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Lola's Enlarged Kidney

Chief Guinea Pig

Chief Guinea Pig

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Been a while since I've been on here, I just hoped I would be here for better news.

A couple of months ago Lola started to lose weight, so we took her to Ellie at Alfreton park vets, and she couldn't find any problems but prescribed Metacam , we later returned two weeks later and Ellie could feel that Lola reacted to one of her kidneys being touched, so she did an ultrasound to find her left kidney twice as big as her right, so she then prescribed septrin for a month thinking it could be an infection, if not then kidney cancer, she had another appointment and she felt that the kidney seemed smaller and she wasn't reacting to it being palpatated whilst putting on weight. We cut all medicines for a month and returned today, Lola had lost a bit of weight but going up and down, however Ellie did an ultrasound and the kidney is now larger with an abnormal structure and she reacts a bit to it being palpatated. She thinks it is now kidney cancer, I just can't seem to believe it, could there be any chance the septrin might help again, has anyone experienced this? I'm so worried for my little girl.
 
I would see another vet, this story sounds weird. A cancer is a rare event in a piggie and a cancer does not give any pain. A so big cancer into a kidney would make a mess in the body balalnce, there would be a lot of symptoms, blood in urine... If it were a cancer in the external side only (?) it would have grow up in one month. On the contrary I read that the kidney was big and then became small; the piggie is feeling fine...
A kidney can become large and small when there are different diseases which can ruin the kidney, too. They can cause infections, too. Sometimes the urine cannot flow down the bladder and the kidney becomes larger...
And when a kidney is damaged there is the other kidney which starts working.
Anyway, if there is a tumor or a cancer you can let your piggie live her life, I don't think there would be anything else to do.
But a second opinion with a very expert vet would change totally the destiny of your piggie and even your worry. Maybe she needs only an antibiotics, or being under "profilaxis" .I am not sure of the english word; it is a very low dose of antibiotics taken daily for preventing recurrences of infections; it works for keeping sterile the wee; I don't know if it is used in piggies, too. It is used with children (my daughter for example) and also with cats (my neighbour's cat has a kidney disease and is under profilaxis).
 
rome_italy said:
I would see another vet, this story sounds weird. A cancer is a rare event in a piggie and a cancer does not give any pain. A so big cancer into a kidney would make a mess in the body balalnce, there would be a lot of symptoms, blood in urine... If it were a cancer in the external side only (?) it would have grow up in one month. On the contrary I read that the kidney was big and then became small; the piggie is feeling fine...
A kidney can become large and small when there are different diseases which can ruin the kidney, too. They can cause infections, too. Sometimes the urine cannot flow down the bladder and the kidney becomes larger...
And when a kidney is damaged there is the other kidney which starts working.
Anyway, if there is a tumor or a cancer you can let your piggie live her life, I don't think there would be anything else to do.
But a second opinion with a very expert vet would change totally the destiny of your piggie and even your worry. Maybe she needs only an antibiotics, or being under "profilaxis" .I am not sure of the english word; it is a very low dose of antibiotics taken daily for preventing recurrences of infections; it works for keeping sterile the wee; I don't know if it is used in piggies, too. It is used with children (my daughter for example) and also with cats (my neighbour's cat has a kidney disease and is under profilaxis).
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Thank you for your reply, the current vet is on the vet locator here (which are supposed to be guinea pig savvy unless that has changed since I was last here) and recommended well from other members. We may have to phone on Friday (the nearest day when the vet is in) and query if there is anything else to do, I really am at a loss, I think another savvy vet is far away, Alfreton is already 35 minutes (when there is no traffic)
 
I see Ellie and trust her100%. I currently have a rabbit with kidney lymphoma diagnosed by Ellie. Its actually not that rare to have cancer in piggies, its just the diagnosis is not usually made as most piggy owners don't notice their piggy is ill.
I am sorry your piggy is unwell, my rabbit was diagnosed 3 weeks ago although l suspect it had been coming on for a while. He remains well and active but losing weight. I am hoping he will die peacefully. I do recommend regular pain relief whether or not your piggy seems in pain.
 
pig in the city said:
I see Ellie and trust her100%. I currently have a rabbit with kidney lymphoma diagnosed by Ellie. Its actually not that rare to have cancer in piggies, its just the diagnosis is not usually made as most piggy owners don't notice their piggy is ill.
I am sorry your piggy is unwell, my rabbit was diagnosed 3 weeks ago although l suspect it had been coming on for a while. He remains well and active but losing weight. I am hoping he will die peacefully. I do recommend regular pain relief whether or not your piggy seems in pain.
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Ah I'm sorry to hear that, wishing your little one well. Yes Ellie wants to see Lola in a month, I suspect that is to see whether she wants metacam
 
I am really sorry to hear this :( Ellie does have a great rep as a vet and is highly recommended on forum. I would speak to her on how best to manage this and options of course making sure Lola is pain free and what can be done or if you have to go down the pallative care route keeping her pain free. Once again so sorry.
 
Lola really isn't the same today, she didn't come up to the bars for veg and she wasn't very enthusiastic eating it, she also seems to have quite puffy fur. She is eating hay as we speak. Ellie isn't in until Friday, would it be ok to give some metacam until I get to speak to her ?
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
Lola really isn't the same today, she didn't come up to the bars for veg and she wasn't very enthusiastic eating it, she also seems to have quite puffy fur. She is eating hay as we speak. Ellie isn't in until Friday, would it be ok to give some metacam until I get to speak to her ?
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I am so sorry you are going through this.
At this stage I would give her whatever necessary to ensure she is comfortable, and Metacam would be fine.
If she still appears to be uncomfortable you might need to call and ask about alternatives.
But in the short term Metacam will not hurt and hopefully it will make her feel a bit brighter until Friday.
Gentle hugs to you and Lola.
 
Yes definitely give her some until you can speak to the vet. I would ask about long term pain relief too to keep her comfortable. I am sorry it was bad news.
 
Metacam all the way, she'll feel a lot better if she isn't in pain. It is good that she is still eating hay, but you know your pigs and whether she is not right. *hugs*
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
Thank you for your reply, the current vet is on the vet locator here (which are supposed to be guinea pig savvy unless that has changed since I was last here) and recommended well from other members. We may have to phone on Friday (the nearest day when the vet is in) and query if there is anything else to do, I really am at a loss, I think another savvy vet is far away, Alfreton is already 35 minutes (when there is no traffic)
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30-40 minutes by car is not far... but this depends on our habits of course (living in Rome I needed 40 minutes even for going to my daughters' primary school :(). The important thing is that your vet is piggie savvy and probably another doctor would not do any better.
But only a scan can say what is happening (although the TC scan is often very expensive and cannot even help if a surgery is not an option, therefore it's only a wasted money).
I would keep at home painkillers but I would not use them if not necessary, considering that they have often a bad effect on the gut, appetite, liver function, weight and so on.
I hope she can live with this disease still for long...
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
Lola really isn't the same today, she didn't come up to the bars for veg and she wasn't very enthusiastic eating it, she also seems to have quite puffy fur. She is eating hay as we speak. Ellie isn't in until Friday, would it be ok to give some metacam until I get to speak to her ?
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Phone and speak to Claire Bush. She is in today as am seeing her later. She is great with piggies
 
Left a message with the vets, and the receptionist called after speaking with Ellie, and to give the same amount of metacam , so 0.4ml
 
Sadly tumours/cancer are not rare events in piggies, when mine was diagnosed I looked into it & found that over the age of 4, 50% of guinea pigs get cancer, which are really high odds :( Is surgery an option? I don't know if they can manage on one kidney as humans can but maybe it's worth discussing with your vet x
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Sadly tumours/cancer are not rare events in piggies, when mine was diagnosed I looked into it & found that over the age of 4, 50% of guinea pigs get cancer, which are really high odds :( Is surgery an option? I don't know if they can manage on one kidney as humans can but maybe it's worth discussing with your vet x
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Ellie didn't mention any treatment, she is usually quite open with options, just that she expects my poor girl only has 3-6 months. I really hope my princess lives longer than that, we will just have to treat her as we normally would and hope she thinks she is well.
 
I'm so sorry :( If it's any consolation my piggy lived about 4-5 months after we found a mass in her chest, she had a good quality of life right up until the day she died, her heart just stopped in the end. Pain relief is paramount; make sure your piggy has Metacam & Tramodol, a low dose of that in addition to the Metacam really helps. Big hugs x
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I'm so sorry :( If it's any consolation my piggy lived about 4-5 months after we found a mass in her chest, she had a good quality of life right up until the day she died, her heart just stopped in the end. Pain relief is paramount; make sure your piggy has Metacam & Tramodol, a low dose of that in addition to the Metacam really helps. Big hugs x
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Thank you, as long as Lola is going to be happy that's all I care about
 
If it is a tumour within the kidney then you may have more time as it will be contained within the organ & her other kidney should carry on working. I didn't even have to make the decision to have mine pts as right up until the day before she was wheeking for veggies & eating for England, you would never have known she was so poorly. You will know when the time comes to say goodbye, treasure every precious minute until then x
 
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