Possible Cancer in 2.5 Male GP

[caramelmocha]

Hello everyone!
We're new to the guinea pig forum. We have a foster guinea pig named Cosmo, who is around 2.5 years old. For context, we got him as a"next door neighbor pig" for our senior 8yr old guinea pig Caramel after our other guinea pig, Mocha, passed away earlier this year. Caramel and Cosmo are both males and have displayed some aggression when introduced together, so we have kept them in separate cages, but in close proximity so they can still smell and see each other. Caramel has always been a fairly independent pig, so he wasn't too concerned with this arrangement. Cosmo, in the ~6 month span we've had him, been extremely energetic and a vocal guinea pig. He was cautious of us, but was always running around his cage and wheeking for treats and snacks 24/7. Recently -- around 4-5 days ago--we've noticed that he has been more lethargic and less vocal. He's been wheezing and making croaking noises. He also has been walking unsteady and has a lump under his neck. This concerned us, so we took him to the vet 2 days ago(11/8). The vet examined him and chalked up his wheezing to either pneumonia or fluid in the lungs. They also checked the lump under his neck and noted that it was fairly hard and had ridges and slight bumps. They also found a mass in his abdomen that we had not noticed previously. This was unusual considering Caramel had an abscess earlier this summer and the masses found in Cosmo were firmer than what Caramel's abscess had felt like. The vet said that this was likely cancerous (tumors) and gave us 3 options. 1. x-ray to identify if there was really a mass in his abdomen, 2. get a cytology/biopsy to know if the lumps were cancerous, and 3, take home 2-weeks worth of antibiotics(2x/day)and pain meds(1x/day) and see how he responds to those. In Caramel's case, the antibiotics worked extremely well for his abscess, so if Cosmo did happen to have some kind of infection/abscess, we hoped it could be cleared up/improved through the antibiotics. On top of the meds, we've been feeding critical care since he's not been eating much hay and only nibbles on a few pellets. Fast forward to today(11/10)--since he's been eating less (still syringe-feeding) his energy is very low and he was practically dragging himself around the cage. He did not seem well at all and was refusing most of the foods we were feeding previously: pellets, little soft bits of hay, 100% fruit/veg baby food, a few pea-flakes, critical care and syringes of water. At that point, he seemed miserable and showed basically no signs of improvement. We were going to take him to the emergency vet to euthanize him, but before we left we tried giving him some more water and pea-flakes and he ate that with little problem. At around noon he seemed to be a bit brighter than he was in the morning and we decided to wait it out and see how he's feeling later. The vet we normally go to only opens on Tuesday, and the only option is the emergency vet. Considering he is still eating, we aren't going to the vet immediately, but keeping a close eye on him. We also gave Cosmo a wrapped heating pad (sock+rice) and he was snuggling next to that for sometime and seemed to enjoy that. We would like any advice regarding how to keep him comfortable and if anyone else has gone through this/any general advice--especially with tumors. I've looked around this forum before for our previous pig Mocha when he was sick, as well as Caramel, and I know that there are many pig-savvy and experienced owners on this forum, so any help would be much appreciated! Sorry for the long message, just trying to give context on the situation with Cosmo.

 

[Roselina]

I’m so sorry to read about Cosmo -
I have no experience of this but wanted to stop by and give you my support and love -
You do need to weigh Cosmo daily to see how is weight is going as a true measure of what he’s eating
I would step in with some critical care syringe food ( emeraid etc)
A heating pad is a great comfort to a poorly piggy
I would take him to the Vet to check asap
I hope he picks up a bit asap

 

[caramelmocha]

Thank you so much, Roselina. Unfortunately, Cosmo was not faring well and refusing to eat anything (pellets, pea-flakes, water, critical care, blueberries, etc.) as the day went on, and we decided it was only fair to put him down. We brought him to an emergency vet and they confirmed the mass in his abdomen. He's at peace now. Caramel seemed to be a bit lonely but currently seems to be feeling better. We're making sure he's comfortable and spending as much time as we can with him.

 

[Julie M]

Thank you so much, Roselina. Unfortunately, Cosmo was not faring well and refusing to eat anything (pellets, pea-flakes, water, critical care, blueberries, etc.) as the day went on, and we decided it was only fair to put him down. We brought him to an emergency vet and they confirmed the mass in his abdomen. He's at peace now. Caramel seemed to be a bit lonely but currently seems to be feeling better. We're making sure he's comfortable and spending as much time as we can with him.

So sorry for your loss. Sending you hugs

 

[Roselina]

Thank you so much, Roselina. Unfortunately, Cosmo was not faring well and refusing to eat anything (pellets, pea-flakes, water, critical care, blueberries, etc.) as the day went on, and we decided it was only fair to put him down. We brought him to an emergency vet and they confirmed the mass in his abdomen. He's at peace now. Caramel seemed to be a bit lonely but currently seems to be feeling better. We're making sure he's comfortable and spending as much time as we can with him.

Oh I’m sorry to hear about lovely Cosmo - you made the best decision for him and that’s what our piggies expect from us.
It is so hard
He was living his best life with Caramel and all of you
He’ll be popcorning pain free at RB
There is a section on here where you can write a tribute to Cosmo and place photos ( Rainbow Bridge Piggies)
Take care of yourselves as you get used to life without Cosmo

 

[caramelmocha]

Hello everyone!
Just a little update on everything:
We're doing better and getting used to life without Cosmo. We've read through some of the End of Life and Bereavement Support Corner as well as other resources regarding pet loss. I'm writing this post looking for some advice on how to support a grieving guinea pig. Caramel, as stated previously, has always been an independent and aloof guinea pig when it comes to social interactions with other piggies and sharing his space. However, we've noticed that these past few days have seemed to have had an impact on him. He's still his carefree and healthy self, eating and drinking water with no issues. Despite his cheerful demeanor, there are times he seems to be quite lonely. I've attached a picture as an example below. Of course, most of the time he's just sleeping since he is 8 years old and isn't the same as his younger, energetic self. If anyone has any advice or experience with this specific situation, please let me know. We're not ready to bring another foster(or adopted) guinea pig into our lives yet, and probably not anytime soon in the future, especially considering Caramel's age. I want to make it clear that he's eating well and doesn't seem to be unwell or anything, just a bit sad and we would like to make sure he's comfortable.

Note: we brought him to our living room so that we're around him more than he was when he was situated originally in one of our bedrooms. This cheered him up a bit since he is a pig that prefers human companionship more than our previous piggies. Of course, human companionship can only go so far, and we were wondering if anyone has any advice on how to make sure Caramel's golden years are peaceful and stress-free.

Thank you everyone for the kind words and support <3
They mean a lot to us during this time.