dosomenoizu
New Born Pup
Hello all!
I've already had one post about the problems my piggy (Tuta) had back in May. She's a solo pig, a bit over 4 years old and in May she had her first surgery. Back then they found tumors on her uterus and ovarian cysts. She had a few harder days after surgery, but bounced back quite fast and in like a week she was doing as usual. Her weight was stable, staying around 1kg.
A few weeks ago I noticed Tuta breathing looking kinda fast again. I didn't really panic over it at first because she gets scared easily and I tought she must have heard a weird sound or smth. A week ago, I noticed it again, this time while she was laying down and sleeping. It was really weird to see her breathe so fast during sleep and I knew something was up. I decided to take her to the vet, it took a few days since I had to find a way to go there (it's 1.5h away from my town), but during that time I kept looking after her breathing, and one day I noticed she made a weird, kinda painful sound while peeing. She was eating as usual, running around and overall seemed okay. I also decided to weigh her a day before the vet visit and I was shocked to see she went down to 880g, which was pretty fast since she was always around 1kg after surgery.
So we went to the vet. She had another ultrasound. Unfortunately, it wasn't good news. They saw a new tumor, close to her bladder and it's pretty big.
The vet explained that I have two options. I either bring her in for another surgery, but this one would be even more risky, since she's an older piggy, already lost weight, had another surgery not that long ago and it would be more invasive since the tumor is probably pressing on other organs. She also told me that right now they can't know for sure if it's cancer or just a benign tumor, but if it is cancer there's a chance it already metastasized somewhere, or that it could happen after the surgery. She did write "potentially lymphoma'' on the report. The other option would be palliative care until she no longer can't keep going on. Basically pain meds till the rest of her life. She gave Tuta painkillers. She has to take them twice a day.
She told me to take some time and think about what would be best for my piggy. This is the best vet for small animals we have in Serbia, so I can't really go somewhere else to get a different opinion on this topic. She didn't really give me answers when I asked what would be the best option in her own personal opinion, which is fine.
It's been 2 days since I got the news and I really can't stop feeling sad and crying. Even if I can see my Tuta walking around, eating, doing her stuff as usual, I can't help but think how we don't have that much time left together. It hits really hard, since I lost my chincilla 3 years ago in a very unfortunate way and Tuta just randomly appeared in my life and helped me so much and gave me so much joy. I kinda always knew she won't be around for long, since I got her when she was already 2 years old, but I feel like right now it's too soon. I'm trying to cope, but the grieving process already started even though I didn't even make a decision yet.
I just need some words of advice, if anyone else had to make such a big decision. How did you do it, what made you choose what you did. I'm really lost. I have all kinds of awful thoughts. Like, what if I do go for the surgery and she doesn't survive. But what if it actually helps. Then again would maybe palliative care be better, but then I think about how I don't want to see her struggle and be in pain. Unfortunately I'm gonna feel guilty either way, no matter what I think is a better choice. I just wish I could help her more, so she can have more happy days. I just want what's best for her.
I know I wrote a lot, but I really need to hear other people's experiences.
I'm also very thankful to everyone who wrote on my last post and gave me so much support.
I've already had one post about the problems my piggy (Tuta) had back in May. She's a solo pig, a bit over 4 years old and in May she had her first surgery. Back then they found tumors on her uterus and ovarian cysts. She had a few harder days after surgery, but bounced back quite fast and in like a week she was doing as usual. Her weight was stable, staying around 1kg.
A few weeks ago I noticed Tuta breathing looking kinda fast again. I didn't really panic over it at first because she gets scared easily and I tought she must have heard a weird sound or smth. A week ago, I noticed it again, this time while she was laying down and sleeping. It was really weird to see her breathe so fast during sleep and I knew something was up. I decided to take her to the vet, it took a few days since I had to find a way to go there (it's 1.5h away from my town), but during that time I kept looking after her breathing, and one day I noticed she made a weird, kinda painful sound while peeing. She was eating as usual, running around and overall seemed okay. I also decided to weigh her a day before the vet visit and I was shocked to see she went down to 880g, which was pretty fast since she was always around 1kg after surgery.
So we went to the vet. She had another ultrasound. Unfortunately, it wasn't good news. They saw a new tumor, close to her bladder and it's pretty big.
The vet explained that I have two options. I either bring her in for another surgery, but this one would be even more risky, since she's an older piggy, already lost weight, had another surgery not that long ago and it would be more invasive since the tumor is probably pressing on other organs. She also told me that right now they can't know for sure if it's cancer or just a benign tumor, but if it is cancer there's a chance it already metastasized somewhere, or that it could happen after the surgery. She did write "potentially lymphoma'' on the report. The other option would be palliative care until she no longer can't keep going on. Basically pain meds till the rest of her life. She gave Tuta painkillers. She has to take them twice a day.
She told me to take some time and think about what would be best for my piggy. This is the best vet for small animals we have in Serbia, so I can't really go somewhere else to get a different opinion on this topic. She didn't really give me answers when I asked what would be the best option in her own personal opinion, which is fine.
It's been 2 days since I got the news and I really can't stop feeling sad and crying. Even if I can see my Tuta walking around, eating, doing her stuff as usual, I can't help but think how we don't have that much time left together. It hits really hard, since I lost my chincilla 3 years ago in a very unfortunate way and Tuta just randomly appeared in my life and helped me so much and gave me so much joy. I kinda always knew she won't be around for long, since I got her when she was already 2 years old, but I feel like right now it's too soon. I'm trying to cope, but the grieving process already started even though I didn't even make a decision yet.
I just need some words of advice, if anyone else had to make such a big decision. How did you do it, what made you choose what you did. I'm really lost. I have all kinds of awful thoughts. Like, what if I do go for the surgery and she doesn't survive. But what if it actually helps. Then again would maybe palliative care be better, but then I think about how I don't want to see her struggle and be in pain. Unfortunately I'm gonna feel guilty either way, no matter what I think is a better choice. I just wish I could help her more, so she can have more happy days. I just want what's best for her.
I know I wrote a lot, but I really need to hear other people's experiences.
I'm also very thankful to everyone who wrote on my last post and gave me so much support.