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Follow This Story
Follow Buttercup’s “mystery lump” surgery story below:
– 4/27/2013: Buttercup’s Surgery Recovery
– 4/23/2013: Buttercup’s Mystery Lump Surgery
– 4/19/2013: Dot’s Red Wee & Guinea Pig Surgery
– 4/6/2013: Guinea Pig Lumps and Troubled Rumps
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Dot’s Bloody Urine Dot Arrives At The Emergency Clinic
A Mystery is Afoot: Lumpy Cups Dot and Buttercup’s Visit to the Vet
Me oh my, what an interesting week! The last 7 days have brought a kind of excitement to the HappyCavy house that hasn’t been seen around these parts since Bitsy won a big ol’ booty of CareFRESH back in 2012.
But not the kind of exciting, fun, give-away-some-bedding kind of week one might expect. Instead it’s been a week of vet appointments and emergency guinea pig care, the kind of experiences that remind you no matter how healthy your pigs may seem, one day things may go strangely awry.
And sometimes, just maybe, the stars might align that you have a week that goes a little something like what you’re about to read.
Dot’s Bloody Urine
Well, that’s a headline you don’t see every day!
On Sunday, March 31, The Humans were going about their everyday business (doing whatever strange things Humans do) when they arrived home from a weekly grocery shopping trip. Upon arriving home and storing the groceries (most of which we assume is snacky-type vegetables), Human #2 came in to check on us.
And that’s when it started; Human #2 saw it.
Several red-colored stains marked Dot’s fleece floor and in the middle of a few of the stains were what appeared to be 1 or 2 tiny, little clots of dark-colored blood.
On the top level stood Dot, as casual as could be, in the middle of a guinea pig mid-wee. But this “casual wee” appeared nothing of the sort. Usually, a healthy Dot’s (like all guinea pigs’) wee is bright and clear with a slight yellow tinge. But this wee was of the cloudy, unhealthy pink-colored variety.
Cue Humans freaking out. Dot was weeing blood.
The Humans immediately picked Dot up and looked her over. Besides some crusty, red gunk around her privates, she seemed relatively healthy. She was her usual normal, feisty self and she didn’t seem to be in any pain. Regardless, the Humans knew that bloody urine is nothing to be taken lightly.
Fortunately, the HappyCavy Family lives not-too-far from an emergency veterinary clinic that was open on Easter Day. They called to check and see if the vet clinic was experienced with guinea pigs. They were. So The Humans promptly gave Dot a probiotic (with the anticipation she would receive antibiotics) and packed Dot into the car for an unplanned trip to the Emergency Veterinary Clinic of Tualatin.
As with each of our health posts involving medical treatment, we will be including medical care costs to give you an idea of potential guinea pig care costs.
Dot Arrives At The Emergency Clinic
Dot’s Emergency Room Visit
March 31, 2013 – Cost of Care: $117.35
What Was Done: Exam, subcutaneous fluids LRS (>40mL), prescription of trimethoprim sulfa (15mL)
Once at the emergency clinic, Dot and her Humans were ushered into an exam room where they met with Dr. Julie Kittams. After a quick exam and check of vitals, the doctor was ultimately unsure of the cause of the discharge of blood and wasn’t able to determine whether the blood had been coming from her bladder, kidneys, or reproductive system.
She advised The Humans to schedule an appointment for Dot with the HappyCavy Family’s exotic specialist at Southwest Animal Hospital in Beaverton, Oregon USA.
The treatment course Dr. Kittams prescribed was subcutaneous fluids and a 15mL prescription of Trimethoprim sulfa (an antibiotic) to be administered at 0.5mL twice per day, along with a dairy-free acidophilus being given an hour before hand.
Armed with little knowledge as to what caused the initial bleeding, The Humans took Dot home and waited to see if her condition improved. She was still in good spirits, despite her sheer hatred of going to the vet, and was now passing her wee blood-free.
The next day Dot continued to urinate without blood, so The Humans scheduled a check-up at the HappyCavy Family doctor on Friday, April 5. Scheduling Dot’s check-up appointment on that day, April 5, was rather fortuitous. You see, Buttercup also had an appointment scheduled for April 5.
Which brings us to our next topic: Buttercup’s mystery lump.
A Mystery is Afoot: Lumpy Cups
A week ago, The Humans noticed a small, pea-sized lump living 1/2 inch below Buttercup’s left nipple. Touching it didn’t seem to cause her pain, but the lump location did not correlate to any organ or structure. This was cause for great concern in both Human and guinea pig alike.
HappyCavy doesn’t have the best experience with lumps as former HappyCavies Piglet and Bitsy both passed away due to complications from cancer.
Immediately after noting the lump on Thursday, March 28, The Humans scheduled a vet appointment for Buttercup on Friday, April 5.
And so, this last Friday, April 4, both Dot and Buttercup found themselves being transported to the HappyCavy Family doctor in a custom-made travel cage specially designed by Human #2 to keep the frenemies safe and separate.
Dot and Buttercup’s Visit to the Vet
Dot and Buttercup’s Visit to the Vet
April 5, 2013 – Cost of Care: $111.20
What Was Done: 2 exams and urinalysis for Dot (dipstick)
Two things that were learned during this visit with the good doctor:
First, if there was a competition for which guinea pig can scream the loudest, Dot would win. (She really didn’t want the doctor to see what her urine looked like. Who would?!)
Second, it pays to perform a “feel test” on (palpate) your guinea pig at least once a week to check for any lumps or bumps that shouldn’t be there. If it weren’t for weekly feel checks, The Humans may not have noticed Buttercup’s lump when it was so small.
After arriving at the vet the pre-exam formalities began: each pig was weighed, temped, and checked by the excellent vet tech staff at the hospital.
Dot: Diagnosis
The HappyCavy Doctor gave Dot a thorough exam and was surprised to find that, after performing a urinalysis (dipstick) test, there was absolutely no blood present in her urine. He was surprised because she had only been on antibiotics for about five days and a UTI or bladder stone probably would not have cleared up that quickly.
So the good doctor continued his exam by palpating and noted that the only abnormality he could find was a slightly enlarged right ovary.
This lead the doctor to believe that Dot’s enlarged ovary may have been responsible for the blood that was seen in her urine. He advised The Humans to continue the course of antibiotics Dr. Kittams has prescribed and to keep an eye on Dot for any blood spotting. He also recommended that The Humans have Dot spayed once they were sure that any infection is cleared up.
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To Spay Or Not To Spay? That Is The Guinea Pig Question
How would spaying Dot help? Well, for one, cystic ovaries (which Dot’s enlarged right ovary could be) don’t clear up on their own and if Dot’s bleeding doesn’t come back right away, there’s a high probability that it could in the future. Furthermore, since bleeding could also have been caused from changes to Dot’s uterine lining or reproductive system, removing her uterus (spaying) is a sure-fire way to avoid these types of issues in the future.
The Humans will most likely schedule an appointment to have Dot spayed within the next several months. But before any surgery is scheduled, The Humans have to ensure that Dot doesn’t have an infection and that her antibiotic treatments are complete.
Will Dot need to “say good-bye” to her uterus?
Stay tuned as The Humans keep you abreast of Dot and the important uterine decisions that lay ahead for the HappyCavy Herd.
Buttercup: Diagnosis
The doctor examined Buttercup and confirmed that yes, indeed, the mass felt by The Humans is a lump and not some misplaced organ. He was unable to determine exactly what the lump was but, like any good doctor, he had a few theories:
- Hernia
- Tumor
- Cyst
- Lipoma (fatty tumor)
Any of these health problems would require surgery. In fact, the good doctor advised The Humans to schedule surgery for Buttercup immediately so that he can determine what’s going on with this strange, potentially life-threatening lump.
Without surgical exploration, he explained, there exists no conventional test or imaging technology which could provide a more accurate diagnosis.
Feel Your Piggie Up!
Take some time each week to “feel check” (gently but firmly rub with your hands) your guinea pig’s body thoroughly.
Rub under the chin, rub the belly, and gently prod and massage into fat and loose skin to check for unusual lumps, skin conditions, hair loss, dandruff, or eye conditions.
By performing a regular “feel check” (palpation), you’ll be able to learn what your guinea pig feels like so that when you feel something abnormal, you’ll notice it right away.
Right now, Buttercup is happy, healthy, and her usual snuggly self. The doctor was impressed that The Humans found the lump so early, especially being that it’s so small (pea-sized) and in a difficult part of her body to feel.
Because The Humans practice weekly “feel test” the lump was caught early. This could be the determining factor in how Buttercup responds to treatment. Catching potentially harmful growths early can mean quicker healing times, less of a chance of re-growth, and even stop the spread of disease the lump is found to be cancerous.
Conclusion
Within the next several weeks, Buttercup will be undergoing surgery to determine the nature of “The Mystery Lump”.
The Humans will continue to monitor Dot as her antibiotic course comes to an end. After finishing antibiotics, The Humans will be working closely with the HappyCavy Family doctor to determine the next best course of action.
Follow This Story
Follow Buttercup’s “mystery lump” surgery story below:
– 4/27/2013: Buttercup’s Surgery Recovery
– 4/23/2013: Buttercup’s Mystery Lump Surgery
– 4/19/2013: Dot’s Red Wee & Guinea Pig Surgery
– 4/6/2013: Guinea Pig Lumps and Troubled Rumps
Share Your Thoughts
Have you gone through similar health scares? Bloody urine or mystery lumps? How did you handle it? What did you learn?
Our first guinea pig Chester had several lumps all over his body but by the time we found them it was far too late. Still have no clue what he had.
Good luck buttercup! Lucky your parents were able to find the lump early! Lots of love from the Puffer Caviary – Schmitzel, Sweetpea and Clover ♥
Thanks Abdul, Koda, Linus, and Human named Erin! Hearing others’ positive stories is uplifting! We wish our vet could have aspirated it, but, being that he was concerned it could be a hernia, he didn’t want to risk puncturing anything. We’ll see, thanks again!
Tanks, guys! 😀 ~ Buttercup
PS – Give your piggies a fuzzy nose rub, those feel so good! And Schmitzel…what a great name!
Schmitzel says thankyou! hehe he was named after his human’s favourite TV show character “Schmidt” of New Girl…his name also was originaly Mitzel as the silly humans thought he was a girl when he first came home hehe…
Hi HaMmY, I’ve been reading in on your blog since 2010 and I have five guinea pigs of my own You see, I live with my cavies, dogs, fish and family in India where there are not many guinea pig experienced vets and my local dog-vet has never treated a guinea pig and when my guinea pig had injured her paw it was really strange to have seen a matchstick with the lighty- bit cut off as a splint.But there’s a animal hospital in my town so I think that is a better choice don’t you ?
Hi, Vedika! Yes, an animal hospital is better than no hospital at all. Make do with what you have nearby and you’ll be OK. Thanks so much for following us, we love meeting new friends! 😀
I just got a new cavy and even though I’m trying to be as friendly (and not like a big mean giant) to the pig she never wants to socialize back, she has lived with me for about a month now and by then my old guinea pig would do everything with me! I just don’t know how to get her to like me!
Guinea pigs often come with very different personalities. Your other guinea pig may be naturally more docile than your new cavy. Just be patient, continue to handle gently and approach carefully, and hopefully your new-comer will warm up. 🙂
What was the lump?
My piggies have both got them but I don’t’ want them to have an operation 🙁
The lump was presumed to be a non-cancerous “fatty tumor”. You can read more about the outcome at Buttercup’s Guinea Pig Surgery Recovery. 🙂
Same here with my one girl. Its a small little bump near her spine and it has me nervous but its been there since she was 1 and now shes 3 1/2. I couldn’t subject the poor girl to a biopsy of something that may be just a fatty growth and ultimately not harmful as long as it doesn’t get bigger noticeably.