Charlie and the Lipomas |
| | What are lipomas? |
| Lipomas are benign (non-cancerous) lumps made up from fat cells. They are also referred to simply as 'fatty lumps'. They are most frequently found in the subcutaneous fat of the flanks, chest, lower neck, armpit and groin and are well defined moveable lumps. They can become quite large, but provided they are benign (a fine needle aspirate on any suspect lump will confirm what it is) then they do not necessarily cause any problems. However, sometimes because of their placement or size, a lump will irritate the animal necessitating removal. Some people and animals of all species seem prone to these lumps. It is common for them to start developing when the person/ animal is in adulthood, most commonly when they reach middle age. |
| Charlie's Lumps: Part One (2002) |
| Charlie was two and a half when she first started developing these lumps. The vet confirmed they were just harmless fatty lumps and I could see that they weren't bothering her at all. Most remain about pea or jelly bean sized and provided they don't bother her, they are left alone. However, one on her side began growing after remaining the same size for months and it began to irritate her. She started trying to scratch and bite at it creating a wound, so I took her in to the vets to discuss having it removed. |
 | The vet decided to remove the lump that was causing her bother, and also the one next to it as it had grown a little recently and could have become a problem later. The vets had a very good record with this type of operation in guinea pigs and used isoflurane gas which is the safest anaesthetic gas to use for guinea pigs. As the lumps were only attached to her skin, not deeper or connected to muscles or ligaments, they expected it to go very smoothly, which it did. See the pic to the left for a post-operative Charlie (she was bedded on towels until the stitches came out, but we let her have a supervised wander around in her usual cage once the wound had healed up a bit). Charlie did throw a spanner in to the works by removing her stitches at home on the night after the operation, so had to have some stitches redone and wear a collar to stop her doing it again. The wounds healed up nicely. Read about the elizabethan collar saga. |
| I keep a close eye on all Charlie's lumps to check if any are growing or there are signs she is getting irritated by them. As all the pigs are in my living room I always notice if one is scratching more than usual, or in a particular place, so that helps me monitor her without actually having to do anything. Hair loss around the lump is a good sign to look out for as guinea pigs often pull out the hair in frustration if something is irritating them. However it is worth mentioning that when a lump grows, the skin stretches over it making the hair look more sparse. But as long as you keep a close eye on any lumps, you will notice if they begin to look different. |
| Charlie's Lumps: Part Two (2005) |
| In spring 2005 a few of Charlie's lumps which been unproblematic for a couple of years, had another growth spurt. There was one which was clearly causing a problem. It was on her belly, in between her front legs. Because it had grown, it was now dragging on the floor and because of the friction, the fur had been lost from that area, so it will have been annoying for her. We took her to the vets and she was booked in for an operation to have it removed. There were a couple other lumps, one further down on her stomach and one on her side which had also grown recently. The vet thought it would be good to remove these two while she was under anaesthetic so that she wouldn't have to have further operations if they did become a problem. As the lumps were only attached to the skin, removing them is a fairly quick and straightforward procedure, so would only mean she was under anaesthetic for a few minutes longer. |
| Charlie came round from the operation well, and all the fatty lumps the vet had wanted to remove, had been taken off successfully. Charlie was put on Baytril to help prevent infection developing in any of the wounds, and was free to go home. Her stitches required no care at home besides keeping an eye on them, and taking her back to the vets if there were any problems. I used vetbed in the cage to ensure no bedding or hay could get in to or irritate the wound, to help keep it clean. It also makes it easier to keep an eye on her output which is always worth doing after surgery to ensure they're eating and drinking well and that everything is in good working order. As Charlie had a history of removing her stitches, I kept an especially close eye on her. |
| Charlie's wounds stayed nice and clean initially, and she made no serious attempt to chew at her stitches which was a relief. She went back to the vets four days after for a check up and they were completely happy with her progress. However, her stitches were due to be removed ten days after the operation, and a couple of days before this I noticed Charlie nibbling at one of the wounds which was now bleeding slightly. After watching her for a while, she didn't seem to be persistently interested in it and the bleeding had stopped, so I left her without a collar on, monitoring her and the wounds which looked fine. The next morning the wounds still looked fine and all the stitches were intact, and Charlie wasn't showing any interest in the stitches. However, later that day I was checking her wounds and two of them were bleeding and had a slight unpleasant smell to them. I cleaned them up with a diluted betadine solution and took her back to the vets who confirmed that abscesses had formed in two of them. It could well have been that she'd been chewing at the wound because the infection was causing some local irritation, rather than her chewing at them having caused the infection. As she'd made no previous attempt to undo her stitches, it did seem quite likely, so we made the decision not to put a collar on her. Her stitches were due to be removed about then anyway, so he took them out - when an abscess develops it's best to keep the wound open so it can heal from the inside. If the stitches were left bacteria were more likely to be trapped inside potentially causing a much larger abscess to develop. I was instructed to flush them out several times a day and keep her on the Baytril. See the abscesses page for more information on abscesses and how to flush them. |
| Luckily the abscesses had been caught early and because the wounds were left open and they were being flushed regularly, they didn't get too much worse. There was some rather fragrant pus to come out first, but within about a week they had healed completely. Charlie had a couple more vet visits during this time so the vet could check they were healing okay, and he was really happy with how their progress and she was discharged. She still has quite a few fatty lumps left, but none that are of any significant size at the moment. |
Before the operation - the main lump to be removed.
|
After the surgery - the three incisions where lumps had been removed |
 Abscesses have developed in the two lower wounds |
 After the stitches had been removed: The abscesses are healing |
 All healed up |
|
