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Large blood clot found in cage. Advice please.

AbbieMiddleton

AbbieMiddleton

Junior Guinea Pig
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Location
Hucknall, Nottingham.
Good evening all,

*** I'd like to start off by saying a vet was contacted immediately upon the mass being found and an appointment has been booked for first thing in the morning. ***

I'm going to try and be as informative as possible and apologies for how graphic it might be.

When doing a spot clean in the Guinea's cage a large clot was found in a poo pile. I originally thought it was a long piece of red pepper but it stretches like skin tissue and doesn't break apart. It's a few inches long and has some kind of tumour style brown blobs attached to it at one end; Not poos, almost flesh coloured fat lumps. It really feels like meat or sinew, for lack of a better description. Like the pieces of fat you'd remove off of some beef.

Both girls are acting perfectly normally; Eating, drinking, running around, squeaking.

I'm at a complete loss as to what this thing is. I'm suspicious that it might be related to some very light, pink spotting found in their cage recently which I was told to monitor and prescribed Metacam for.

I simply cannot find anything online regarding this problem and would appreciate some input.

The clot/mass/tissue is being taken to the vet along with the Guineas tomorrow.
 
Oh dear, this sounds very worrying but if all your piggies seem fine and you are off to the vets tomorrow then I'd wait to see what the vet says. I think most clot/blood/tissue type things with few other symptoms probably come from the reproductive tract- if this was bladder or bum you'd probably see some signs of distress. Best of luck at the vets x
 
My only thoughts is possible Pyometra. Taking the lump along will help the vets for sure, the will be able to see what it is.
 
Glad you were able to get a vet appointment so quickly.
Hope all goes well.
Will be holding you in my thoughts and hoping to hear good news tomorrow
 
PigglePuggle said:
Oh dear, this sounds very worrying but if all your piggies seem fine and you are off to the vets tomorrow then I'd wait to see what the vet says. I think most clot/blood/tissue type things with few other symptoms probably come from the reproductive tract- if this was bladder or bum you'd probably see some signs of distress. Best of luck at the vets x
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Both girls seem fine. Trotting around, eating, bright-eyed. I'm so confused. There's literally no other symptoms at this stage. Just this hideous tissue mass. The piggy I suspect is even popcorning a little. (That sassy head flick they do when they're too porky to properly leap about.)

sport_billy said:
My only thoughts is possible Pyometra. Taking the lump along will help the vets for sure, the will be able to see what it is.
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I'd never heard of that! I gave it a quick Google and it sounds pretty serious. 😢
 
Merab's Slave said:
Glad you were able to get a vet appointment so quickly.
Hope all goes well.
Will be holding you in my thoughts and hoping to hear good news tomorrow
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Piggies&buns said:
Best wishes for your appointment tomorrow
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Thank you, I really appreciate everyone's support and well wishes. I'll be sure to update incase it helps anyone else.
 
So worrying to find but well done on being on the ball. Wishing you all the best with the appointment tomorrow. As said, it’s good they’re still being their usual self.
 
AbbieMiddleton said:
Both girls seem fine. Trotting around, eating, bright-eyed. I'm so confused. There's literally no other symptoms at this stage. Just this hideous tissue mass. The piggy I suspect is even popcorning a little. (That sassy head flick they do when they're too porky to properly leap about.)



I'd never heard of that! I gave it a quick Google and it sounds pretty serious. 😢
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Sorry I don’t mean to scare you but you can ask the vet to rule that out if that makes sense. Her running around and acting normal is a great sign, please let us know how you get on. X
 
sport_billy said:
Sorry I don’t mean to scare you but you can ask the vet to rule that out if that makes sense. Her running around and acting normal is a great sign, please let us know how you get on. X
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No, I'm really grateful you mentioned it at all. I've been looking up "Guinea pig blood clot" etc for ages and came up with nothing. I'm really pleased you brought it up.

I just can't wrap my head around both girls acting perfectly healthily yet one producing such a disturbing amount of..... Well, whatever it is!

Thank you to everyone. :)
 
AbbieMiddleton said:
No, I'm really grateful you mentioned it at all. I've been looking up "Guinea pig blood clot" etc for ages and came up with nothing. I'm really pleased you brought it up.

I just can't wrap my head around both girls acting perfectly healthily yet one producing such a disturbing amount of..... Well, whatever it is!

Thank you to everyone. :)
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Let’s hope it is nothing, you are really on the ball and then acting normal is gods news and bodes well.
 
sport_billy said:
Let’s hope it is nothing, you are really on the ball and then acting normal is gods news and bodes well.
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On the ball/paranoid lol

The suspected Guinea has literally just trotted into the room I'm in and tucked herself away in her doggy bed. All seems well. I'll feel better once they're both examined tomorrow.
 
Update;

Both pigs appear perfectly healthy but have been prescribed antibiotics as a precaution. The tissue mass has been sent off to be analysed by a pathologist and really can't be figured out or identified at this stage.

However, I do need to get urine samples. Does anyone have a suggestion of how I can achieve this? The suspect piggy can literally hold her bladder for hours! They have fleece bedding and a fleece lined cage so I won't be able to collect anything from there. I have a plastic pet carrier but leaving her (them, one at a time) in there for hours with no comfort sounds cruel. Is that my only option? 😢😭
 
Update;

Well, we've heard back from the pathologist and it's the worst news we could have been given. The mass in the cage was a piece of a very malignant tumor. There's no point in operating as it would definitely return and the surgery is extremely risky. At most my baby girl has six months. All we can do now is make her comfortable and manage the situation with Metacam as a painkiller. Can anyone please offer any advice on what to expect? I'm an absolute mess right now and don't know what to do. I don't want her in pain but I don't want to prematurely say goodbye either as she still seems so healthy.
 
So sorry to hear this, I think in this situation you need to be guided by your piggy and how well she seems in herself. If she still seems well then concentrate on making her life as happy as you can while she can still enjoy it, remember she doesnt know or care what the pathologist said and she doesnt know she is seriously ill, and end-of-life predictions in all species are only estimates- we were old in December 2018 my old Mum had less than 12 weeks left to live and she's still with us now over a year later! Sending many hugs, please dont let this bad news stop you and your piggy enjoying the time you have left together, when her condition worsens and she stops enjoying life you will have a difficult decision to make, but if she seems well for now then try to focus on how she feels today x
 
I’m so sorry for your sad news :( I have been in your position before and all I can advise is to spend as much time as you can with her and make memories. Take lots of photos. It’s hard but when you have a terminal ill animal, the grieving process starts when you get the diagnosis (((hugs))) xx
 
Claire W said:
I’m so sorry for your sad news :( I have been in your position before and all I can advise is to spend as much time as you can with her and make memories. Take lots of photos. It’s hard but when you have a terminal ill animal, the grieving process starts when you get the diagnosis (((hugs))) xx
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Thank you. I've never been in this position before. I'm just crying constantly. We've had four amazing years and no amount of time will ever be enough. I just want her pain free and comfortable.
 
AbbieMiddleton said:
Thank you. I've never been in this position before. I'm just crying constantly. We've had four amazing years and no amount of time will ever be enough. I just want her pain free and comfortable.
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sadly all you can do is be there for her and make the hard decision when the time comes :( but for now, make precious memories. That’s what I did
 
I’m so sorry for the diagnosis. She doesn’t know what you know and she’s still trotting round in blissful ignorance. It’s time to just love and cherish her and give he the best life she can have in whatever time she has left. Big hugs x
 
Guinea pigs live for today. Give her lots of happy todays for the time she has left. She will tell you when the time has come and that she is tired and wants to sleep forever. Then her soul will go and have a lovely time at the Rainbow Bridge.
 
Thank you, everyone. I feel selfish because I want her with me forever but I know I can't. I'm just going to make sure she's happy and content for as long as she has left. She loves having Metacam, so at least I'm not doing anything to cause her any distress right now. We're all absolutely devastated.
 
So sorry to hear this news. But as everyone else has said your girls are lucky to have such a caring owner like you. Just love and spoil her the way you have been doing. ((((hugs))))
 
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