tumour in guinea pig

[GRW]

Does anyone have any experience of this? My 3 year old white guinea pig has a large lump on her bottom. I took her to the vet who said surgery would be difficult but not impossible, and she will probably need to be put to sleep. At the moment she seems fine in herself, and is eating and drinking ok, and running around. I need to keep an eye on her to make sure she can go to the toilet ok. My 12 year old wants her to have the operation, but I'm not sure it's fair to put her through it.
If we do lose her and I get another guinea to keep her sister company, does anyone know if they'd be likely to get on?

I am so sorry about your guinea pig. I have two but have no experience of tumours. If you do lose her I think you would be able to put another pig with your remaining one I believe females are quite accepting of each other. You are supposed to introduce them to each other in neutral territory and its a good idea if you give them both a bath first so that they smell acceptable and the same as each other. I hope your 12 year old is ok.

Is it definitely a tumour, and not a cyst? I only ask because I see quite a few cysts on GPs. If she is eating fine and the mass isn't bothering her too much (ie isn't bleeding/ infected etc) I don't see why you shouldn't keep her going for now. having said that, anaesthesia is a lot better understood and a lot safer in piggies these days, but your vet has seen the mass, and will have a better idea of how successful surgery is likely to be. Good luck!

One of mine had a lump and when I took her to the vet they just told me to keep an eye on it. It grew a lot bigger so I took her back, they couldn't tell me until it was removed if it was a tumour or cyst. It turned out to be a cyst and she went on for several more years after it had been removed.

I had five pigs at one point and the 3 older ones accepted the younger ones quite easily (all females) until the dominant one died - they then had to establish a new leader.

Thank you for your advice. The lump is quite large and scrapes on the ground when she moves, but it's not bothering her at all and the skin isn't broken. It feels solid so I'm not sure if it could be a cyst. I will take her back to the vet if she seems at all unwell, and maybe after Easter I will consider letting her have an operation to remove it. She is such a lovely little piggie and has always been more timid than my other one. It's reassuring to know that they can survive things like this.