How Do You Know If Your Guinea Pig Has Cancer

Guinea pig that had cancer?

A little more than a year ago, one day out if nowhere my guinea pig began limping. I assumed that he had sprained his leg, but after some x-rays it showed that he had arthritis in that leg. The vet decided this was caused from a vitamin C deficiency so I boosted his vitamin C doses. This never helped so after some more X-rays it showed that unfortunately he had tumors in that leg. According to the vet we either needed to amputate his entire leg to keep it from spreading or let him keep going and put him down when it had spread to much. After a few weeks you didnt even need an X-ray to see it was spreading. Half of his belly had a large lump and one of his legs would hardly work. I scheduled to have him put to sleep in 3 days because it was clear he was suffering. Amazingly he started to get better right after that. A year latter he is literally back to normal and you would never guess that he was covered in tumors and could barely walk. I was able to slowly wean him off the arthritis medicine over a coarse of a few months untill he no longer needed it. I'm wondering what the chances are of the cancer returning again? You probably can't answer this, but any ideas on what type of cancer it was? And also, I've heard guinea pigs are relatively cancer resistant. If this is true, could that have something to do with his recovery?
Thanks :)

PLEASE ANSWER! Can a Guinea Pig get cancer?

Well, there are tumors and there are tumors. Malignant cancerous tumors are rare in guinea pigs but they can occur. Much more commonly, lumps under the skin are one of 2 things either a lipoma (benign fatty tumor) or a sebaceous cyst (a walled off inflamed skin gland). Neither of these 2 are life threatening and they usually grow to a point and stop. They can become irritating if they grow more and obviously if and when you are in a position to do so a vet trip is in order but it is not an emergency at this point. One of our first pigs had a sebaceous cyst and the vet said to bring him back if it grew and was causing discomfort. When he died 3 years later at age 6 (from something else) the cyst was the same size as it was 3 years before.

Does my Guinea Pig possibly have cancer?

You have to take him to an exotics veterinarian right away. If you wait he'll likely die. This does not sound like cancer. It sounds like he has a URI, a bladder infection and possibly an impaction as well. There could be more.

Here are a couple of lists to help you find a veterinarian that specializes in exotics (dog and cat vets are not the same) in or near where you live:

http://www.aracnet.com/cgi-usr/seagull/v...

http://www.guinealynx.info/cabinet/index...

For future reference, guinea pigs over one year of age should be getting timothy hay, blue grass hay, or orchard grass hay, NOT alfalfa hay. They should also be getting a plain timothy pellet (no seeds, nuts, colored pieces) with no alfalfa in it unless they are recovering from an illness. Alfalfa is too high in calcium for adult guinea pigs and can lead to bladder stone problems and sludge in the urine.

I think my guinea pig has breast cancer ?! PLEASE HELP.?

I had a boy guinea pig who had a large tumor on his nipple. He was older and he made it through the surgery and was fine. I think he was 4 or 5 then. He didn't have cancer. I don't know if your gp has cancer but it doesn't sound like the doctor thinks it is cancer, so hopefully it isn't. There is a very good chance that she will make it through the surgery fine even if she is older since my baby did so well.

If she sadly doesn't make it I think it would be good to get another baby. She would help your other gp and also would help you get through your sadness I think.

I hope everything turns out well.

How do you treat a guinea pig abscess?

You are not a bad pet owner. Sometimes people cant afford the care because its over priced. I have a suggestion. If the piggy is alone keep him separated and clear of any little things that can get in the wound such as bedding and food, etc. Then you want to buy Neosporin and antibactrial cream used to heal wounds. apply that generousley to the area. if the wound is open and you can see deep tissue there is a high chance of infection and death. you must keep the wound covered and cleaned with peroxide and then more antibacterial cream . you can get a gause pad and a bandage and wrap it around him as loose but tight as possible. keep him omfortable like in a little soft pillow and talk to the piggy and make it feel happy it will help the wound should heal withing a week or two.m My Cavvy had a 1.5 inch wound on his side from a piggy fight they go through worse things so this should be nothing. take a picture of the wound and send it to raticate1999@yahoo.com I will access the damage further if you need.

Euthanize Guinea Pig - How do deal with guilt?

You did the best thing for her. Small animals like guinea pigs hide their pain and sickness (it's a defensive mechanism for prey animals) so she was suffering a lot more than she was able to show. Chemotherapy may have helped, but the veterinarian was right - with advanced-stage cancer it would have been a long shot, and more likely to just prolong her suffering.

All living things die. With her illness, she wouldn't have had much longer. All you did was end her suffering by letting her go early. Your decision may have taken a month off of her life, but with her cancer, it would have been the absolute worst month of her life. It may have been hard to do, but you did the best thing for her.

You may not be ready for a new pet right now, and that's okay. Take comfort in your surviving guinea pig, and if she appears depressed, you may consider getting her a friend when you're ready for it.