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Abdominal Mass

Thinking of you and Pumpkin x Hope it’s nothing just one of those odd noises they sometimes make
 
Siikibam said:
Sorry she’s worrying you again. Hopefully you can get her seen tomorrow. Do you have emergency vets?
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We have emergency vets but they are insanely expensive (about 300+ USD just for the appointment itself), so I am planning to keep an eye on her. She's not eating today, just eating poop and veggies (which she's only done before when something upset her stomach, although she isn't on any oral antibiotics right now).
 
Bill & Ted said:
Thinking of you and Pumpkin x Hope it’s nothing just one of those odd noises they sometimes make
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Hopefully. She still isn't doing the best right now but she isn't making that noise anymore so hopefully it was nothing. Thank you
 
Popcorn bby said:
We have emergency vets but they are insanely expensive (about 300+ USD just for the appointment itself), so I am planning to keep an eye on her. She's not eating today, just eating poop and veggies (which she's only done before when something upset her stomach, although she isn't on any oral antibiotics right now).
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Is she eating hay? You may have to start weighing her daily.
 
:agr: If she isn’t eating anything for herself, then you need to syringe feed her and weigh her daily to ensure you’re getting enough syringe feed into her to maintain/stop her losing weight for
 
Siikibam said:
Is she eating hay? You may have to start weighing her daily.
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Sorry for replying late. She wasn't eating over the weekend, not sure why, but she's started eating again and is doing good (she hasn't been making that noise either). Our appointment got moved to tomorrow and I am extremely nervous and scared. Wish us, and especially my sweet Pumpkin, lots of luck! She is truly the sweetest, silliest baby. I'm praying and hoping and praying some more that this is something treatable or benign.
 
She is at the vet now, we had to drop her off since the ultrasound guy might call at any time. I am practically numb from fear/pain, but I am trying my hardest to be hopeful.
 
Everyone! We just finished talking to the vet right no, and there is both good news and bad news. The good news is, main news, is that the mass is not cancer! Quite blatantly though, the "mass" the vet felt wasn't really a mass at all, it is actually an enlarged kidney. The ultrasound found that both her kidneys are enlarged, she has kidney disease. They are still working as they should so they are not in failure yet. The ultrasound person also noticed way too much fluid floating around, so took a quick peak at her heart as well. Turns out, Pumpkin has heart disease too. Although heart medications are available, and we are gonna start on two, she did say that the treatment for heart issues and kidney issues is opposite (heart may need diuretic etc while kidneys need lots of fluids etc) so it's tricky situation. We are starting her on two heart medications (not sure which ones yet) but we will just have to keep checking on her when it comes to the kidneys (another evaluation in 2-3 weeks). It's quite bittersweet but months to live (not saying she will only live a few more monrths, but saying it's a possibility)are better than weeks. Any information on heart disease/kidney disease? Ill tag @Wiebke
 
Popcorn bby said:
Everyone! We just finished talking to the vet right no, and there is both good news and bad news. The good news is, main news, is that the mass is not cancer! Quite blatantly though, the "mass" the vet felt wasn't really a mass at all, it is actually an enlarged kidney. The ultrasound found that both her kidneys are enlarged, she has kidney disease. They are still working as they should so they are not in failure yet. The ultrasound person also noticed way too much fluid floating around, so took a quick peak at her heart as well. Turns out, Pumpkin has heart disease too. Although heart medications are available, and we are gonna start on two, she did say that the treatment for heart issues and kidney issues is opposite (heart may need diuretic etc while kidneys need lots of fluids etc) so it's tricky situation. We are starting her on two heart medications (not sure which ones yet) but we will just have to keep checking on her when it comes to the kidneys (another evaluation in 2-3 weeks). It's quite bittersweet but months to live (not saying she will only live a few more monrths, but saying it's a possibility)are better than weeks. Any information on heart disease/kidney disease? Ill tag @Wiebke
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Hi!

Glad that it is not cancer but sorry that you are confronted with a rather complex situation.

We have several members with experience with heart disease; so far none of my own piggies have been diagnosed with it. Guinea pigs can live quite some time on heart meds.

The news on kidneys is unfortunately not good; there is not much you can do. Any treatment would be quite expensive at comparatively little return and how much you want to put your girl through. You will have to discuss with your vet where you stand on this point. Kidney problems, including mis-shapen or enlarged kidneys are not uncommon, as I know from my own piggies who I eventually had to pts for this reason. :(

@PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns @Siikibam @furryfriends (TEAS)
 
Sorry to hear the news although good that it’s not cancer.
You will be feeling an element of shock and grief at receiving this kind of diagnosis.
As @Wiebke has said you will need to discuss with your vet what may be the best decisions.
Give yourself time to decide what is best for your girl.
We are here to support you.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Glad that it is not cancer but sorry that you are confronted with a rather complex situation.

We have several members with experience with heart disease; so far none of my own piggies have been diagnosed with it. Guinea pigs can live quite some time on heart meds.

The news on kidneys is unfortunately not good; there is not much you can do. Any treatment would be quite expensive at comparatively little return and how much you want to put your girl through. You will have to discuss with your vet where you stand on this point. Kidney problems, including mis-shapen or enlarged kidneys are not uncommon, as I know from my own piggies who I eventually had to pts for this reason. :(

@PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns @Siikibam @furryfriends (TEAS)
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May I ask, how long did your piggies live after being diagnosed with enlarged kidneys? I asked the vet but she seemed to be unsure, mentioning how she couldn't assure any amount of time but did say 6 months at one point. Despite the minimal treatment for just managing it, I am still curious as to what those are? The vet seemed most concerned for her enlarged heart right now, thus treating it first, but she did say that all we could do for the kidneys was just give her fluids under the skin. They also offered a urinary sample but we declined and now I am not sure if I should have agreed. We are visiting for a kidney recheck in two weeks.
 
I know everyone must be busy to reply but if those questions above can please be answered it would help. I am basically pretty sure my heart is about to give out from everything happening. The news today was already hard enough to hear and now my other sweet piggie is likely to have a bladder stones now (we just finished giving her bactrim for what we thought was another UTI, but she's still wheeking while peeing). It's all quite numbing to be honest.No matter how much I cry the pain feels like a hole in me. We are gonna call back the vets tomorrow and ask a few more questions etc. I also forgot to mention the meds we are on is the diuretic furosemide and benazepril. I truly do not mean to be a bother @Wiebke , forgive me if I am. I appreciate all of your help and this is just so scary and draining and painful. :)
 
I'm sorry to hear about the diagnosis that you received. It's not the best news but it's good that it's not a tumour. Please do be patient as people volunteer on here and also have to contend with their everyday life and piggies :)
 
Popcorn bby said:
May I ask, how long did your piggies live after being diagnosed with enlarged kidneys? I asked the vet but she seemed to be unsure, mentioning how she couldn't assure any amount of time but did say 6 months at one point. Despite the minimal treatment for just managing it, I am still curious as to what those are? The vet seemed most concerned for her enlarged heart right now, thus treating it first, but she did say that all we could do for the kidneys was just give her fluids under the skin. They also offered a urinary sample but we declined and now I am not sure if I should have agreed. We are visiting for a kidney recheck in two weeks.
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It has been anything between some months and the decision to pts there and then, depending on the level of pain, the severity of the swelling/mis-shapenness and how badly it had started to affect the piggy in combination with/whether anything else that was going wrong - quality of life is my guideline above all.
A few more days or a week or two spent longer in pain and discomfort are not worth putting a piggy through just for the sake of it. My aim is to give them as many happy days as I can (which is how piggies measure their life by); when that is the case and a recovery is not an option, then I prefer to let my piggies go once the level pain and discomfort is starting to really impact. If the short to medium term prognosis is good, then I am all for support of course!

There is no set time span. I always re-set the clock to zero in this kind of situation and celebrate any day more as a special gift as I have no control over the time scale. Any month more is like an extra year of life for a piggy.
Even when you think you are braced for it, death will always come too soon and too suddenly. But if you fill that span - whatever it is - positively, it will seem a lot longer while if you just stare at the end in fear, it will emotionally come a lot sooner and be worse. :(

You may find this guide here that I have written helpful. It doesn't make easy reading but it can help you work out what your own priorities are and where you want to draw the line - and how much your own fears and desires interfere with this. It is tough to face this with as open a mind as you can muster but there is a great prize to be had - you can live any remaining time much more consciously and get so much more out of it! And overall, your own grieving process will be that much easier than if you leave all the work for later on. Please be aware that the grieving process starts the moment you realise that death is a matter of a rather shorter time. What you are experiencing now is the full onset of it. Apart from death itself, this is the worst time.
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children (also contains a chapter on human grieving during terminal illness)

I am very sorry but nobody can answer your questions apart from your vet, and even they will have to make an educated guess based on their findings and taking all the problems into account and balancing them out against each other. Sadly there are no certainties. All you can do is ride the tiger and treasure the time you can stay on top.

Instead of trying to establish time tables which won't survive the encounter with your own reality, concentrate on filling your girl's days with lots of little pleasures and joys, make them count and make them feel longer by filling them with joys. That is the best thing you can do for her and for countering your own anxieties and fears. Love and joy transcend time; you can fill a moment with a life time's worth of it - and those are the memories that will stay with you forever and that will allow you to make peace in your heart eventually without being left with a bad taste.

You never know - my Pili Pala survived her life threatening severe GI stasis for nearly a very special and treasured year despite being on a cocktail of meds due to a growing number of health issues and did have a lots of fun during this time. She could have had another fatal stasis within days or weeks of the first one...
 
This reminds me of my piggy, Deedee. She also had heart disease and at the same time she had kidney stones (it was in the bladder first and then eventually one of her kidneys failed because of stones from it too), along with other problems. It was very tricky for the treatments too coz we were giving her diuretics for her heart. She passed away after 10 months since we first discovered of her problems.

Hopefully you'll have a good treatment plan for your piggy.
 
Wiebke said:
It has been anything between some months and the decision to pts there and then, depending on the level of pain, the severity of the swelling/mis-shapenness and how badly it had started to affect the piggy in combination with/whether anything else that was going wrong - quality of life is my guideline above all.
A few more days or a week or two spent longer in pain and discomfort are not worth putting a piggy through just for the sake of it. My aim is to give them as many happy days as I can (which is how piggies measure their life by); when that is the case and a recovery is not an option, then I prefer to let my piggies go once the level pain and discomfort is starting to really impact. If the short to medium term prognosis is good, then I am all for support of course!

There is no set time span. I always re-set the clock to zero in this kind of situation and celebrate any day more as a special gift as I have no control over the time scale. Any month more is like an extra year of life for a piggy.
Even when you think you are braced for it, death will always come too soon and too suddenly. But if you fill that span - whatever it is - positively, it will seem a lot longer while if you just stare at the end in fear, it will emotionally come a lot sooner and be worse. :(

You may find this guide here that I have written helpful. It doesn't make easy reading but it can help you work out what your own priorities are and where you want to draw the line - and how much your own fears and desires interfere with this. It is tough to face this with as open a mind as you can muster but there is a great prize to be had - you can live any remaining time much more consciously and get so much more out of it! And overall, your own grieving process will be that much easier than if you leave all the work for later on. Please be aware that the grieving process starts the moment you realise that death is a matter of a rather shorter time. What you are experiencing now is the full onset of it. Apart from death itself, this is the worst time.
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children (also contains a chapter on human grieving during terminal illness)

I am very sorry but nobody can answer your questions apart from your vet, and even they will have to make an educated guess based on their findings and taking all the problems into account and balancing them out against each other. Sadly there are no certainties. All you can do is ride the tiger and treasure the time you can stay on top.

Instead of trying to establish time tables which won't survive the encounter with your own reality, concentrate on filling your girl's days with lots of little pleasures and joys, make them count and make them feel longer by filling them with joys. That is the best thing you can do for her and for countering your own anxieties and fears. Love and joy transcend time; you can fill a moment with a life time's worth of it - and those are the memories that will stay with you forever and that will allow you to make peace in your heart eventually without being left with a bad taste.

You never know - my Pili Pala survived her life threatening severe GI stasis for nearly a very special and treasured year despite being on a cocktail of meds due to a growing number of health issues and did have a lots of fun during this time. She could have had another fatal stasis within days or weeks of the first one...
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Thank you for that, she seems happy and that's what matters. She's quite a strong piggie, so I'm praying she can happily (and pain-free) power through for as long as possible through this illness. She's my little sunshine, she'll be receiving lots of cuddles and floor time along with all the veggies (whenever she eats veggies her little mouth looks like it's smiling) for however long we have left. Her sister has also been giving her some extra kisses, it's the sweetest thing. If we receive any news during our next vet appointment in about two weeks, I will update. Also thank you for letting me know what point you decide to go through with pts, I've never had to make that decision so that seemed like a blurry picture but now I understand that as soon as she can no longer function normally without pain it is time. I pray that time is as far away as possible. Thank you for all the help.
 
anyar.dris said:
This reminds me of my piggy, Deedee. She also had heart disease and at the same time she had kidney stones (it was in the bladder first and then eventually one of her kidneys failed because of stones from it too), along with other problems. It was very tricky for the treatments too coz we were giving her diuretics for her heart. She passed away after 10 months since we first discovered of her problems.

Hopefully you'll have a good treatment plan for your piggy.
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It is beautiful that she was able to power through all of that for 10 months, she must've been a strong piggie. I understand that with kidney disease we might have much less time compared to other terminal illness, but reading this gave me a bit of hope that as long as she is happy and pain free she can beat the odds and live even just a bit longer than what is estimated. I wish there were actual treatments, but hopefully we can make something out of what we have that can help. Thank you :)
 
aw, sending you big hugs, you’ve have been through the mill with worry x
I don’t know anything much about kidney or heart diesease but if she’s happy and not in pain then enjoy your life with her for as long as possible x
 
Hi guys, out vet appointment is this Friday but today I noticed a bald area on her neck, towards the bottom of her neck. I can not tell if it's swollen since that area is much bigger compared to her sister's neck area but I recall it always being like that (but she's never had that bald spot so I can't confirm for sure). I read one case where a guinea pig had something similar (bald spot on neck, swelling) and it was organ failure/dysfunctional kidney. I'm quite scared. Also, I was reading an article about kidney disease in small animals and it said this in the rabbit section, "Some drugs, especially certain antibiotics such as gentamicin, can cause renal toxicity in rabbits, with the typical signs of kidney disease." It struck me that the week prior to finding the "mass" (which she obviously didn't have previously) Pumpkin was going through nebulizer treatment with gentamicin for the first time. I searched gentamicin and kidney damage up and apparently they can be associated. I may just be reaching, since 1. It said that for rabbits and not guinea pigs and 2. it says it's harmful most commonly in large doses and I don't know if the dose was too much. Anyways, I am going to ask the vet about it on Friday, any thoughts? Not sure who I should tag @Wiebke
 
Popcorn bby said:
Hi guys, out vet appointment is this Friday but today I noticed a bald area on her neck, towards the bottom of her neck. I can not tell if it's swollen since that area is much bigger compared to her sister's neck area but I recall it always being like that (but she's never had that bald spot so I can't confirm for sure). I read one case where a guinea pig had something similar (bald spot on neck, swelling) and it was organ failure/dysfunctional kidney. I'm quite scared. Also, I was reading an article about kidney disease in small animals and it said this in the rabbit section, "Some drugs, especially certain antibiotics such as gentamicin, can cause renal toxicity in rabbits, with the typical signs of kidney disease." It struck me that the week prior to finding the "mass" (which she obviously didn't have previously) Pumpkin was going through nebulizer treatment with gentamicin for the first time. I searched gentamicin and kidney damage up and apparently they can be associated. I may just be reaching, since 1. It said that for rabbits and not guinea pigs and 2. it says it's harmful most commonly in large doses and I don't know if the dose was too much. Anyways, I am going to ask the vet about it on Friday, any thoughts? Not sure who I should tag @Wiebke
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Please speak to your vet. I have no experience with this. You are operating right at the limits in completely unreasearched territory there.

Please be aware that online research has got its downsides as you get all the horror stories and traumatised people making connections that may or may not be correct but without the experience in judging whether these connections are appropriate or not. We see it all the time on here that at the onset of the grieving process the question of what have I done wrong? can lead to some very strange outcomes. There is simply no back-up. At least your vet should have the medical background to judge whether your concerns are appropriate or not. Please also accept that where kidneys and an increasingly weakening immune system are involved it is more of a matter of where the dam is going to break in each individual case.

I am very sorry but this is out of our purvue as a general pet owners and not a specifically medical forum.
 
ive had a 7 year old piggie who was diagnosed with large kidneys and renal failure.he just drank increasingly large amounts of water and increased urine output.he lived a full year after diagnosis,peacefully slipped away ...he did not seem to suffer.as difficult as it is,try and take one day at a time.you are giving your piggie the best care.:hug:
 
Hi all. We just came back from the vet with some depressing news. The vet is positive that the swelling not just on her neck but her entire body is severe adema due to heart failure. She added another heart med so she is basically on all heart meds possible right now (Lotensin, Lasix, and now Vetmedin) but she doesn't have much hope for her it seems. She explained that since even on the original meds she got significantly worse in two weeks instead of improving, if in two weeks she still hasn't improved for the recheck then we should pts then. I am not exactly sure how I am feeling at the moment, but while I process that I am asking anyone if they have ever experienced something similar (adema, heart failure)? It feels so lonely to be honest. Luckily, one positive thing is the vet did say she was a bit torn because Pumpkin is acting so normally (she was looking for food in the vet office it seems, she might be getting too used to that place lol) and doesn't appear sick at all from just looking at her behaviors. When we asked she did say it was a possibility that the heart meds w the new one could have a chance at working (giving us at least a few more months) but said she was doubtful since she seems to be in the last stages of heart failure. :( quite bummed out
 
I am very sorry about the bad news. Things like these are always a bummer and they really whack you around.
Heart meds tend to either work straight away or not work at all. :(

Just keep her as comfy and happy as you can and let her enjoy her life as long as she can live it normally. You will know when the day has come to send her to the Rainbow Bridge; she will tell you. Until then treasure every extra day with her.
 
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