Lymphoma

Question
"Hello Brittany
I've got a very sick Guinea Pig called Lucy.  She is only 1.5 years old.  She became a bit lethargic 7 weeks ago, and although we took her to the vet straight away, she has been getting worse and worse. She stopped eathing her hard food, so we have been feeding her with syringes ever since, with AviPro pro-biotic in her water.  After many tests and X-rays, it appears that her lymph nodes are enlarged, so she has been on Metacam, then moved to a steroid to try and reduce the inflamation.  We have only just noticed a lump around her throat, just under her chin, that feels about the size of a small grape.  The vet now thinks that she may have Lymphoma since all her glands seem enlarged.  He is a small animal specialist and seems to know his subject.  He has offered chemotherapy, but says that you have to get the drug into a vain under which is really difficult.  She still wants to take food from the syringe (ie she still has an appetite, but within the last 2 days, she is grinding even water with her teeth.  We had her teeth scheck out a few weeks ago, but they seemed OK, so I take it that she is having difficulty swallowing ?.  I think she will not make it past the weekend if we cant do something.  Any advice please ?  Would you recommend Chemotherapy, or are the after effects likely to really make her ill.  ? Thanks, Paul "  

Answer
Chemotherapy is really hard to do with guinea pigs, expensive, and usually causes more hard than good. Have they tryed to do an X-ray or Ultrasound on the lumps yet to check for cancer or tumors? They could also possibly be cyst, which would require draining and antibiotics. She could possibly have Cervical lymphadenitis, in which case the lumps could be removed by surgery, or lanced then antibiotcs given. She could also have Lymphosarcoma, which she would have to have a biopsy of a lump to determine, steriods can temporarly help this condition, but the prognosis is poor. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Brittany
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