquid in her body at times).
Now, since that visit, about a week ago, I found that there was a little lump in her throat, which quickly developed into a not so little lump. Within a matter of days it grew to the size of about a cherry tomatoe. Weighing her showed me that within a week she had lost 100g as well. She actually dipped right under 800g on Thursday. I instantly made an appointment with the vet. And it turned out she has lymphoma. What seems to be a quite aggressive version, because it has grown so fast, but now it seems to have stabilized (at least in size). I am aware that this is a terminal illness for her. I feel like surgery would be way too risky, and I am not even thinking about that as an option: she has had surgery within the past 5 months, she has renal failure, she is a bit older, and the lump is in the throat, which is a tricky location.
I feel like a little side step is needed: earlier this year, she lost her life long companion ,and i feel we went on with the treatment for too long, so his last few days were very stressful to him, and I don't want to stretch a guinea pig's life again because I am too sad to let him/her go.
Back to yesterday. I really felt like it was the end. She was just laying, staring at a wall. not eating much. Later she was on my lap, just laying flat, with her eyes closed. It's hard for her to find a spot with her head, because the lump is in the way, though it doesn't seem to hurt her much. I tried to feed her, but she didn't want to. I do not want to force feed her, since this is a terminal issue, It will be over when she says it is. Later she started to really make sounds of pain and her body was making these little 'shocks', like a hickup but a painful one let's say. I decided to give her a little extra painkiller, and something to help her with a bloaty belly and her intestines. I was afraid to walk into the living room this morning. But there she was, interested in me and her food, willing to take her meds, and almost all of the food I left (it was a LOT), had been eaten. She has gained weight and is now 880g! She doesn't look so apathetic anymore either and she's eating hay, though she does not seem so interested in her pellets.
So here is my question basically: I am really afraid that we're letting her go on for too long. Do you think she is in too much pain? How long does this normally take with a lymphoma? I was in shock with how fast this thing developed for her.
Furthermore I'm just looking for a bit of support from people who get how important guinea pigs can be in our lives. Not many people seem to get it, and the "but it's just a guinea pig" comments are really not helpful right now. (
Thank you for weighing in!
I am looking for some advice and I think mainly some mental support. Also maybe from people who have experience with this particular disease my guinea pig has (lymphoma).
So here's the story. My girl, Stella, is an older guinea pig. We do not know exactly how old she is, but my guess would be over 5. Just two weeks ago, we were at the vets for a regular check up. She has kidney cysts, for which she is under treatment and that seemed to be going very well, she was happy and healthy, running around through my living room, and sharing her opinions (mostly about food) very loudly. During the checkup she was just over 900g. She used to be more, but she was fluctuating quite a bit, mostly between 920 and 1000g, which was due to the kidneys (made her drink a lot, so she had a lot of liquid in her body at times).
Now, since that visit, about a week ago, I found that there was a little lump in her throat, which quickly developed into a not so little lump. Within a matter of days it grew to the size of about a cherry tomatoe. Weighing her showed me that within a week she had lost 100g as well. She actually dipped right under 800g on Thursday. I instantly made an appointment with the vet. And it turned out she has lymphoma. What seems to be a quite aggressive version, because it has grown so fast, but now it seems to have stabilized (at least in size). I am aware that this is a terminal illness for her. I feel like surgery would be way too risky, and I am not even thinking about that as an option: she has had surgery within the past 5 months, she has renal failure, she is a bit older, and the lump is in the throat, which is a tricky location.
I feel like a little side step is needed: earlier this year, she lost her life long companion ,and i feel we went on with the treatment for too long, so his last few days were very stressful to him, and I don't want to stretch a guinea pig's life again because I am too sad to let him/her go.
Back to yesterday. I really felt like it was the end. She was just laying, staring at a wall. not eating much. Later she was on my lap, just laying flat, with her eyes closed. It's hard for her to find a spot with her head, because the lump is in the way, though it doesn't seem to hurt her much. I tried to feed her, but she didn't want to. I do not want to force feed her, since this is a terminal issue, It will be over when she says it is. Later she started to really make sounds of pain and her body was making these little 'shocks', like a hickup but a painful one let's say. I decided to give her a little extra painkiller, and something to help her with a bloaty belly and her intestines. I was afraid to walk into the living room this morning. But there she was, interested in me and her food, willing to take her meds, and almost all of the food I left (it was a LOT), had been eaten. She has gained weight and is now 880g! She doesn't look so apathetic anymore either and she's eating hay, though she does not seem so interested in her pellets.
So here is my question basically: I am really afraid that we're letting her go on for too long. Do you think she is in too much pain? How long does this normally take with a lymphoma? I was in shock with how fast this thing developed for her.
Furthermore I'm just looking for a bit of support from people who get how important guinea pigs can be in our lives. Not many people seem to get it, and the "but it's just a guinea pig" comments are really not helpful right now. (
Thank you for weighing in!