Guinea Pig has surgery tomorrow

EnerHam · 05-08-2017, 09:26 AM

Willow happened to yawn as I was doing the morning spot clean, and I noticed a... thing in her mouth. Some kind of growth near her front teeth that didn't seem to be bothering her/restricting eating. A vet visit today confirmed she has some kind of tumour growing in her mouth. It's a very odd thing: round, quite large and seems to be attached to her mouth via a very small stalk of tissue/vasculature.

The vet said the position of it means it can be removed while Willow has been knocked out with gas rather than injected anasthesia and the wound cauterised. However, it may grow back and this could become a common thing. The vet said her health is great otherwise so she is a good candidate for surgery.

She also said it's highly unusual, and my feverish research over the last 48 hours backs that up. Plenty of instances of abscesses, cysts, lumps on jawlines, etc., but nothing quite like this. I hope it's not malignant...

Gah! First Mitch has a stroke, and now this...

cypher · 05-08-2017, 10:18 AM

So sorry to hear this Enerham, be thinking of you & wishing Willow all the best for tomorrow.
Hope all goes well & it won't turn out to be a recurrent thing.

Phan Trash · 05-08-2017, 10:39 AM

Aww poor Willow, I hope the surgery goes well <3

flowerfairy · 05-08-2017, 10:51 AM

Hope all goes well for Willow tomorrow.

BorisPasha · 05-08-2017, 11:42 AM

So sorry to hear about Willow. Hope everything goes well with her surgery tomorrow and she makes a speedy recovery.

Drago · 05-08-2017, 11:54 AM

Poor willow, sending good vibes your way. Hope everything goes well and she feels better soon!

Pebbles82 · 05-08-2017, 12:58 PM

I am sorry to hear this. It sounds a bit like a polyp. I don't know if Guinea pigs get polyps! But I don't see why it shouldn't be a polyp. Humans get them - often in the digestive tract. They are harmless and benign, but tend to be removed to prevent them possibly becoming malignant. A polyp is a sort of fleshy lump on a stalk. Fingers crossed there is no more problem with it. xxx

Pebbles82 · 05-08-2017, 01:02 PM

This link shows a picture of a colon polyp. Polyps can be found anywhere there is a mucous membrane - often colon, nose, digestive tract. Sounds like it might be one. They have no idea what causes them I think!

Colon Polyps

EnerHam · 05-09-2017, 12:05 AM

It looks a lot like that! I've heard of guinea pigs getting polyps in their ears before, but I had no idea what they looked like. I hope it's that. Thanks for the suggestion. And thanks for the support, everyone!

I have to get Willow and her cage mate over to the vets at 10:30 with some of their food and hay. I know she's probably not going to feel like eating afterwards for a short-ish time and that's whats stressing me out. I've had to syringe feed one before and it's utter hell. Heck, I've head to syringe medication into Willow's mouth before--she is not a good patient.

On the plus side, the vet I saw yesterday knew a lot about pigs. I feel Willow is in safe hands at least. I'll let you know how everything goes.

EnerHam · 05-09-2017, 03:52 AM

I left Willow and her cage mate at the vets about an hour ago. She was so scared... I hope having Sapphire there brings her some comfort before and after the surgery.

The vet performing the surgery is a different vet to the one who saw us yesterday and she told us she's performed successful surgeries on pigs before. Here's hoping this is another.