Lump on Guinea Pig - WWYD?

[ladyt25]

So, I have two guinea pigs (boys) - they live outside in a decent sized cage and have a run on the garden that they live out in in the spring/summer.

I noticed last year that one of them has a lump about the size of a pea on his belly. It is white and I assume/assumed is a hernia. I have been keeping an eye on it and he is not bothered about it being touched and it has not changed in size and essentially is not bothering him so I've left well alone.

They are not handled that regularly - as in i don't bring them in for fuss etc like i would have done back when I was a kid. However, they are pretty tame and I check their nails, give them the odd groom etc.

Yesterday as it was nice, I put them out on the garden and noticed the one with the lump now has another one on his side that is slightly larger. Again, this doesn't seem to be bothering him in the slightest and when i manipulated it he didn't react.

My question is - what would you do about it? I have considered whether to take him to the vet but am hesitant due to the following reasons:- (1) Guinea pig is almost 5 years old so a pretty good age already (2) He is a good weight, is perky in himself and eating and drinking normally. He doesn't appear to be in any discomfort whatsoever (3) what could the vet actually do? IF it was cancerous then it's not like i could do anything about it - It's not right to have it operated on is it. IF not then I wouldn't ask them to remove it as again, guinea pigs and GA are not a great mix.

Therefore, would I be wrong to just monitor it myself and, if it gets larger then seek veterinary advice? I know it sounds horrid but I am reluctant to pay £30 to go to a vet for them to essentially just tell me it's either going to kill him or it isn't! Has anyone else had experience of lumps appearing on their GPs? I have owned guinea pigs for years and years and never seen anything similar.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[PorkChop]

Personally, I would wait until I was next going to the Vets, take the guinea pig with me so that the Vet can give me an idea of what the lumps are.

I wouldn't have a guinea pig of that age operated on, but I would like to have an idea if the lumps were something horrible so that I could possibly plan to have him pts at the end of the summer for example.

 

[splashgirl45]

one of mine had a lump on her belly which i monitored for quite a while and then it got bigger and started to look a bit sore. took her to vets as it couldnt really be left(would have got infected etc) and he operated and removed 4 lumps in all, she came out of the ga fine she was not quite 3, so quite a bit younger than yours..... i lost her at 4 1/2 ....good luck with yours, 5 is a good age.....

 

[ladyt25]

Hmm,that could be a plan I guess. My mum is due to take the dog in for her jabs so maybe I could persuade her to take the pig in too.

I just think it would be pretty traumatic for an animal of that size to have even a biopsy done but then maybe I am wrong. He's a very happy little soul, I'd feel bad!

 

[ladyt25]

one of mine had a lump on her belly which i monitored for quite a while and then it got bigger and started to look a bit sore. took her to vets as it couldnt really be left(would have got infected etc) and he operated and removed 4 lumps in all, she came out of the ga fine she was not quite 3, so quite a bit younger than yours..... i lost her at 4 1/2 ....good luck with yours, 5 is a good age.....

I didn't actually realise they were that old until my sister said she bought them for me in 2008! Time flies!! Interesting that yours developed something similar - did they tell you if they were malignant or not?

 

[JustKickOn]

Is the lump slightly squishy or is it solid?

 

[ladyt25]

I haven't squeezed it as such but I would say somewhere in between maybe. It seems to be more in his skin than attached to anything if that makes sense? I can get my fingers pinched arounnd it.

 

[JustKickOn]

It could be a cyst, guineas are quite prone to getting them.

One of my pigs had one on her spine, the vet lanced and cleared it out, and then gave me this bright pink liquid medicine to give her, pig loved it and the cyst went away, although it did take a fair while to heal.
Then my other pig had one on her side, and it never bothered her in the last 4 years of her 11 that she had it. Yes, my pig was very very very old!!

Both of them started off the size of a pea, first pig's grew to be like a broad bean, second one was like a grape.

I think I have some pics of the spine one if you would like to see? From memory though, they're a bit yuck

ETA- Babe pig was 8 when we lost her, Pip pig was 11. Both sisters from the same litter.

 

[Alaadin]

I would take him to the vets. As you probably already know guinea pigs are very good at hiding illness and pain. I think you owe it to him to find out. They might just be harmless cysts, but to leave him without treatment is unfair

 

[ladyt25]

I did think they could be cysts and imagined they would just need draining. 11 is a serious age for a guinea pig! Wow!!

Alaadin - I actually was always of the impression that GPs were rather over-dramatic when to came to pain or anything like that and like to squeal and if you're murdering them!! I may ask my mum to take him in when she takes the dog. I definitely do not think he's suffering at all. He's still as lively and vocal as ever. I am pretty sure there would be some signs if he was in pain/under the weather.

If guinea pigs are prone to cysts then that seems quite likely to be what it is. Thanks Riderlizzie

 

[JustKickOn]

This was about a week or so after it had been lanced

And this about 3 months healing

You can see Pip's on the right, just above the bit of brown there is a small bald patch where the cyst grew. (She's 10 in that pic)

And the pair of them where they were younger.

I'd still take pig to the vets though, just to get them to confirm it is harmless.

 

[Alaadin]

I did think they could be cysts and imagined they would just need draining. 11 is a serious age for a guinea pig! Wow!!

Alaadin - I actually was always of the impression that GPs were rather over-dramatic when to came to pain or anything like that and like to squeal and if you're murdering them!! I may ask my mum to take him in when she takes the dog. I definitely do not think he's suffering at all. He's still as lively and vocal as ever. I am pretty sure there would be some signs if he was in pain/under the weather.

If guinea pigs are prone to cysts then that seems quite likely to be what it is. Thanks Riderlizzie

Nope. Because they're prey animals they try to hide illness in order not to look vulnerable to predators. Hence why quite often an illness will only become clear when it is quite far gone or serious. Depending on the type of cyst it might not even need lancing