We adopted an 8-year old male (Hal) a couple of months ago, and he has settled in nicely. Very bright, alert, and energetic for an 8-year old. A couple of weeks ago, though, I noticed blood on my shirt while I was holding him, and discovered that he had an enlarged nipple that was bleeding. Long story short, he was on two rounds of SMZ and the bacteria has cleared up but the lump has gotten a bit larger. Today, at the re-check, our vet said that another sample drawn from it showed "some abnormal cells." It's clearly a mammary tumor. Vet is recommending surgery to remove it, but obviously this is an 8-year old pig and the risks are pretty high.
Our vet is very capable and she has removed various lumps on our guys over the years, but we have never had any surgery done on a guinea pig this old (very few of ours have made it to 8, for that matter). Even though Hal is unusually bright and active for his age, I just worry that he won't pull through. Anesthesia alone is a biggie. We lost a 6-year old guinea pig a couple of years ago due to complications around anesthesia (made it through the surgery itself okay but never fully regained consciousness once we got him home).
I did ask if we could try a round of Prednisone first, just to see if it reduces the size of the lump, and she agreed. I also wrote to a buddy of mine who does guinea pig rescue and asked for her opinion. She said she would be inclined just to keep him as comfortable as possible for as long as I can vs. putting him through surgery at that age. My husband agrees with that. It just feels lousy, as we have only had him a short time and, even though he is an older gentleman, I was hoping we would have him for a while longer.
Part of me can't help but wonder if his previous owner knew about the tumor, and that's why she wanted to rehome him (her excuse was that she was traveling out of the country to go to vet school for 4 years).
Looking back through many posts on GL, the advice here (mostly related to mammary tumors but also in general) has almost always been to avoid surgery on a guinea pig this old. Intellectually it makes sense and is what I would say to anyone else contemplating it. Emotionally, though, this is hitting me hard because I've become awfully attached to him in this relatively short period of time.
Anyway, I just needed a place to talk through this a little. Thanks for listening.
Medical Thread for Hal
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
I know you want to make the right choices for all the animals that come under your care.
That said, my vague memory is that mammary tumors are an easier surgery than invasive surgeries like stone removal - though your concern about anesthesia is certainly legit. I don't know if it would be helpful to talk to your vet specifically about anesthesia and what extra precautions she might take with an older guinea pig but it might change your choice if he is otherwise quite healthy.
That said, my vague memory is that mammary tumors are an easier surgery than invasive surgeries like stone removal - though your concern about anesthesia is certainly legit. I don't know if it would be helpful to talk to your vet specifically about anesthesia and what extra precautions she might take with an older guinea pig but it might change your choice if he is otherwise quite healthy.
When Ringo s vets didnt want operate him on glaucoma when he was 14,5 i felt the same as you..but it wasnt like they write him off- they just correctly tsught to prolong his life with medications rather than put him through heavy surgery causr first animal need to survive surgery as you know and second being able to recover. I hope you will be able to limit growth somehow with medications. We wish him the best shd more. You are brave to aopt him that old and y know what luck is on the side of brave ones!!
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Sef
- I dissent.
It really is a tough decision. Our vet feels confident that Hal is in good overall health for surgery, but I just keep remembering the last surgery with one of our guys and Amos not pulling through. His surgery was for bladder stones, though, and he was "under" a lot longer than expected.
I was hoping maybe the Pred would shrink the lump even a little, but looking at it tonight it doesn't look any smaller and may even be larger. I will be calling the vet again on Monday and discussing the possibility of moving up the surgery date, which was tentatively set for the 28th. If we're going to do this, I think it needs to be sooner vs. later. :(
I was hoping maybe the Pred would shrink the lump even a little, but looking at it tonight it doesn't look any smaller and may even be larger. I will be calling the vet again on Monday and discussing the possibility of moving up the surgery date, which was tentatively set for the 28th. If we're going to do this, I think it needs to be sooner vs. later. :(
I’d think this would be a more superficial operation than bladder stones. No messing inside his belly right? The messing (deep) inside the belly is what piggies are so sensitive to.
I think I would trust the vet and have it done. Yes, Hal may not recover, but he would not be in pain, you will make sure of that.
And your last experience was awful, but how bad was it really for the guinea pig? I doubt there was much suffering on his end. The loving humans often feel it much more as you make sure the piggie is as comfotable as possible.
And if he does pull through you have given him a chance at more happy times in your loving home.
Doing nothing will just cause you more stress and as the tumour grows it will cause Hal more stress too.
I think I would trust the vet and have it done. Yes, Hal may not recover, but he would not be in pain, you will make sure of that.
And your last experience was awful, but how bad was it really for the guinea pig? I doubt there was much suffering on his end. The loving humans often feel it much more as you make sure the piggie is as comfotable as possible.
And if he does pull through you have given him a chance at more happy times in your loving home.
Doing nothing will just cause you more stress and as the tumour grows it will cause Hal more stress too.
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