[Gpdd] HEALTH Re: Can piggies get cancer?

[Penny Charlesworth]

Joanne,

As far as I know the only way to determine whether or not a lump is
cancerous is to have a biopsy or to get the growth analysed after it has
been excised.

Antibiotics will not make a cyst go away. The only use for them here is
post op in case of infection.

If your precious Figgy is nibbling at the lump, it is best to get it
removed asap. Most likely it will not be cancerous.

My Bosworth had a cyst removed last year and it all healed up very well.
There were pigtures of him on the Undercover Piggies blog at the time. I
did not have it analysed as, if it had proved to be cancerous, there is no
treatment available here in the UK. ( yet ). Dogs and cats can receive
chemotherapy and a range of drugs and maybe this will be available for our
small furries one day.

For the cost of the analysis, I could have bought a dozen bales of hay and
what would the analysis have proved? Only whether to continue to worry or
not.

Let us all hope that Figgy's lump will prove to be a lipoma or some kind of
benign cyst but in any case, it will need to be removed to stop him
nibbling it. Otherwise, it will bleed and could be an entry point for
infection.

All the best.

Penny and the Piggyfriends. ( I have no veterinary training, just years and
years of seeing what can go wrong with our piggies ).