Gothic
Species: Guinea pig
Status: Sanctuary resident
Age: 1.5 years old
Condition: Swollen lymph nodes — possible lymphoma under investigation
Veterinarian: Dr. Ford
Gothic (left) with Rhyme, living up to his name.
Gothic is Hero's dad — and the father of Caper (who passed at a few months old) and Ziggy (who lives with board member Alanna). He is neutered and lives with the big herd.
His Current Health Situation
Gothic is only a year and a half old, and right now he is facing something serious.
It started when some odd-feeling tissue was noticed in his groin area. The hope was that it was scar tissue from his neuter. Unfortunately, it was not. The tissue turned out to be inflamed lymph nodes — and by the time of his appointment with Dr. Ford, he also had swollen nodes around his neck.
Multiple swollen lymph nodes in different areas of the body can sometimes indicate a hidden infection, but the pattern is more commonly associated with lymphoma. There is no isolated mass to sample or remove for a definitive diagnosis, though bloodwork to examine white blood cell counts is a possibility.
Current Plan
Gothic has been started on antibiotics to see whether the nodes respond and shrink. A recheck with Dr. Ford is scheduled for Tuesday. The hope is that this turns out to be something antibiotics can fix. But the team is also bracing for the possibility that it is not.
What This Means for Hero and Ziggy
Gothic being Hero's father — and Ziggy's — raises a difficult question about genetic predisposition. Both Hero and Ziggy are already closely monitored, but the possibility of a heritable cancer risk is something the team is holding carefully. It is not a certainty, and it is not something to panic about, but it is something to watch.
Gothic deserves better than this at a year and a half old. We are rooting hard for those antibiotics.
This page will be updated after his Tuesday recheck.