Lulu's Lump

crazypiggie247 · Post » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:20 pm

Okay, so last night my boyfriend and I noticed that Lulu has a large hard lump on the side of her neck (if you are looking straight at her face it's on the right side).

It's roughly the size of a large grape. She isn't having any issue's eating, drinking, running, and popcorning. It's pretty much business as usual for her and she is doing just find with her weight.

She will be 2 months old on June 14th.

I made an appointment for her at 6pm tomorrow.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts in the mean time. Everyone on here is so great about giving me things to talk to my vet about and to watch for.

Post » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:14 pm

Your vet will most likely be looking for an abscess. He will likely clean it out and prescribe cavy-safe antibiotics. You may need to flush it daily. Culturing it might provide some useful info.

Barbara Osborn · Post » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:53 pm

Check for Cervical Lymphadenitis.
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... 439#160439

crazypiggie247 · Post » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:16 pm

Thanks Lynx and Barbara. I'm going to print that info and take it with me to the vet. I'm lucky to have 2 cavy savvy vets in the office I go to so hopefully we will find something out soon. I will let you know what they say tomorrow after I get back.

crazypiggie247 · Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:43 am

I read through a bunch of the information from the link you provided Barbara. I was wondering a couple things though that I couldn't seem to pinpoint.

Could CL only be transmitted by another pig (if I had brought one into the home who was also infected)?

Would the lump have started small then grew bigger or could it develop overnight? Mostly I ask this because I gave everyone I was taking to the DC pignic a bath on Saturday night and when I was doing a body check over I didn't feel anything on Lulu. It wasn't until Sunday that we first noticed something.

Should I put her into quarantine right now to be safer to the other pigs, at least until I know for sure what it is?

Should I restrict or change her diet in the mean time, until I know what it is?

These are all questions I'm going to ask my vet also, but in case you guys have any knowledge on what to do in the mean time, it would be appreciated.

My boyfriend is so worried for her, Lulu is his favorite, and he is also doing some research to take with us to the vet.

Thanks for any/all of your help!

Barbara Osborn · Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:09 am

CL is VERY contagious from pig to pig. She does need to be quarantined and you will need to wash your hands and change clothes between handling the other pigs.

The lump can develop quickly. They do seem to happen overnight, sometimes.

Be sure to get the lump cultured (the vet can do it while you wait at this office). Try to have the vet treat it first with Bactrim or Baytril.
Link for AB dosages
https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics. ... amphenicol

Try not to use that Chloramphenicol right off the bat, it may be too strong and take away the pigs appetite (plus you need to wear latex gloves when handling it).

Make sure the pig keeps eating and drinking. The AB's should do the trick, it just takes several weeks but the lump DOES disappear.

CL is not life threatening. Five of my herd got it over several months, all are fine 3 years later.

You seemed to have caught it right away so that it great. What a good piggy mommy you are.

Please ask more questions, CL can be scary to an owner first exposed to it.

crazypiggie247 · Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:27 am

Okay, so I decided since I was still in my pajamas that I would take out all the pigs and check them, then take Lulu to her quarantine room.

It turns out that Izzy and Jane also have lumps! Izzy may have started it all because it looks like the lump on her neck is ruptured. I'm so scared and I can't stop crying.

My vet is going to call me back around noon to tell me if she can fit Jane and Izzy in during the same appointment. I stressed the urgency of the situation.

Would I be able to put the 3 of them in the same cage or at least in the same room since they are all infected or should they go in separate cages and separate rooms?

Everyone still seems to be acting just fine, eating, drinking, running there seems to be no change in attitude.

I just bathed them all on Saturday night and did a full body check, I can't believe this has happened almost over night! I feel like I missed something and I could have kept this down to one pig.

crazypiggie247 · Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:07 pm

I took the girls out and put them in a separate cage together and put them in another room with the door shut. I hate to do that but I figured that would be the safest thing for them and the others. I also made sure to change clothes and wash my hands between getting them together and going back to the other pigs. I am also removing all of the fleece, cuddle cups, water bottles, foods dishes, and hidey houses and giving it a good clean over with hot water and vinegar.

The appointment tonight is at 6pm, I called my vet in advance to give her a heads up on what's going on (besides the description I gave the recepionist yesterday).

Is it better to keep them in a room where I can close the door and keep them essentially "sealed" off from the other pigs? I would think so since it's so contagious.

Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:33 pm

You got great advice. The important thing is you will be getting treatment and they'll be on antibiotics. And you will doubltless be weighing them daily and making sure they are eating okay.

crazypiggie247 · Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:37 pm

Absolutely. I am going to focus on giving them veggies that have great vitamin c and I have crushed some oxbow vitamin c tablets over their cavy cuisine for now. I have to go grocery shopping to get some more veggies tonight any ways.

It has now turned out to be 4 out of the 9 pigs I have in the house (2 are fosters and live in another room). Riku also has a lump. Eddie, Yuna, Max and the fosters Buster and Molly all seem to be lump free.

I am washing my hands after handling anything to do with the sick pigs before doing anything else and I have one specific shirt that I am keeping in the sick pigs room that I put on before handling them.

Barbara Osborn · Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:13 pm

Just remember that eventually they will all be healthy again. In the mean time you will be giving A LOT of AB dosages.

How many pigs do you have? 9

I would probably get enought Bactrim or Baytril from your vet to treat every single pig in your house. They probably all will get it eventually so just treat them all now at one time.

Mine seem to leap frog over each other so I was giving out Bactrim for many many weeks. I should have just treated them all from the beginning even though they hadn't shown symptoms at that point.

Be glad that you caught it so fast and they only have one lump. Queenie was further along and had two lumps and needed Baytril (the stronger AB).

Please don't worry about that lump bursting. They do that, just clean it up and give the pig AB's.

I wouldn't go the surgery route with any of the pigs. AB's will treat it all fine and why risk the pig by doing a surgery?

I wish that I lived closer to you and I could help with the AB administration. You've got a busy couple of weeks ahead of you.

I did get a lot of 1ml syringes (throw away the needle) from the vet and labeled each one and kept each one in a separate cup with the pig's name of it. My bathroom looked like a pharmacy.

Good luck, we are here for you.

Barbara Osborn · Post » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:22 pm

Do you have a dishwasher? It can sterilize the water bottles, food dishes and pigloos.