My girl Bonnie is almost 4. She’s steadily lost 200g over the last two months. She’s acting completely normal and eating and drinking well. The vet (an exotic that sees a lot of guineas, she’s on the vet list here) found an ovarian cyst on one side (which has grown in the last month) and what she thinks is a tumour on her other side. She also has other small lumps on her belly but the vet reckons these are nothing to worry about. Vet put her on pain relief on Tuesday to see if her weight goes up as she may be hiding pain. Her behaviour is still the same and weight is still going down. Vet said she could do an x-Ray and ultrasound and giving her a little gas to do this as she’s very wriggly. Really torn what to do. She’s happy right now but she can’t continue to lose weight. Everyday I weigh her and everyday I think she’s going to go downhill. If I put her through sedation for further tests will I even go ahead with an operation. I’m not sure if I want to put her through that when there appears to be multiple issues going on with her abdomen and from what I’ve read guineas ops for abdominal tumours don’t usually end well.
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Possible tumour in sow
- Thread starter Helen42
- Start date
piggl
Forum Donator 2024/25
I think if I were in your position, I would go ahead with the ultrasound etc. if they could do it with some light gas, as it would hopefully give you a bit more understanding of what is going on and light gas should hopefully take less of a toll on your girl.
If she is gradually losing weight you may want to step in with some support feeding, I understand she is eating on her own but as it is not evening out, she may need a bit of help. That also would move me more towards trying to figure out what is going on.
These guides may be nice to read through -
Weight - Monitoring and Management
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
I can understand the apprehension, perhaps you are a bit worried to find out what the issue is and that is completely normal and understandable, but you will never know the outcome until you go ahead and find out. We are all just doing our best and unfortunately sometimes we have to take steps that we do not really want to. You can always go to the vet with your concerns, especially if they are specialist in pigs, and they should talk you through all your options and how they would go about them.
I wish you luck with whatever you chose to do and I hope your girl feels better soon x
If she is gradually losing weight you may want to step in with some support feeding, I understand she is eating on her own but as it is not evening out, she may need a bit of help. That also would move me more towards trying to figure out what is going on.
These guides may be nice to read through -
Weight - Monitoring and Management
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
I can understand the apprehension, perhaps you are a bit worried to find out what the issue is and that is completely normal and understandable, but you will never know the outcome until you go ahead and find out. We are all just doing our best and unfortunately sometimes we have to take steps that we do not really want to. You can always go to the vet with your concerns, especially if they are specialist in pigs, and they should talk you through all your options and how they would go about them.
I wish you luck with whatever you chose to do and I hope your girl feels better soon x
Hi
HUGS
I think it is worth opting for a scan because that will hopefully allow you and your vet to then make an informed decision as to which way you want to proceed. Even if the news is not great, you will at least know that whatever you will decide has been done with your girl's best interests upmost in mind - but you can make that decision with a much clearer mind than right now when you are reeling from the bad news and are torn with your fears.
A scan won't take all that long and is not invasive, but you'll have a better handle about how to proceed; it is NOT an automatic commitment for an operation. You can always opt to have your girl live out her life for as long as she has quality and enjoyment of it as an alternative if the tumour concern is actually confirmed.
Not doing anything will unfortunately mean that things will continue to get worse. You can never stop them or make them go away just by sheer willpower, sadly. In my own expirence, not knowing will mean that you will have live with doubts about your own actions and stronger feelings of guilt for a longer time than if you make that decision based on facts.
Please be aware that what you are currently experiencing is the shock of the bad news and the onset of your grieving process; it doesn't start with a death, it starts when a death becomes a real possibility. That is why you are reeling so much.
Sleep over it but I would recommend to not put any decisions off for too long after the weekend. I don't know where in the abdomen your vet has felt the hard lump; if you are lucky it could be the ovaries.
Fingers firmly crossed!
Thank you both so much for taking the time to reply and your kind words. She is already booked in on Tuesday morning for a follow up and tests. Vet said the other mass doesn’t feel like an ovarian cyst unfortunately. I will report back with what they find…
All the best! See what comes back and then take it from there.
As an owner, all you can ever do is ride the tiger, try to stay on and see where it takes you but you can never choose the tiger or steer him. What you can do is to support your piggy and keep their wellbeing in mind before your own worries and concerns. You do have the power to call it shots when the tiger is about a to enter a thicket from which there is no exit. Those are still very powerful gifts, even when you yourself are feeling helpless.
We only ever have our pets on a loan from above that can be cancelled at any time without warning. But since piggies do not have a concept for an average life expectancy we can concentrate on what they really want out of life: many happy todays. As long as you give them those, you can never fail your piggies; whatever else happens. You sound like a very loving owner, so I am sure that on that front you are well ahead.
Please keep us updated. We'll be there for you.
Thank you both so much for taking the time to reply. Really appreciate it. The vet said the other lump doesn’t feel like an ovarian cyst. She’s already booked in for next Tuesday for the ultrasound and x-Ray so will report back….just discovered a large lump in one of her ears as well so have sent the picture on to the vets for a possible biopsy when she’s sedated.
Thanks so much for your reply.All the best! See what comes back and then take it from there.
As an owner, all you can ever do is ride the tiger, try to stay on and see where it takes you but you can never choose the tiger or steer him. What you can do is supporting your piggy and keep their wellbeing before your own worries and concerns. And you have the power to call it shots when he is about a to enter a thicket from which there is no exit. Those are still very powerful gifts, even when you yourself are feeling helpless.
We only ever have our pets on a loan from above that can be cancelled at any time without warning. But since piggies do not have a concept for an average life expectancy we can concentrate on what they really want out of life: many happy todays. As long as you give them those, you can never fail your piggies; whatever else happens. You sound like a very loving owner, so I am sure that on that front you are well ahead.
Please keep us updated. We'll be there for you.
Update…
Bonnie had an x-ray and ultrasound today. The vet found the other hard lump to be another ovarian cyst which was a lot lower and felt very different to her other ovarian cyst which is why she had thought it was something else. Feel relieved although now we have make a decision on what to do with the cysts (vet went though the options). She said she was very gassy and wanted to try and get rid of that to see if the weight stops dropping. Her sister Betty is also a little gassy. I’ve started them back on Pro-C to see if that helps. Also researching foods to avoid which may be making Bonnie gassy. Vet will be seeing her again next week for a review.
She also removed the polyp in her ear (see below pic) and has sent it off for testing. She said it looked like it was attached to the outer part of her ear and she didn’t think it had been growing for long. She said that polyps can turn cancerous. Fingers crossed that comes back okay. So glad we found the lump before today so it could get checked at the same time.
Bonnie had an x-ray and ultrasound today. The vet found the other hard lump to be another ovarian cyst which was a lot lower and felt very different to her other ovarian cyst which is why she had thought it was something else. Feel relieved although now we have make a decision on what to do with the cysts (vet went though the options). She said she was very gassy and wanted to try and get rid of that to see if the weight stops dropping. Her sister Betty is also a little gassy. I’ve started them back on Pro-C to see if that helps. Also researching foods to avoid which may be making Bonnie gassy. Vet will be seeing her again next week for a review.
She also removed the polyp in her ear (see below pic) and has sent it off for testing. She said it looked like it was attached to the outer part of her ear and she didn’t think it had been growing for long. She said that polyps can turn cancerous. Fingers crossed that comes back okay. So glad we found the lump before today so it could get checked at the same time.
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I am glad that it is two ovarian cysts. Please be aware that the gassing is likely caused by the pressure of the cysts onto the gut and that in that case, there is very little you can do nutritionally since the gut microbiome is not disturbed or unbalanced. Gut stimulants are usually more effective and I am sure that you have been given some.
Removing the cysts is your best option; especially if you have got a hard cyst that is highly likely to turn cancerous in older age.
If it helps you, I had to make that decision with my Morwenna when she was 5 years old because her ovarian cyst was a hard one and I was advised to have her spayed before she turned 6 years in order to avoid cancer. She lived not only to see her 8th birthday but is also my only piggy to celebrate her 8th adoption anniversary. Her sister Mererid (who needed an emergency spay because of some very fast growing fluid filled large cysts just a few months later than Morwenna) sadly died just 9 days before their 8th birthday last year. Neither would have lived that long without their respective spaying op.
All the best re. the removed polyp not coming back.