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Mammary Tumor

D

Danandamadeus

New Born Pup
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Our Guinea pig Dan has a mammary tumor. We took him to our local vets and they said it would be to risky do surgery, so we were given medication and told to wait until it got to a stage the guinea pig was showing signs of discomfort.

Although Dan hasn't stopped eating and still squeeks like mad for his food, he's making complaining noises from time to time and he seems to be grinding his teeth if you go to look at him when he makes said noises. Is there any point going to the vet for more medication or is this the end of the line for Dan?
 
Danandamadeus said:
Our Guinea pig Dan has a mammary tumor. We took him to our local vets and they said it would be to risky do surgery, so we were given medication and told to wait until it got to a stage the guinea pig was showing signs of discomfort.

Although Dan hasn't stopped eating and still squeeks like mad for his food, he's making complaining noises from time to time and he seems to be grinding his teeth if you go to look at him when he makes said noises. Is there any point going to the vet for more medication or is this the end of the line for Dan?
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Hi!

It would help us quite a bit if you could please list the medication and dosages as well as your boy's weight.
Especially painkillers are often massively underdosed by general vets not very familiar with guinea pigs and other small furries as they are classed as exotics despite being common pets.

A mammary tumor when left will just continue to grow. You are always welcome to see another vet for a second opinion. What were your vet's reasons for not operating?
 
We've run out of the medication about a month ago so I don't have the names. The vets said Guinea pigs struggle to come through surgery.
 
Danandamadeus said:
We've run out of the medication about a month ago so I don't have the names. The vets said Guinea pigs struggle to come through surgery.
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Please see another vet with more experience in guinea pig ops as soon as possible. Your piggy needs to be seen a vet again; we cannot answer that question for you. He will in any case need pain medication as quickly as possible.

Mammary tumor operations are usually not the trickiest of operations and have a decent recovery rate, especially if caught early enough. This unfortunately looks like a rather large one that should be assessed by an exotics vet as to whether it is still operable or not. I have however seen pictures of even larger tumors removed so there may be still a chance.
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Tips For Post-operative Care
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
 
So sorry you boy has a mammary tumour, I would definitely look for a good guinea pig savy vet who can remove it.
My Bill had two small tumours under his nipple and he sailed through his op with no problems whatsoever. Our amazing vet is 300 miles away from us but Bill managed the journey home with no problem at all and recovered really well. Our vet was Simon Maddock, at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic, Northampton. Good luck x
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I would recommend seeing another vet who is experienced in guinea pig surgery. That looks uncomfortable and must surely be getting in the way.

I’ve recently had a foster piggy with a burst mammary tumour that was an emergency. She survived surgery twice within one week - once when the tumour was removed by the vet and once when she performed DIY suture removal at home and needed to go back for surgery.
 
So sorry he’s got the tumour, poor chap.
I’d definitely recommend seeing another more pig experienced vet too, there’s a vet locator on the forum so you can see if any of our recommended vets are close to you.

My past piggy Jess had a large mammary gland cyst and she was operated on by Simon Maddock at Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton as well, she sailed through the surgery and healed really well too.
All the best!
 
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