I have a female guinea pig. She has swollen nipples (no discharge). We took her to the emergency vet because we noticed a bit of blood in her vaginal area. The x-ray showed that everything looked normal internally. She was placed on Enrofloxacin Suspension 10.2 mg/mL. I should note that the bleeding was very minimal and had completely stopped by the time we arrived at the clinic. She hasn't had any bleeding since, and she seems perfectly normal. Has anyone ever experienced this before?
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Swollen Nipples
- Thread starter AmyE
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Abi_nurse
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Yes, I've seen this in guinea pigs with uterine tumours but if she has blood in her urine it may be a urine infection. X-rays will not show up most tumours so would be worth ultrasounding her. Many uterine masses are benign but often should be removed if bleeding.
Tiamolly123
Senior Guinea Pig
Hi & welcome to our friendly forum. I haven't experienced this myself, but I bet someone has!
She isn't a new born pup (sorry, new to this). She's about 2 1/2 years old.
What would cause this?
Abi_nurse
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What do you mean? - a tumour in the uterus can just happen spontaneously, I would assume some piggies are more genetically prone to them than others.
I agree with @Abi_nurse .
Your piggy is at an age where this can happen. An ovarian cyst gone wrong has also resulted in similar symptoms.
Sows are engineered to be nonstop pregnant as soon as they are weaned; they come into season again within hours of giving birth. Nature is not counting on them getting old as they are likely to either wear out or to die young from birthing complications. This is why there is not menopause and why hormone productions never stops and never drops. In sows past the ideal pup bearing age, this can increasingly cause problems in the reproductive tract. Most sows will never show any problems even though a large number of older sows will have ovarian cysts, but problems can happen from about 2 years onwards.
Tumours can happen anywhere in the body at any age, although they are more likely the older a piggy gets.
Enroflaxacin and enrobactin a new brand names for baytril.
Your piggy is at an age where this can happen. An ovarian cyst gone wrong has also resulted in similar symptoms.
Sows are engineered to be nonstop pregnant as soon as they are weaned; they come into season again within hours of giving birth. Nature is not counting on them getting old as they are likely to either wear out or to die young from birthing complications. This is why there is not menopause and why hormone productions never stops and never drops. In sows past the ideal pup bearing age, this can increasingly cause problems in the reproductive tract. Most sows will never show any problems even though a large number of older sows will have ovarian cysts, but problems can happen from about 2 years onwards.
Tumours can happen anywhere in the body at any age, although they are more likely the older a piggy gets.
Enroflaxacin and enrobactin a new brand names for baytril.
Oh. Okay. This is my first guinea pig (my daughter's actually), so I'm just looking for as much info as possible before returning to my regular veterinarian.
Would she still act completely normal if she has a tumor? She isn't in any pain that I can tell as she isn't bothered by being examined. She's eating, drinking, urinating, and defecating normally. If it wasn't for the tiny amount of blood I saw and the swollen nipples, I wouldn't have known anything was off with her. Will the tumor go away on its own, or does it need to be removed?
THANK YOU for all of the info.
Tiamolly123
Senior Guinea Pig
My piggy ate, drunk & played as normal. Chances are it will have to be removed. Molly had a massive one, that was missed at health checks. They operated but it had spread to all her organs & we lost her
Thank you for the info. Much appreciation.
A tumour in the early stages will not cause any great discomfort. But it will not go away on its own and continue to grow at its own speed, depending on its nature. Tumours can be both benign or malign.
You will want to have it removed early before it can spread if it is malign and before it causes any discomfort or trouble if it is benign. If in doubt, opt for removal; testing of internal tumours is not possible before they are removed.