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Thyroid surgery - benign tumor causing hyperthyroidism

RosieMaia

RosieMaia

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hello,

My two oldies - Rosie and Maya from my nickname - are having both health issues. Rosie has a hyperactive thyroid, diagnosed approximately 12 months ago, which we maintained well with methimazole. He had a small thyroid tumor, which suddenly grew over the last 2 months, we're no longer able to adequately control his hyperthyroidism and plan surgery.

I wanted to ask if someone has experience with this and what was the outcome of the surgery for your piggy? Did they recover quickly after the surgery itself, did they have trouble eating afterwards? Did they need further oral methimazole, after the thyroid was surgically reduced? Did their weight normalize? Did they have a recurrence after the surgery?

Thank you!
 
RosieMaia said:
Hello,

My two oldies - Rosie and Maya from my nickname - are having both health issues. Rosie has a hyperactive thyroid, diagnosed approximately 12 months ago, which we maintained well with methimazole. He had a small thyroid tumor, which suddenly grew over the last 2 months, we're no longer able to adequately control his hyperthyroidism and plan surgery.

I wanted to ask if someone has experience with this and what was the outcome of the surgery for your piggy? Did they recover quickly after the surgery itself, did they have trouble eating afterwards? Did they need further oral methimazole, after the thyroid was surgically reduced? Did their weight normalize? Did they have a recurrence after the surgery?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hi!

Unfortunately for you, I have no experience with this. Hyperthyroidism is still an area that is relatively new and rather difficult to control in guinea pigs.
 
We initially decided against surgery mainly on the basis of this article:
Retrospective Study on Hyperthyroidism in Guinea Pigs in Veterinary Practices in Germany

Plus other anecdotal evidence indicated surgery had no added value compared to medication-only control of the disease and tumors tend to recur.

We have now read an as-yet unpublished article about a technique, which seems promising. Though the sample was only 6 pigs, they've all recovered and are in medication-free remission. This would be our vet's first thyroid surgery on a guinea pig (though she has done a number of bunnies and cats), and I am quite worried. At the same time, we have nothing to lose - he's 860 grams, which we manage to maintain with lots of syringe-feeding, his tumor has tripled in size in 2 months and his T4 level is through the roof despite being on double the normally-considered max dose of the medication. Fortunately, his heart and kidneys are still stable, his weight is not too bad, all things considered, and he's fine in himself, so we will try.
 
Thank you. This is what we’re currently using, but it is no longer capable of keeping his T4 levels in check. As his thyroid is enlarging, it’s producing more T4, so he’s now on a very high dose of 0.3 ml q 8 h p.o. and still not enough. Any more and his kidneys will start to fail... :(
 
RosieMaia said:
Thank you. This is what we’re currently using, but it is no longer capable of keeping his T4 levels in check. As his thyroid is enlarging, it’s producing more T4, so he’s now on a very high dose of 0.3 ml q 8 h p.o. and still not enough. Any more and his kidneys will start to fail... :(
Click to expand...
Are you giving it twice a day? I was giving 0.4 ml twice daily
 
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