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Abscess: Help appreciated

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JodyMitchell

JodyMitchell

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Hi. I was just wondering if anyone had experience in dealing with a Guinea Pig abscess before?
Yesterday at lunch I noticed Samson did not eat his lunch. He looked like he wanted to eat as he ran up to his fresh veggies, picked them up but then dropped them again. I also noticed he had a little crust around his nose. I made an appointment with my vet straight away and took him in.
She noticed he had an abscess on the left hand side of his jaw line. It was in a tricky place but she decided the best thing to do would be to put him under and drain the abscess completely. I left him there yesterday and so far he has had it drained and flushed out 3 times (poor ). He has also had a a bit of dental work. I called this morning and samson is doing well and she said he was very 'Bright Eyed' and 'Active'. I will be picking him up at 3pm this afternoon. I have been told that an abscess can reform and cause quite a bit of pain. I have allot of experience in hand feeding sickly pigs and administrating antibiotics and painkillers so I am not to concerned with that side of things. I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with an abscess before and how they went about treating and stopping them from reoccurring? Samson is very dear to me as I rescued him nearly 5 years ago. He has had allot of health issues (Bladder stones, URI, Dental) but he has always pulled through like a trooper! I know he is an old boy and the second I feel the time to let him go comes round I will, but I just feel like with the proper treatment he can definitely pull though. I have never met such a strong willed piggy in all my life :D Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you,

Jody
 
Hi Jody :)
awww whee will have all paws crossed that the nasty abscess doesn't return and that Samson is feeling more like his pigself again real soon x>>x>>x>>
Abscesses can return and as far as i know (past experience with our old boy Duke RIP now) you can't really stop them from doing so. Often they can return but in a slightly different place to the original. Just be super observant, which it sounds like you are anyways! Keep the area clean and i'd reckon the vets would've said to keep the wound open? if so it's not pleasant but it's the best way for it to heal from the inside out....... if you have any worries about keeping it open get the vet nurse to take off the scab and flush/squeeze out any pus. Samson will be brave i'm sure he sounds such a beautiful little guy x)x)x)

I know you'll get some more helpful advice from our other members soon.
Good to hear you're savvy with syringe feeding as this will be a huge benefit for Samson, he obviously wont be as stressed if you're not.

GOOD LUCK AND KEEP US POSTED

COME ON SAMSON XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Thank you. Yes the vet said she was going to keep the wound open. I pick him up soon and will keep you all posted with his progress. Thanks again :D x
 
The last abscess I dealt with was when Rocket had a little one on his tummy. He was only a few weeks old. Our previous vets popped it and got all the gunk out including the core, gave him an AB injection and then left it open to drain. It was completely empty though and so healed up straight away.
This time around he's in to have the huge abscess on his head drained under G.A, he's also recovering from a nasty ear infection so finger's crossed that goes well and I'll keep everyone updated on what our vet ( exotic) says on Rocket's thread in case you want to compare notes if that's any help.
Healing vibes for Samson. :laluot_29::laluot_29::laluot_29:
 
Hi Jodie,
I had the exact same situation with My boy in January this year, noticed he was off his food, took him to the vet, teeth slightly overgrown, clipped told to keep an eye on him, feed him critial care and give 0.4mls of baytril a day, 2 days later a small hard lump appeared, took him back to the vet, confirmed it was an abscess but it wasn't "ripe" enough to pop, so took him back every couple of days until a about a week later it was bigger and softer and it was finally popped and flushed out, went back to the vet every other day to have it squezzed and flushed out (carrying in with baytril and feeding CC everyday) after 3 lots of squeezing the abscess finally went and instantly he was back to his normal self, eating and wheeking making up for lost time, he must have been in so much discomfort, in total he was poorly for about 3 - 4 weeks.

He was no eating by himself, i had to feed CC and pellet mush every 2 hours around the clock, it was tiring and hrd work, but it saved his life and i would do it 100 times over.

6 months on, he is a shining example of a healthy piggy, no more problems!

Wishing your and your boy luck, please weigh him daily to monitor his weight. Is he eating by himself? you could offer soft pellets and veggies, my boy would eat banana and parsly, but nothing else, not even the soft pellets.

x
 
Samson is home :D I picked him some fresh leafs and he munched away on them by him self. The vet said he has been eating on his own in small doses and passing pellets. I have powder feed on stand by in case things change. His wound looks nice and clean. The vet said she is unsure how deep the abscess goes, if the antibiotics do not clear it up then se is wary of how to proceed due to the placement of the abscess and his age. I am keeping high hopes tho, he is a little trooper! He has gone for a rest right now but I will be keeping an extra close eye on him over the next week. I will keep you all updated on his progress. Thank you for all the help x
 
:laluot_29::laluot_29::laluot_29: sending more vibes. x
 
Did she send you home with some hibiscrub? I had that from my vets for my piggie when she had an abscess to flush it out with..
 
My vet said that she was not going to get me to flush it out. The placement of the abscess was very close to his vital parts and did not want to risk anything. She has flushed it out several times over the last two days and Samson has been on his Anti-B's since yesterday morning. I came home with more antibiotics and painkillers. His wound is still clean but looks very swollen :( Samson is interested in food but cant seem to eat his nuggets. If I break his veggies down in to small bits he will eat fine, he goes to his nugget bowl but cant seem to eat the hard pellets. I have gave him some recovery with added vitamin C to help him out. Luckily he is still drinking on his own. I'm guessing because of the placement of the abscess it is to painful for him to eat hard items (the vet mentioned his teeth were a bit wobbly due to the abscess). I have just gave him his second dose of antis and pain killers for the day to help him have a good nights sleep. I hoping some of the swelling goes down over night. I will be up bright and early to check on his progress. I will keep you all posted on his progress x
 
Just to let you all know Samson is ok this morning. He took his medicine fine and has been able to eat some leafies when ripped up into small pieces. I am about to go to the store to get him some soft fruit and veg to see him through. I am finding it difficult to give him his rescue food, I think this is because of his wound. The vet has suggested that I buy some fruity baby food and mix this in so I am gonna try it.
I am really hoping he improves before the weekend comes as my vet is closed Saturday and Sunday. Anyway I'm off to the store x
 
Have you tried Rapid Care Fine Grind by Vetpro? I got some to try recently alongside Critical Care and the pigges love it. You can make it into little soft balls if syringing isn't working. Animed Direct sell it although they've put by Oxbow on the description ( it's not, it's by Vetpro), you can probably get it from a lot of online pet supplies.
 
Hi Everyone! It has been nearly a week since Samson has been back from his abscess flushing session and he is doing really well :D:D:D:D
He is eating and drinking on his own now, he gets excited at lunch times again, he is running around and up to his usual cappers, and you can hardly see where his abscess/wound is (it seems to be shrinking every day). He has 8 more days on his medication then its back to the vet for a check up. Fingers crossed it all goes well :D Thank you again for all the advice,

Jody & Samson x
 
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