Tumour

In 2002, Fred developed a small lump under her eye. She and Charlie (sisters) both had several lumps, and they were checked out by the vet who found out they were all harmless fatty lumps called lipomas (see the page on Charlie's lipomas). As this lump wasn't bothering Fred, it was decided that it should be left alone. In February 2005, the lump under Fred's eye grew slightly. At first I wasn't worried as often the lipomas followed a pattern of appearing and then a couple of years later having a small growth spurt before settling at their final size which was usually not so big as to cause problems. However in March, the lump began to grow again quite quickly, and soon it started pulling her lower eyelid out to the side slightly which put her at greater risk of eye injury and infection, so we got her booked in for an operation to remove it. Between this being done and her having the appointment, the lump continued to grow at quite a rate so that her eye could no longer shut properly and it also started to irritate her. As you can see in the picture below, Fred started to scratch at the lump, a sure sign it was causing her pain or irritation. She was still eating and behaving as usual, and even lying on the lump. But it was clear it needed to be removed.

Early March

Late March

The Operation

The operation to remove Fred's lump went smoothly and all the lump was removed, but it was found the lump had infact developed in to a tumour (or a tumour had grown where the fatty lump was), rather than being just a fatty lump. From looking at it the vet was as confident as he could be without sending it off for proper analysis that it was benign (non-cancerous). It was decided we'd send tissue of for analysis only if it grew back or she developed another similar lump. There isn't really any treatment over here for cancer in guinea pigs, and as such I've only had new lumps that weren't causing the guinea pig any bother analysed to find out if they were harmless and so okay to leave, or if they needed to be removed. Analysis can be very costly, so since the lump had been completely removed, finding out 100% what it was, would just have been a matter of interest and as Fred was in otherwise great health, it didn't seem worthwhile.

Recovery

The stitches required no attention (in terms of bathing etc.) from me at home. I changed from my usual bedding to vetbed until Fred's stitches had healed, to minimise the chances of anything getting in to the wound. Instead of giving them their usual mounds of hay, I put it in a hayrack so none could poke in to the wound - not as much fun for Fred, but safer! Removing the bedding and hay and using vetbed also made it easier to monitor Fred's 'emissions' which is important after an anaesthetic. Fred was put on Baytril at a dose of 0.2ml twice a day for 10 days to reduce the chance of infection. I also gave her a probiotic during this time to help keep the balance of bacteria in her guts healthy, and help avoid the stomach upset some pigs get on antibiotics. She went back to the vets for a check-up four days after the operation and they were really pleased with how she was looking, and that the wound was clean. She went back again ten days after the operation to have the stitches removed, and was discharged as they were completely happy with her recovery.

Photo Diary

When she first came back from the vets after the operation, her face did look quite alarming. The lump had been so large and in an area where there's not much spare skin, so the eye looked rather distorted. But as you can see it healed really well, and she's looking her usual gorgeous self once more - well done Fred!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 4

Day 6

Day 8

Day 12

Day 14

One Month

Fred's Tumour

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