[Gpdd] HEALTH: Mammary Tumor

[Lisa Choiniere]

 Hi all,
 
Murray was surrendered to me several weeks ago by an owner who never spent much time with him. She meant well and was upset to give him up but Murr-burr has a few issues. 
 
Murray is at least 5 years old so he is a senior pig-izen. He is staying with me forever as a "sanctuary" piggy, there is no way I would ever adopt out an older guy like that. She had obviously not picked up Murray in a very long time as all of his nails had curled over upon themselves a few times. 
 
So I did my initial full body check (after the woman had left) to see what kind of shape Murray was in. Murray is an awesome boy who is very patient and is a good good boy. He let me check out all his parts including his undercarriage and let me clip his overgrown nails with little fuss.
 
So basically there are two things that concern me. Murray has an enormous mammary tumor. I would say probably almost the size of a ping-pong ball. It does not seem to bother him at all as I was checking it out. He also has a weird eye where some of the white encroaches on the iris of the eye. So where there should be color, there is whiteness. This is at the edge of the iris. My first thought was cataracts, but then it would seem his whole eye would be cloudy.
 
Murray has seen the vet and he does not know what the eye thing is. It doesn't bother him but I guess I would like to know what it is. So if anyone knows or has heard of it, please let me know. The vet also said he could take the tumor off, it will do nothing but grow bigger and as it grows bigger it will ulcerate which can cause a whole set of new problems.
 
So here is the question... Murr-burr is five and I know anesthesia is rough on these guys even when they are young because they tend to regurgitate and stuff as they are going to sleep. I am in a quandary as to what to do. If I put him through surgery and he dies because of it, I will feel horrible and guilty (especially with just recently losing my Zippy and Jack). If I don't do surgery, this thing will grow bigger and could cause other problems.
 
So could someone who has had a senior pig-izen go through surgery or has had a mammary tumor removed please let me know their thoughts?
 
Murray is such an awesome pig who I have come to love (although I could do without his incessant bar chewing) and I want what is best for him. 
 
Thanks,
Lisa and the gang at Wheeks and Squeaks
Jack and Zippy being thought of and missed every single day

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com