Engel
Adult Guinea Pig
Disclaimer: I will be taking Eileithya-Eris to the vet. Just want to talk things through first.
I've noticed a gradual loss in condition over the past few months but I put it down to her age as she is 4+ now. However in the past 1-2 weeks I've noticed her hair thinning on her sides where the ovaries would be as well as around the grease gland (I put the grease gland part down to it being over active). I've had a feeling of her and I can feel a lot of lumps around the ovary area, I don't mean 1 or 2 we're talking nearer to 10, some seem to be floating around the area while others seem attached. It could be one big bobbly mess but they feel separate from one another. Each 'lump' is the size of a small pea.
Part of me hopes it's just ovarian cysts however I've had many female rodents be like this and it's turned out to be cancer. She is eating but I don't know whether she's not eating enough hence the weight loss OR because all her reserves are being used to feed the growths.
Given her age and the fact her brother died suddenly of an assumed heart attack a few months ago, I'm a bit wary about putting her under to be spayed especially if this will buy her weeks/months and not years.
She's rumble strutting a lot (like she's in season) and her cage mates are rumbling back and there's a lot of chasing and jumping which is to be expected if these growths are messing with hormones.
I'm at a loss what to do. I know it won't be fair keeping her in this condition as she's in some discomfort hence the pulling out of hair.
Edit: in the past 6-7 months she's gone from 1050g to 868g.
I've noticed a gradual loss in condition over the past few months but I put it down to her age as she is 4+ now. However in the past 1-2 weeks I've noticed her hair thinning on her sides where the ovaries would be as well as around the grease gland (I put the grease gland part down to it being over active). I've had a feeling of her and I can feel a lot of lumps around the ovary area, I don't mean 1 or 2 we're talking nearer to 10, some seem to be floating around the area while others seem attached. It could be one big bobbly mess but they feel separate from one another. Each 'lump' is the size of a small pea.
Part of me hopes it's just ovarian cysts however I've had many female rodents be like this and it's turned out to be cancer. She is eating but I don't know whether she's not eating enough hence the weight loss OR because all her reserves are being used to feed the growths.
Given her age and the fact her brother died suddenly of an assumed heart attack a few months ago, I'm a bit wary about putting her under to be spayed especially if this will buy her weeks/months and not years.
She's rumble strutting a lot (like she's in season) and her cage mates are rumbling back and there's a lot of chasing and jumping which is to be expected if these growths are messing with hormones.
I'm at a loss what to do. I know it won't be fair keeping her in this condition as she's in some discomfort hence the pulling out of hair.
Edit: in the past 6-7 months she's gone from 1050g to 868g.