[Gpdd] Health--Molly & being a strong advocate for your pig!

[DEB GANLEY]

As many of you know, Potter & Emma have been operated on for fatty tumors--they're just lumpy-bumpy pigs, no big deal after being Dx'd for sure.  Colleen found some on Molly's tummy a few weeks ago--I got Molly to the vet the following week & got the rug pulled out from under me--Dr. Hughes thought it was cancer for sure since she also had lumps in her chest (that we hadn't felt) & told me to take her home & keep her happy, he didn't advise putting her thru the stress of operating on her since he figured the cancer had spread to her chest.  Being the stubborn pest that I am, I told him that wasn't happening, he was going to operate on Molly so we'd know for sure, one way or another.  She had surgery this past Monday.  Please keep in mind, Dr Hughes is a wonderful vet & I trust him totally--just didn't agree with him in this case, since we've been thru it before--& he was very cooperative in my demands.  He told me that she had a bunch of lumps, he took out the biggest, ugliest one & sent it to the lab.  There was little blood supply to any of them ,so that was good news--malignant tumors require a large blood supply.  


Molly came thru the surgery like a little trooper.  We didn't expect the lab results back for at least a week, but it came back on Thursday--Molly is fine!  It was a fatty tumor, like Potter & Emma are prone to.  I did ask Dr Hughes if it's unusual for 3 pigs in the same house to have the same lumpy-bumpy problem & he said it is--this is the first time he's run across it in 28 years of vet practice--Molly & Emma are mother & daughter, so there may be some heredity there (tho Rex, Mina & Lucy, Molly's babies, are fine so far--I'm in close contact with their adoptive moms.)  Potter is the Honorary Aunt, but not related by blood.  Dr Hughes & I pretty much figured out it's an unknown area, since many GP "parents" (I use the term loosly, not about those of us on the GPDD) don't interact with their pigs & would never know if there were problems--they're also not willing to spend the time & money on tests or meds if they did notice a problem.  

Anyway--my point is that we all need to be advocates for our pigs, even if we trust the vet as much as I trust Dr Hughes--in retrospect, I probably did Molly a disservice by putting her thru surgery--Dr Hughes turned out to be right, she didn't need treatment, but we disagreed on why she didn't--but if I had just brought her home & written her off, I'd have driven the poor girl nuts, checking her constantly to see if she was breathing!  It all worked out, thank goodness!  Good thing pigs are so forgiving, or all my girls would be giving me the finger!    Deb, Potter, Molly & Emma