Flower

Question
Flower is 4 years old, female, and lives alone in an indoor cage.  She has always been healthy.  This week I noticed a small lump on the left side of her chest.  It's beneath the skin and doesn't feel attached to anything.  She doesn't act like it's painful and the hair over it doesn't appear to be disturbed.  The lump is about the size of my pinky fingernail.  It's in the area of her chest that feels like loose skin.  She has short, straight hair.  She eats timothy hay, different varities of commercial food, gets vitamin C drops in her water and gets fresh apples, carrots, lettuce, bell peppers, parsley, cilantro, potato skins, etc.  Should I just watch it to see if it gets bigger or do I need to take her to the vet right away?  If it's some sort of tumor what would the veterinarian do?  Thanks for your help!

Answer
Hello Kathy,

It is most likely a sebeceous cyst. They are easily removed with surgery and the piggy will generally have no ill effects from it afterwards. Other possiblities are an abscess or a tumor. An Abscess can be lanced and treated with antibiotics and tumors will likely be surgically removed. If I were you, I'd take her to the vet soon. While it's most likely a harmless cyst (though you do want to have it removed before it ruptures to avoid possible infection), there is a slim chance it's one of the other 2 and they should both be taken care of right away. Good luck!

-kkat
http://www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs