Tumour

[Bettyb26]

Hi everyone. My piggy Eugene is about 2.5 years old and earlier this year he started growing a lump under his chin. We took him to the vet and they recommended a biopsy which we booked in but the price that they gave us initially had been tripled on the day of the biopsy and we were unable to afford it. He has seemed healthy since then but yesterday we noticed that he seems skinnier, we haven’t weighed him but he’s always been a big boy and now we can feel his bones. His appetite is totally normal and nothing about his diet has changed. He also drinks a lot of water, he’s always drank more than the others but for the past couple of weeks he’s been emptying his bottle every day. We are going to get him to the vet asap but does anyone have experience of these symptoms? The water and weight loss seem to sound more like a renal issue but I can’t help but think he has some kind of cancer because of the lump. He doesn’t have any issues with his fur and he isn’t lethargic (these seem to be main symptoms of lymphoma which the vet did say could be the cause of the lump). I’m not really sure what we will do if they say he needs a biopsy as we were quoted nearly £900 which we cannot afford. He seems happy but I would hate it if he was in pain. Thank you x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone. My piggy Eugene is about 2.5 years old and earlier this year he started growing a lump under his chin. We took him to the vet and they recommended a biopsy which we booked in but the price that they gave us initially had been tripled on the day of the biopsy and we were unable to afford it. He has seemed healthy since then but yesterday we noticed that he seems skinnier, we haven’t weighed him but he’s always been a big boy and now we can feel his bones. His appetite is totally normal and nothing about his diet has changed. He also drinks a lot of water, he’s always drank more than the others but for the past couple of weeks he’s been emptying his bottle every day. We are going to get him to the vet asap but does anyone have experience of these symptoms? The water and weight loss seem to sound more like a renal issue but I can’t help but think he has some kind of cancer because of the lump. He doesn’t have any issues with his fur and he isn’t lethargic (these seem to be main symptoms of lymphoma which the vet did say could be the cause of the lump). I’m not really sure what we will do if they say he needs a biopsy as we were quoted nearly £900 which we cannot afford. He seems happy but I would hate it if he was in pain. Thank you x

Hi and welcome

Unfortunately, there are several glands packed closely together in that area. Not having personal experience with anything else but a dental root/jaw abscess (which you are clearly not dealing with), I cannot help you but note that whatever it is is obviously affecting Eugene's health now. I doubt that the increased drinking is connected with the kidneys. It is more likely connected to what is going on with the lump. We can unfortunately not magically replace any diagnostics since we are an owners forum that specialises in support but we are not a medical forum.

Please step in with feeding top up so you have a little more leeway to think anything through that needs to be thought through since a biopsy would only be a first step and what comes next would unfortunately not be much cheaper. Vet prices have gone truly through the roof unfortunately. It does NOT make you a bad owner but it may result in less options and some harder decisions you may have to make. It is always a lot harder when it happens with a younger piggy.

The one food group you cannot control by eye is hay, which is making over three quarters of the food intake. Some extra pellets (plain or mushed up in warm water) may help with slowing down the weight loss a little.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

HUGS

 

[Merab]

Just offering support for you.