• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

abcess

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

christine

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
1,053
Reaction score
59
Points
480
Help,piggie has developed post neutering abcess which was initially treated with a one off antibiotic and drained . Appeared to have cleared up but has returned and is in the foot ,not much better after 5 days of Baytril by mouth. Seen vet again today and they want to give him a light anaesthetic tomorrow and drain .Any thing I should know or ask vet to consider . Piggie is eating well but is very sore so wont put his foot on the floor so lying very still
 
Ask them if they have a small animals surgery certificate? Plus how many operations they have done. I have seen such a certificate in the vet practice I go to. Plus the more ops they've done the better.

Try not to worry. I have just been through this myself with my guinea pig. He developed an abcess in his nether regions. The vet drained it, flushed it and gave little Chocolate some antibiotics.
 
A post-neutering abscess in the foot?
Alarm bells should be ringing at that diagnosis.
Can you please give us a more detailed description of his problem?
 
The abcess first showed up on one of his stitches and this was treated with flushing and a one off antibiotic but it has reappeared on his hock/ foot region on the same side.
 
Thanks for the replies ,the vets are very good with small animals and have neutered several of my little boys with no problems but this abcess is being a bit persistent. This piggie is a Dalmation .Are they more subject to health problems?
 
Sorry to hear he is having a few problems, Christine. The new abscess will need to be treated similar to the post-op one; it needs to be kept open and squeezed/flushed at least twice daily, for at least 2-3 days before allowing the hole/incision to close up. Abscesses are notoriously tricky to get rid of, but with a little patience and persistence it can be done. Keeping fingers crossed here.
 
Dreadful news about Blue the piggie with the abcess. He went back to the vet sat morning to have it flushed and x rayed as they needed to see if anything else was going on . They rang me at lunchtime to say that the he had cellullitis inthe foot and leg and that there was gangrene in his foot only thing to do was amputate ,I cannot believe it he was eating well and had been on antibiotics for 5 days. How could this happen? Has he had something in the foot or awound or bite but there were no signs of any punctured or broken skin .I am devastated he was a favourite piggie and loved to be handled How can I have missed something as serious as this ? The vet said that there were no guarantees that amputation would stop the infection spreading sp to save him further pain I said PTS,I know want to get to the bottom of this for future reference . Cannot blame the vet they did what they could it is my fault for assuming that the abcess was the cause.What else could I have done to help him I feel so sad.
 
I am so sorry for such a sad turn of events. The whole leg must have become infected somehow, the abscess must just have been the surface of the problem. I know post-mortem examinations can be carried out but it has to be done within a few hours of death, I believe; that might have given some answers about the severity of the condition and how far it had spread, but it would probably not have given the cause, so it's unlikely you would have got the answers you were hoping for.

My thoughts are with you. Rest well, dear Blue. xx
 
Thankyou for your reply this tragedy has certainly put me off neutering my other boys.Poor Blue was fit and well and only young 15 months old.
 
I just wonder if he had bumblefoot, even though it is uncommon in a hind-foot?
Bone destruction can occur in severe cases.
I have to say that, if he had been my pig, I would have wanted to see him, whilst he was still alive, in order to be shown exactly what the problem was and to see what other treatment was possible, eg a different antibiotic.
I would still ask the vet how the infection had travelled down his leg from a post-neuter abscess.
 
None of my piggies have ever had any foot problems and they are kept on fleece and easibed which is soft. Though I have only seen pictures of bumblefoot I would certainly have noticed if his foot had had any signs of skin abrasion or soreness this came on so quickly after he had the abcess on his stitch. His foot was not red or discoloured just swollen.
 
PS I am seeing the vet tomorrow and will see the xrays and talk to him I did not want to have him pts but could not see him being happy with aback foot missing and the vet more or less said that he could not see any good outcome.It would have been very difficult for him to balance.,but I think the main problem was the gangarene.
 
Am feeling very bad about this and just wanted to save him any further suffering.I think it best if I dont talk about it any more ,but will let you know if I get any further info from the vet.
 
Spoke to vet this morning and he said that the infection would have been unlikely to respond to any antibiotic and we would not have been able to save him.Could have removed the foot but did not think that would have helped in the longer term. Def not Bumble foot but infection had got into the bloodstream probably from the post op abcess. ,but not definetly.Difficult to say .Must be very careful with post op care for any more neutering.
 
Don't feel bad. I missed my piggies abcess too. I felt awful, but abcesses can come up really quickly. It's how they are dealt with. I am still flushing my piggie abcess out because I wasn't shown how to do it properly:{

But I am persistent. xx
 
Without trying various antibiotics how could the vet. say that none would possibly have any beneficial effect?
I am still not satisfied with the information you were given but I shall draw a line under the subject.
 
Received a letter from vet this morning "Our thoughts are with you at the sad loss of Blue.It must have been a terrible decision to make and we were sorry to present you with such a situation,but hopefully you can take comfort in the fact that we were able to save Blue from any further discomfort and distress."
 
That is lovely, very thoughtful; I hope it brings you a little comfort.
Not all vets send out cards at the loss of a pet, we have had 5 pets PTS (at three different vets) and only one sent a card.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top