Tumor Older female has a tumor

[VioletandLilith]

Almost a year ago I got Violet from a pet store because I instantly fell in love with her. They told me she had been given to them by someone who didnt want her anymore and her cage was extremely dirty (they had to scrape all the poop off the bottom with a gift card) and her nails were overgrown and starting to twist around. Violet was definitely older when I got her but I don't know her exact age. Shortly after I got her I discovered she had a UTI which was easily fixed by a trip to the vet and some antibiotics. After she got situated I got her a playmate, Lilith, and everything has been running smoothly since then. Friday morning I noticed a good amount of blood in Violet's cage. I took her to the vet that morning and the vet told me (after looking through her "guinea pig book") that she thought it was most likely a tumor in her uterus. She didn't think it was an infection because Violet was acting normal and not sick at all. She told me she would contact a guinea pig specialist and let me know if he thought, by the amount of blood and her age, if it was most likely malignant or benign and if he thought it was operable. She didnt e-mail me until Saturday night. The specialist told her he recommended getting x-rays and a urine sample to make sure it wasn't a UTI or kidneys stones (which we had already ruled out) and to see if it was a tumor. So I took her back to the vet Monday morning and the urine sample showed no blood but the vet said that her reproductive system looked like something was very wrong with it. She didn't elaborate but said the tumor was probably big and the surgery would be very evasive. She doesnt want to operate on Violet and put her through that if tumor had already spread too much. She said to give Violet her favorite treats and spend some time with her, which had me in tears. She told me she would once again contact the specialist and show him the x-rays (at this point I am very frusterated but am unable to call her out or ask further questions because I am too upset). It is now Tuesday night and I have not heard from her and I do not know what to do. Violet is still acting like her normal, active, veggie-devouring-self. I want to get another opinion but I don't know how to find someone reliable. Vet bills are expensive but I will borrow money and do whatever it takes, I just don't want to take her to another person and waste my money because they don't know anything about guinea pigs either. I guess my questions are; Do you have any experience with a similar type of situation or any knowledge about tumors? Or do you know how I am able to find a reliable vet or someone who specializes in guinea pigs?

 

[Sunrise]

I am very sorry to hear this. It's been 4 days and no one has posted a reply. It doesn't mean that we do not care. Most likely people don't know much about tumours and the ones who do might not have seen your post yet. I don't know if we have vets or vet techs on this forum. There most likely are people who've had guinea pigs with tumours. Please hang in there. I would be very hesitant to get a second opinion also if it means basically drilling a hole in your wallet. Although you're not ready...it may help you if you do prepare yourself for the worst. This is no easy news. We are here for you either way.

 

[Soecara]

I don't know if you've already found this, but guinea lynx has a list of vets, perhaps they have one listed that is near you. (broken link removed)

I have had experience with a tumour in one of my girls but it was in her abdomen not in the reproductive tract. Unfortunately in my case the mass was inoperable and fast growing, at the time of diagnosis she was still an active and happy pig so I took her home and the vet gave me some pain meds to give her if it seemed like she was in pain. For a few weeks after diagnosis she managed just fine and was a happy pig, but then over the period of a week she started slowly declining. I ended up having to make the decision to put her to sleep after her quality of life started to decline.

 

[CavyChrissy]

I second @Sunnrise I just don't have any experience with this issue. But I hope that you are getting some resolution. If you haven't already, you should ask your vet for the name of the specialist she's been speaking to and just take your pig directly to that person. Or start calling vets near you and ask if they treat guinea pigs. Most will say no, but always ask if they know of another vet that does. I found one that way.

Also, I see you are in Texas. I think @bpatters is in Houston(?) and I remember see other users in Texas too. If you can tell us where you are in Texas, maybe someone has a vet to recommend.

I hope that Violet is doing ok.

 

[pinky]

I recently had an experience similar to @Soecara. My 7 year old female started walking oddly. She had been at the vet a couple of months earlier for something unrelated and was given a clean bill of health. I even saw the vet run her hands around Wishbone's abdomen as part of the checkup. I took her back to the vet and xrays showed a very large mass. Due to the size and her age, we agreed that she'd be put on pain meds to give her more time as long as she was active and eating. Within a couple of months, she went down hill quickly so I felt I had to have her euthanized. Do you have any idea of her age? I think that would be a big part of my decision.

 

[bpatters]

Sorry, I missed this earlier.

Like @pinky, her age would be a big factor in my decision. If she's not old, and is in otherwise good condition, I'd opt for the surgery.

Where in Texas are you?

 

[lennier1]

If your vet isn't very experienced with guinea pigs, it might be worthwhile seeing someone else.

Maybe you could get in touch with the people from the Happy Cavy blog, since they've written about treating a guinea pig for cancer. It sounds like they were able to get in touch with some vets with impressive expertise. Even if the conditions aren't very similar, they might have some useful contacts.

https://www.happycavy.com/bitsy-guinea-pig-lymphoma/

Good luck.