Skinny Pig Melanoma
No change, RS. Thanks for asking.
Angel's spots are unchanged since the photos 3 weeks ago. And his weight is still low, but up slightly from a low of 750 to 788 grams. His incisions are completely healed. In fact, the only sign that he's slightly "off" healthwise other than the spots is that he spends a lot of time sleeping head-to-cage-corner, like a pig who is ill.
Angel's spots are unchanged since the photos 3 weeks ago. And his weight is still low, but up slightly from a low of 750 to 788 grams. His incisions are completely healed. In fact, the only sign that he's slightly "off" healthwise other than the spots is that he spends a lot of time sleeping head-to-cage-corner, like a pig who is ill.
On Sept 9th we had a raised mole taken off Bliss, one of our skinny pigs. Just got the histo back today. Basal cell carcinoma. Clean margins. My vet thought it was very interesting but was upbeat it wasn't melanoma.
It appeared very quickly, over the course of 3 or 4 days and was light in colour and looked more wartlike than molelike and was totally raised. Maybe 3/16" diameter. At first I thought it was a war wound. Bliss has many dark moles we monitor - this was different.
We know now to take off any raised mole that appears. Easy surgery, local freezing.
Heart(another of our skinnies) had a suspicious mole removed April 18th - melanocytoma - not malignant but could turn malignant. Her mole was dark, slightly raised in the centre
It appeared very quickly, over the course of 3 or 4 days and was light in colour and looked more wartlike than molelike and was totally raised. Maybe 3/16" diameter. At first I thought it was a war wound. Bliss has many dark moles we monitor - this was different.
We know now to take off any raised mole that appears. Easy surgery, local freezing.
Heart(another of our skinnies) had a suspicious mole removed April 18th - melanocytoma - not malignant but could turn malignant. Her mole was dark, slightly raised in the centre
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- ...what, what, what?
Putting this info here too.
Stuart is one of my skinny pigs. He is approximately nine or ten months old now.
About a month ago, he developed a mole on his right shoulder. I took a picture at the time, and have just been watching it since.
More recently, it has started to get darker, and perhaps a bit raised.
A few days ago, he had himself a nasty accident requiring stitches. Since his mole was now starting to send off very slight streaks, I told the vet to pull it off at the same time that he was under to get his stitchs.
The histopath came back today: melanoma.
The margins were clean, though, so this time she got it all.
Stuart is one of my skinny pigs. He is approximately nine or ten months old now.
About a month ago, he developed a mole on his right shoulder. I took a picture at the time, and have just been watching it since.
More recently, it has started to get darker, and perhaps a bit raised.
A few days ago, he had himself a nasty accident requiring stitches. Since his mole was now starting to send off very slight streaks, I told the vet to pull it off at the same time that he was under to get his stitchs.
The histopath came back today: melanoma.
The margins were clean, though, so this time she got it all.
On Sept. 20, we had another mole removed from Bliss. It had begun forming at the same time as the other one(was about a cm away) but my vet had thought it was just a war wound. It began to look exactly like the other mole so we had that one off too.
We didn't do a histo because we were pretty sure of the results would be and needed to do blood tests instead to track down a steady weight loss.
It appears she is hyperthyroid. Weight is steadily creeping back with Tapazole.
Today I took pics of all 3 skinnies with a post-it note marking the date in the shot. Gretchen has formed a dark mole on her shoulder that doesn't look ominous right now, but we will be closely monitoring and wishing death to all the idiot breeders that thought breeding pigs with compromised immune systems was a cool idea.
We didn't do a histo because we were pretty sure of the results would be and needed to do blood tests instead to track down a steady weight loss.
It appears she is hyperthyroid. Weight is steadily creeping back with Tapazole.
Today I took pics of all 3 skinnies with a post-it note marking the date in the shot. Gretchen has formed a dark mole on her shoulder that doesn't look ominous right now, but we will be closely monitoring and wishing death to all the idiot breeders that thought breeding pigs with compromised immune systems was a cool idea.
Amen, Pinta.
I'm sorry to hear the news, Nurgle. Welcome to the club :-(
FYI, for comparison, here is Angel late December 2004, just before the biopsy to remove the largest mole... and again 9 months later.
The mole on his lower eyelid has grown, a single spot on his upper rear has become two dark spots, and he has more spots on his rear thigh. Some other spots have grown slightly. But overall the change is minor.
I'm sorry to hear the news, Nurgle. Welcome to the club :-(
FYI, for comparison, here is Angel late December 2004, just before the biopsy to remove the largest mole... and again 9 months later.
The mole on his lower eyelid has grown, a single spot on his upper rear has become two dark spots, and he has more spots on his rear thigh. Some other spots have grown slightly. But overall the change is minor.
Angel died last night.
I'm in India on a business trip... but Jim IM'd me last night at midnight his time to say Angel's breathing was heavy and he had lost 80 grams since the previous week. Jim started Angel on baytril but sometime between midnight and 6am Angel passed away.
Jim is at work and nobody's there to get the poor guy in for an autopsy. It was probably URI, given the breathing and weight loss over the course of a week, but we'll never be certain.
Since this is the reference forum, let's skip the usual string of condolences. Even unspoken, I know everyone understands how sad Jim and I are. Everyone here has been through the same and knows the feeling.
I'm in India on a business trip... but Jim IM'd me last night at midnight his time to say Angel's breathing was heavy and he had lost 80 grams since the previous week. Jim started Angel on baytril but sometime between midnight and 6am Angel passed away.
Jim is at work and nobody's there to get the poor guy in for an autopsy. It was probably URI, given the breathing and weight loss over the course of a week, but we'll never be certain.
Since this is the reference forum, let's skip the usual string of condolences. Even unspoken, I know everyone understands how sad Jim and I are. Everyone here has been through the same and knows the feeling.
Coincidentally, I took Bliss in yesterday to have another couple of raised moles removed. Didn't do a histo but the vet has them saved in case I change my mind. Since her first suspicious mole came back as a basal cell cancer, I think it's safe to assume there is a likelihood any mole that changes on her will be the same.
The freezing is local and and the excising is fast. The stitches come out in 10 days. She's on Tapazole for suspected hyperthyroidism and Fortekor for suspected heart issues. With maintenance meds she seesm the picture of scarred health.
Bats - It might not have been a URI that did Angel in but complications from the melanoma going to the major organs and shutting them down. I'm not sure how it works but my experience is that well-monitored pigs(like yours) that receive immediate treatment seldom die from a standard URI. It's the pigs that only get looked at once a month and have been ill for 2 or 3 weeks that usually die from a URI.
The freezing is local and and the excising is fast. The stitches come out in 10 days. She's on Tapazole for suspected hyperthyroidism and Fortekor for suspected heart issues. With maintenance meds she seesm the picture of scarred health.
Bats - It might not have been a URI that did Angel in but complications from the melanoma going to the major organs and shutting them down. I'm not sure how it works but my experience is that well-monitored pigs(like yours) that receive immediate treatment seldom die from a standard URI. It's the pigs that only get looked at once a month and have been ill for 2 or 3 weeks that usually die from a URI.
Heart went into the vet yesterday to have another raised mole taken off. She'd had it since we got her but it had developed a raised spot. Very small, dark and on her cheek. We didn't bother with a histo, assuming it would be the same results as her first histo(and saving us $80). The plan is to remove suspicious moles as they appear until we run out of pig skin.
Anaesthetic was local and she now has 2 stitches on her cheek.
Anaesthetic was local and she now has 2 stitches on her cheek.