Mammary tumor sow

[BiscuitPeanutTimothylovers]

Hi there,
Our 2 year old sow has a mammary tumor. We don't know whether it's benign or malignant but we were offered surgery or a scan. We've been warned about surgical risks if it's malignant. Does anyone have any advice? If we were to do a scan it would be an x-ray. Thanks

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there,
Our 2 year old sow has a mammary tumor. We don't know whether it's benign or malignant but we were offered surgery or a scan. We've been warned about surgical risks if it's malignant. Does anyone have any advice? If we were to do a scan it would be an x-ray. Thanks

Hi

The problem with mammary tumours - whether benign or malign - is that they will keep on growing and never stop.

Surgical removal in the early stages is the best way to deal with them; it is actually one of the more successful operations with a pretty good recovery rate and few complications because your vet doesn't have to go deep into the body.
Most complications are related to the aggressive forms of mammary cancer - but then you will have to deal with the cancer related problems and a growing tumour one way or other; it's not going to sit just there and do nothing when left in the body, sadly. There is no cancer treatment for guinea pigs, unfortunately. But this is just the extreme end of mammary tumours and does not apply to the majority of cases we see on here.

I must admit that I've never heard of an x-ray being used to determine whether a tumour is malignant or not; usually a biopsy is taken during the removal op and sent off for analysis. I guess your vet wants to see whether it has already spread? Mammary tumours are not at all uncommon although they actually affect boars more often than sows.

If your vet has concerns about operating, then please ask for a referral if necessary.

Here is more information on mammary tumours: Sow Problems 'Down Below' (Ovarian Cysts, Super-seasons, Womb Infection, Pregnancy & Mammary Tumours)

 

[BiscuitPeanutTimothylovers]

The vet took a biopsy when we first went to them. That was how we found out it was a mammary tumor. The x-ray is more too see if the tumor has spread to her lungs, in which case there would be a higher chance of her not making it through surgery

 

[Wiebke]

The vet took a biopsy when we first went to them. That was how we found out it was a mammary tumor. The x-ray is more too see if the tumor has spread to her lungs, in which case there would be a higher chance of her not making it through surgery

Ok, thanks for clarifying. That makes sense.