Tumour

[Tagna]

The other morning I noticed blood on a shelf and discovered that one of my girls had what looked like an abcess on her side near her belly. Hestia lives with another chin that I adopted from a rescue. Neither like to be handled at all so I had a heck of a time getting her.

I made an appointment to take her into my vets yesterday. So it's not an abcess, it's a tumour of some kind. They took a sample and gave her an injection of Baytril. Hestia did so good.

They aren't sure why it's bleeding, if Hestia was chewing on it or if there is some secondary issue.

So the results should be in on Tuesday and surgery is set for Thursday to remove the mass.

From what I've been reading, tumours aren't that common in chins. Anyone else ever dealt with this?

 

[Peep_erz]

Oh no! I hope it turns out alright for you. Kuzu had a tumor on his lung that killed him. Hestias sounds more surface level that might be easier to take care of. I hope for the best for you!

 

[Sandi]

I'm sorry, I've never been through that. I hope your chinnie the surgery goes well and that he heals fast. Sending good vibes your way!

 

[Laurie]

Tayna, wishing good thoughts to you and Hestia! I hope everything goes well and will be thinking of the two of you!

 

[Chinniechantel]

Is there any way it could be mastitsis? The nipples are in the upper arm area near the side is why I think that.

 

[Tagna]

It's not quite that high up, I'll try and get a pic of it. I was wondering if it's not really a tumour after reading a lot of things today.

 

[Chinniechantel]

They have lower nipples too....6 total.

 

[Tagna]

I have a couple of pics. The mass has gotten a lot bigger since even yesterday. I'm going to call the vet back tomorrow morning. Would a tumour grow this fast?

It's not oozing anything and she did get a shot of baytril. I just can't believe how much it's grown. It was a round shaped mass before and now it's not as round and is almost a triangle.

Hestia is still eating and pooping.

 

[Chinniechantel]

That is right where a nipple is. I would bet it is mastitis or a bite that got infected. She needs antibiotics.

 

[Tagna]

That's what I was thinking but she hasn't had any kits since I've had her. Although she did come from a rescue with an unknown history. Can it be mastitis if they haven't had any kits recently?

She did get one shot of Baytril on Friday but looking at how it's changing I'm thinking she needs more!

What would be the best course of action besides the antibiotics then? Should they lance it? Compresses?

 

[eroomlorac]

Is it common for non-nursing chins to get mastitis? I hope this poor chinnie gets well soon. It looks painful.

 

[Chinniechantel]

The nipple looks very elongated to me. Is she a rescue, or could she have had babies recently? Maybe the kits died and that is why you got her?

 

[Tagna]

She is a rescue and I adopted her around a year and a half ago. She has a cagemate as I adopted them both as a bonded pair. I haven't noticed any incidents between the two of them with regards to fighting. No hair slips in the cage at all.

Her age is unknown but was guessed to be between 3-5 years when she first came to the rescue. I do know that she was at the rescue for around a year before I adopted her so there's at least a span of 2 1/2 years where she had no kits.

I have only female chins so I know 100% that there are no unexplained kits in my house! ha!

 

[tunes]

No Carol, mastitis is not common if there's no milk production.

It sounds like removing it is the way to go at this point, since antibiotics are doing nothing and it keeps growing. That must be extremely painful for her, poor girl!

 

[Tagna]

Thanks Peggy! They did take a sample of it and the results are supposed to be in Tuesday. There was no puss in the mass on Friday. Surgery is set for Thursday which I was wondering if it was necessary but it sounds like it may be the only course of action.

I just want to find out the correct diagnosis and go from there.

 

[AZChins]

Yes, compresses are a good idea at this point! If it is something going on in the mammary gland, a warm compress will help in healing....if it's an infection, it will help to draw out the infection. I'd try a warm Epsom salt compress two to three times a day. It does look like an abscess to me...

This chin should be on an antibiotic like Baytril or chloramphenicol. Those will help to keep any infection from getting worse.

 

[ABBY W.]

I would have to agree, though my experience with mastitis is admittedly limited. My vet thought the same thing when my Jamie got mastitis just a few weeks back. But we treated for infection first intending to do a biopsy after that. It cleared up beautifully after one week. She is healed completely now, and no lump is left in the area.

I would also recommend moving her to a cage where she can be on fleece, instead of wood chips, to avoid any dust or irritation to the wound. I changed Jamie's fleece out every day so she was always on a clean floor. That, combined with Baytril once a day and critical care, she healed up quick and perfectly. Good luck!

 

[Tagna]

I'm going to move her to a different cage with fleece in the bottom. I'll get going on the compresses now too. Thanks everyone!!

 

[Tagna]

I called the vet this morning and I just got back from picking up a prescription of Chloramphenicol. Hestia will be on that for 7 days just to see if that helps. If not, we'll go from there. The results of the sample will be in tomorrow so hopefully that will shed some light on this.

 

[AZChins]

I hope that you can figure out what it is! You will have to let us know as soon as you know.