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Fatty lump on lower belly

Jerler

Jerler

New Born Pup
Joined
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Goodevening fellow Guinea lovers!

I have a question. I have a very sweet 2 year old female guinea pig who has been forming a fatty lump on her belly button since september last year. I've gotten this checked out by the vet in the same month, and after poking a needle and taking a sample she confirmed its indeed a fatty lump. Back then it was hardly the size of a small grape.

In november it grew up to the size of a ping pong ball (the nucleus of the lump was a little smaller, but because its under te skin it looks bigger...) Went back to the vet and she told me if it stays this way it should be fine. I had the impression she wasnt in pain, was still very active and squeeking at the top of her lungs for food. The only thing that got harder was to fish poopies from under her belly.

Fastforward to now: its still the size of a pingpong ball and the nucleus lump seems to have taken more space inside of it. I'm doubting if i should take her to the vet again to get it removed. She still doesnt show signs of being uncomfortable. I see her laying on her side like a croissant, sleeping, and this ball emerging from under her sides. To me that doesnt look comfortable...

I'm hesitant, I dont want her to get surgery if its not nessecairy. Yet, now shes 2 years old and i'm aware Guinea Pigs are very sensitive to narcosis as they get older. But I just dont know what to do.

Any advice or insight would be very much appreciated 😊 Thanks in advance :)
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I don’t have any experience of fatty lumps. But what I will say is that because of where it is and the fact it’s getting bigger it could become infected and also make walking harder. If it was me I’d find a good vet who is used to operating on piggies and have it removed. It should be a relatively simple process as fatty lumps are just under the skin not attached to much. Good luck.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. My Elizabeth has several fatty lumps on her belly but they’re the size of marbles so for now, we’ve just been told to monitor them but my vet said it’s best to remove them if they get any bigger (which they haven’t) due to them dragging on the ground and becoming infected.

If it’s dragging on the floor and causing her discomfort, I’d get it removed now why she is still young as lump removal ops are fairly straight forward but if it isn’t causing her any bother, I’d leave it

Good luck with whatever you decide x
 
Please get it removed before it gets any bigger. This little lady was surrendered to our charity after her previous vet failed to remove a fatty lump. Our vet successfully removed this and she made a full recovery, but it must’ve been very painful when it became so ulcerated due it rubbing on the floor. D4AACC3C-9685-4899-B547-4E190F398CFD.webp
 
Hello everyone, thank you for the warm welcome! 😊

Reading your messages and insight its clear to me I'm going to take her to the vet to get the lump removed. Now I'm still in time for any infection or discomfort to occur.
Claire W said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. My Elizabeth has several fatty lumps on her belly but they’re the size of marbles so for now, we’ve just been told to monitor them but my vet said it’s best to remove them if they get any bigger (which they haven’t) due to them dragging on the ground and becoming infected.

If it’s dragging on the floor and causing her discomfort, I’d get it removed now why she is still young as lump removal ops are fairly straight forward but if it isn’t causing her any bother, I’d leave it

Good luck with whatever you decide x
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I hope the marbles in your lovely guinea will stay marble sized, I cannot imagine how weird that must feel! Fingers crossed 😊

furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Please get it removed before it gets any bigger. This little lady was surrendered to our charity after her previous vet failed to remove a fatty lump. Our vet successfully removed this and she made a full recovery, but it must’ve been very painful when it became so ulcerated due it rubbing on the floor. View attachment 220427
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Poor sweet Guinea 😥 That looks really painful! How lucky she is to be cared for by your team! I hope she is doing well now the lump is gone 😊
 
Jerler said:
I hope the marbles in your lovely guinea will stay marble sized, I cannot imagine how weird that must feel! Fingers crossed 😊
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Jerler said:
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Thank you. Yes they do feel weird, just soft squidgy lumps. She has one on her chest and two near her nipples but they’ve been biopsied and come back as harmless. I hope they stay marble sized too x
 
When George was going in for his stone surgery there was some discussion about the method of anaesthesia and it was decided just to use gas - I think it's called isoflurane (with buprenorphine as the pain relief). We've lost other pigs after different surgeries at the same practice but they had different (injectable) anaesthetics which they were not able to recover from. I was really nervous but this gas method seemed to work fine. George is 6 and recovered very well from his surgery. It might be an idea to discuss the anaesthetic options with your vet as it seems some types are riskier than others for our pigs x
 
Thank you for this information!
6 years old and surviving the anaesthesia, something must have been done right 😄 I'm happy to hear he recovered well, and I'm sorry about the loss of your other sweet pigs 😔

I am really anxious about that as well, I have lost 1 pig to anaesthesia and it still hurts... I'm definetly going to discuss it with my vet, just to be sure. I've also heard something about guinea pigs choking on their own saliva because theyre held in a weird position during surgery, definitely going to be asking about that too 😅
 
Not heard of that one, but perhaps it's specific to dental surgery? Bigger animals can be intubated but piggies are not - at least not at my vet - so they have to use a little mask for the gas. By asking the vet we learn things ourselves but also the vet is thinking through their options while they are answering so it can prompt them to consider alternatives they may not have thought of before. A discussion is always useful ☺️
 
I totally agree with that! And it could help other piggies in the long run, just as it did with yours 😊

I think it wasnt related to intubation, but you're always going to have saliva, and if you keep the piggie slightly upwards during the surgery, itll not be able to swallow. If I remeber correctly, the person talking about this suggested to tilt the head and body of the piggie slightly down (not to much because of the bloodflow) so that the saliva stays in the mouth and there is no choking hazard 😊
 
Hello everyone.

A little update: She will undergo surgery next monday morning. It took me a lil bit to book the appointment because I had a mandatory school trip last week.

I'm very anxious and stressed. But I was able to confirm that they will be using gas to put her under. The vet said it had gotten quite big now and prepared me for things that might go wrong (I know thats mandatory for them)... I really hope she will make it.

If anyone is interested, I could post updates here :)
 
Jerler said:
Hello everyone.

A little update: She will undergo surgery next monday morning. It took me a lil bit to book the appointment because I had a mandatory school trip last week.

I'm very anxious and stressed. But I was able to confirm that they will be using gas to put her under. The vet said it had gotten quite big now and prepared me for things that might go wrong (I know thats mandatory for them)... I really hope she will make it.

If anyone is interested, I could post updates here :)
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Thank you for the update, I hope all goes well with the surgery. Keeping us updated here would be great, if you are able.
 
Free Ranger said:
Not heard of that one, but perhaps it's specific to dental surgery? Bigger animals can be intubated but piggies are not - at least not at my vet - so they have to use a little mask for the gas. By asking the vet we learn things ourselves but also the vet is thinking through their options while they are answering so it can prompt them to consider alternatives they may not have thought of before. A discussion is always useful ☺️
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Its more piggy related than dental related, compared to other animals they tend to produce a lot of saliva as a stress response. This combined with many surgeries requiring them to be on their backs creates a small risk of inhalation. When I used to work at c&r it was not uncommon for some piggies to sound quite rattley while under anaesthetic but in the seven years I was there we only lost one because of this and given the number of piggies they see daily, I would say it is an extremely low risk.
 
Hello all, thanks for all the well wishes!

A small but good update: She went into surgery early this morning. Around 12 I got the call that she was out and awake, doing pretty well, moving around a little. They said she is still at risk, but for now she is doing fine. The lump that was removed didn't have alot of bloodvessels so the bloodloss was minimal as well (Very positive). She pulled through the whole ordeal pretty nicely. She does'nt really eat yet, so they are going to feed her themselves for now. Around 4 pm they will call me on how she did through out the afternoon. Fingers crossed she keeps doing well and starts to eat a little :)
 
Hello 😄

I was able to take my little cottonball back home this afternoon! She had started to eat by herself, and when we came home she went straight for the fresh hay and water ☺️ Her cagemate has been very sweet and is helping cleaning her by licking the eyes and ears. She was visibly happy to have her home! The smile and popcorns were too cute ❤️

After being somewhat active she is now sleeping. I'm so happy I made this desicion and it worked out well 😄 She is still here ❤️ Thank you all for your insights and supports!🍻
 
Ah that’s wonderful news. Hoping she’s soon back to herself after the surgery. Lots of hugs ❤️
 
Hello everyone,

Now almost 2 weeks later she is doing absolutely fine, and is thriving and being her sassy self :)

The wound is healing well. Some scabs are falling off and the skin underneath it looks good. Just 1 thing... She's been gnawing on 1 part of the wound, it was clearly not entirely healed and it looks red and a bit bloody. Any tips or suggestions how I can keep this from getting infected and her nibbling on it?
 
Jerler said:
Hello everyone,

Now almost 2 weeks later she is doing absolutely fine, and is thriving and being her sassy self :)

The wound is healing well. Some scabs are falling off and the skin underneath it looks good. Just 1 thing... She's been gnawing on 1 part of the wound, it was clearly not entirely healed and it looks red and a bit bloody. Any tips or suggestions how I can keep this from getting infected and her nibbling on it?
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I would take her back to the vet for a quick check to be safe.
 
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