Kidney diagnosis over a year ago?

[Freela]

So just over a year ago, on a vet assessment for an unrelated eye issue, Leela was diagnosed with enlarged kidneys on palpation of her abdomen. Her right kidney was significantly enlarged and her left kidney was moderately enlarged. The vet offered to send us to another clinic for an ultrasound (they don't have that equipment in their practice), but we were told there was no treatment for kidney disease in guinea pigs and the diagnostic ultrasound would be about 800 dollars. As it was a lot of money for just a diagnosis for an incurable condition, we opted not to do the ultrasound. We just figured we would take her home for as long as she was comfortable. We honestly didn't expect her to live that long with this diagnosis but we wanted to make the best of it for her.

So... a year has passed. Leela is still with us. Still eats well, runs around, is bright and happy. She has just turned 5 this week. She is definitely pear shaped and her 'lumps' feel fairly firm. We did not expect her to live this long and I am kind of wondering if she may have been misdiagnosed. We went to our usual practice (who I do trust) but we saw a new vet who I have never seen before and I don't know the experience of this specific vet. I wasn't present in the office due to COVID, I had to wait in the car. I am wondering if she may have something more common, like ovarian cysts, instead, although I don't know if this kind of misdiagnosis is possible through palpating the abdomen (i.e. I don't know where the kidneys are in relation to everything else on a guinea pig.)

Obviously the solution is to take her back for another assessment, which I plan to do once Omicron stops pounding our province mightily. But what should I ask for if I do? Would an x-ray give an idea? Or am I grasping at straws and it's totally normal for her to just keep trucking along with giant kidneys?

 

[Wiebke]

So just over a year ago, on a vet assessment for an unrelated eye issue, Leela was diagnosed with enlarged kidneys on palpation of her abdomen. Her right kidney was significantly enlarged and her left kidney was moderately enlarged. The vet offered to send us to another clinic for an ultrasound (they don't have that equipment in their practice), but we were told there was no treatment for kidney disease in guinea pigs and the diagnostic ultrasound would be about 800 dollars. As it was a lot of money for just a diagnosis for an incurable condition, we opted not to do the ultrasound. We just figured we would take her home for as long as she was comfortable. We honestly didn't expect her to live that long with this diagnosis but we wanted to make the best of it for her.

So... a year has passed. Leela is still with us. Still eats well, runs around, is bright and happy. She has just turned 5 this week. She is definitely pear shaped and her 'lumps' feel fairly firm. We did not expect her to live this long and I am kind of wondering if she may have been misdiagnosed. We went to our usual practice (who I do trust) but we saw a new vet who I have never seen before and I don't know the experience of this specific vet. I wasn't present in the office due to COVID, I had to wait in the car. I am wondering if she may have something more common, like ovarian cysts, instead, although I don't know if this kind of misdiagnosis is possible through palpating the abdomen (i.e. I don't know where the kidneys are in relation to everything else on a guinea pig.)

Obviously the solution is to take her back for another assessment, which I plan to do once Omicron stops pounding our province mightily. But what should I ask for if I do? Would an x-ray give an idea? Or am I grasping at straws and it's totally normal for her to just keep trucking along with giant kidneys?

Hi

It is very difficult to say. Piggies can live with enlarged kidneys for a goodly while; it just depends on how much their functionality is impacted. But without direct access or any vet qualifications, we can only guess as much as you do. As scan may be more usual than an x-ray.