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Itsy Has Mammary Cancer :( Any Experiences?

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MrsSuzy

MrsSuzy

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I posted on another thread about Itsy's health issues but decided to start a new thread as we now know what it is: cancer :(

Histology on the lump removed came back today and it is a mammary adenocarcinoma which apparently (according to some brief reading I did) only a minority of lumps are this aggressive.

She is also not eating and because if this started to develop teeth issues. She is now having her teeth trimmed every week but vet thinks it's getting worse every week. She is steadily losing weight but has appetite for the critical care I'm giving her. She is now 870gr.

She is seeing one of the best vet clinics in UK so what I'm wanting to know is if anyone has experienced mammary cancer in their pigs and how did it progress. Prognostic is not good but it is unknown whether she'll be with us a few months or another year. Vet doubts greatly she will ever see a 5th birthday (she's 2). If you know someone who experienced this could you let me know? Thank you!

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My boar had a mammary tumour that appeared in a week at around 3.5/4 ish a rescue so exact age unknown. We didnt get it tested to see if it were malignant or benign due to the costs involved (lump removal alone was a £200 bill) but we had his lump removed in September 2013 and he passed away this spring the lump hadnt come back but we didnt PM so we dont really know why he passed. Thats all my experience in terms of mammary lumps.

Itsy is very cute and I hope she does see her next birthday :-) good luck little piggle
 
I am sorry Suzy, don't have any experience with Mammary Cancer I am afraid. Massive hugs to you and love to Itsy, 2 is no age and it is so sad to be faced with such a diagnosis. She has a great mum and dad and I know you will make every day (and I am hoping there are many) special for her x

tagging in just in case
@Pebble
@Abi_nurse
 
I'm so sorry to hear this Suzy
Mammary cancers, even the agressive adenocarcinoma Itsy has, "can" be operable with recovery in piggies if got soon enough - but time may be of the essence to make a decision on an op
Has the vet checked draining lymph nodes in groin/mesenteries (gut lymph nodes) by palpation to give an idea of how far (if at all) it has spread , also do you have any inidication on possible tumour size, whether it is too deep-seated to render an op too invasive and finally what the prognosis would be if an op were agreed to now? Obviously if the tumour is large/deep-seated/has spread to the lymph nodes then palliative care for little Itsy would be most appropriate.

Unfortunately you have complications in that she has dental issues - but is this directly caused by pain from the developing tumour or something else?

In your shoes I would be weighing up the pros and cons as follows:
a) appropriate pain relief - possibly tramadol not metacam to encourage better eating
b) Trim the teeth - (possibly at same time as op to remove tumour if prognosis is good)
c) if not possible to remove tumour/prognosis not good, then palliative care with hefty painkillers until you feel her quality of life is being affected....including how many further detnals you feel should be performed.

My blind old Ginger has a (now very large) mass in his abdomen. When diagnosed 6 months ago, we agreed he is too old for an op so we opted for pallative care. Although he is slowly but steadily losing weight, he is still surprisingly bright and perky in himself providing he gets pain relief, hydrated nuggets.and lots of fresh grass/veggies........(He actually rudely but royally rogered his wifepig in front of me the other day ...and I thought he no longer had it in him!) To be honest, given the size of his tumour 6 weeks ago when he last had a vet check, we are amazed at how robust and perky Ginger still is and defying all the odds.....(he actually put on 60g weight 3 weeks ago before he started losing it again). He's clearly enjoying life and is not intending to visit the Bridge yet


Such a difficult call for you - PM me if you want a chat.
Hugs x

Edit - just seen she's only 2 years old - If it were me, I would definitely pin down the vet on prognosis/spread as if prognosis were good and spread minimal then I would personally opt for an op at that age. x
 
Thank you everyone!

@Pebble Thank you so much for your reply, very informative :) One of the lumps (the bigger one) has been removed and this was the one that was sent to histology. Initially I found 2 lumps and immediately made an appointment with Simon at The Cat an Rabbit Clinic. I handle her very often and would have noticed it before. Th plan was to see if the lump removed was aggressive and then if it was, remove the second one (as both would have been too much in one go). The problem with now removing the 2nd lump is because of her weight loss. I'm assuming the teeth issues were caused by the tumour which then caused the weight loss and so on, so on. Her weight only started to come down from when I found the lumps.
She went in today to have her teeth done (she's having them trimmed weekly since this started) and vet is worried about her continuing loss of weight and the plan is to try to try and increase her weight to remove 2nd lump. Does than make sense?

I think I was too afraid to ask for a prognostic :no:. I just said " So this means she probably won't see her 5th birthday?" which vet said probably not :( I'm in again next week for her teeth so will mention the lymph nodes. Thank you so much.
 
Pebble has covered the majority of what i was going to say to be honest, got there before me.

To add some of my thoughts:

- It would be worth discussing doing a chest xray on her. A lot of aggressive cancers will spread to the chest first, taking an xray may be worthwhile as if its clear the prognosis may be better. Sometimes however it can have spread and the masses are so small you cannot see them on imaging. This doesn't mean don't do it.
- Taking a sample from the closest lymph node would be useful to determine if it has spread here.
- Keep an eye on her weight, her weight loss may be teeth related and not cancer related, try feeding her oats, barley rings and sweetcorn, these are high energy and will help her gain weight. Weigh her regurarly
- Why is she having dental's every week? Has her teeth progressed this badly? Is she just having the front ones done and not the back? I'm concerned about her having them done weekly?

Sorry for this being such a hard time for you.

x
 
Two months after her op to remove a mammary lump, Itsy is at the vets again to remove the second lump!
There were always two lumps but removal of the second was delayed because of teeth complications that developed after a chin abscess formed. To my surprise, the abscess has returned :no:

So she is in now to go under GA again and remove 2nd lumps and deal with abscess again!

Lots of well wishes needed for my gorgeous girly who has been through so much but still doesn't mind posing for photos :)

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I saw it on your FB earlier. Bless her, huge hugs and please keep us updated. Fingers crossed for her x
 
Sorry to hear that Itsy is in again for another op. Hope it goes okay. Thinking of you x
 
Poor little girl! Fingers crossed for her, sounds like she could definitely do with a break and some good luck!
 
MrsSuzy said:
Thank you everyone!

@Pebble Thank you so much for your reply, very informative :) One of the lumps (the bigger one) has been removed and this was the one that was sent to histology. Initially I found 2 lumps and immediately made an appointment with Simon at The Cat an Rabbit Clinic. I handle her very often and would have noticed it before. Th plan was to see if the lump removed was aggressive and then if it was, remove the second one (as both would have been too much in one go). The problem with now removing the 2nd lump is because of her weight loss. I'm assuming the teeth issues were caused by the tumour which then caused the weight loss and so on, so on. Her weight only started to come down from when I found the lumps.
She went in today to have her teeth done (she's having them trimmed weekly since this started) and vet is worried about her continuing loss of weight and the plan is to try to try and increase her weight to remove 2nd lump. Does than make sense?

I think I was too afraid to ask for a prognostic :no:. I just said " So this means she probably won't see her 5th birthday?" which vet said probably not :( I'm in again next week for her teeth so will mention the lymph nodes. Thank you so much.
Click to expand...
I think I may have made the laptop a little wet ? Good luck little one x
Bakewell, Marzipan and Pancake are wishing you there love x
 
Sorry for not updating before!

Itsy is back home after a whole day at the vets! My husband is back to calling her a mutilated pig as she has all her belly and lady bits shaved with a huge scar and her chin shaved with a hug gaping hole in it :eek: She was very quiet and subdued yesterday but today is back to normal. Eating well and rumbling about! She has always been boss pig and I think she still is. She hates meds time and runs to hide just by seeing me but hey, ho!
I'm very proud of my girly, after 2 mammary tumours removed and 2 abscesses she is a real fighter :wub:

Second lump was sent to lab to try and find out if the cancer has spread... Not over yet!

Yesterday:
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Today:
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Lots of healing vibes to your brave beautiful girl x x
 
Go Itsy! What a little fighter she is. Me, Bea & Dotty are sending her lots of love and positive healing vibes x
 
Itsy is a little fighter! Sending lots of healing vibes and I hope she recovers soon. She is such a gorgeous piggy.
 
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