Large Lump on Back

Question
Hello and thank you for taking the time to answer my question(S).  We have a 4 yr old smooth coat guinea pig.  My daughter's  piggie is named CoCo and she is an otherwise a very healthy looking guinea pig, she has a great appetite, drinks plenty of water and appears to be happy.  Recently we discovered that she has a lump? mass? abcess? cyst? on her back that has us concerned because it has continued to get larger and larger... it is now the size of a small lime. Any ideas?  Is this common? When we try to palpitate the lump, she squeaks as if it were painful? We are not sure if we should take her to a vet? Thanks for your time.

Answer
Sandra -

My guess is that you are probably describing an abcess - is the lump pus-filled?  If so, you will need to take the animal to a vet and have the abcess lanced.

If not, I would recommend taking her to a vet to have it examined because of the possibility that it could be a tumor or something else that is relatively serious.  'm not comfortable with diagnosing over the internet since I'm not a vet and I haven't seen your animal.

Hope this is helpful.  If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me again.  Good luck!

Lorena