Cancer

Pinni hung out with me as I work, so I could watch how she's doing.

There's a reason why my guinea pig posts have been few and far between.  Pinniped hasn't been well, in spite of the extra care and medication she's getting.

We were at the vet early last week.  X-rays were taken and we all expected to find a bladder full of stones or that she was trying to pass a stone.  Imagine our surprise - not a single stone in Pinni's bladder.  The odd calcification near her spine had split in half and the x-ray clearly indicated the pieces were less dense than they had been months ago.  Proof that the hydrochlorothiazide is slowly working.  Not only has it prevented new stones, it's dissolving the old one.

They gooped up Pinni's tummy for an ultrasound and found a mass in the middle of her bladder.  It looked to me like the peak of a mountain.  The vet was very concerned about the fluid all around Pinni's organs, too.  Her diagnosis:  cancer.  Well, crap.  We're finally successfully battling the stones only to be hamstrung by a bladder tumor.  So unfair.

No surgery.  I might have considered it if the tumor was outside the bladder, not in it.  My prior experience with tumors hasn't been good:  if one shows up on an ultrasound, there's a dozen more they don't find until the pig is on the operating table.  We returned home with more fluids, more baytril and some metacam. 

At this point, I watch and wait.  Pinni's attitude, weight, pain levels, bleeding all change daily.  She has good days and bad days.  Since I know stones aren't her immediate problem, we splurged and bought some (previously forbidden) dandelion leaves.  They're her favorite.  Every morning that I'm greeted with her schnoz waving about looking for breakfast, I smile.  It's been a rough couple of weeks, trying to keep Pinni comfortable, worrying about her pain and wondering when she'll tell me she's had enough.