Abscess Near Eye Please Help!

[korme5]

Hi guys I am new and need help I live in Australia but the forums there aren't to great so I thought I would try here.
So i bought my guinea pig 2 months back with a friend who also bought one from the same place. After about a month I noticed a lump on his neck I took him to the vet who took a biopsy and it turned out to be just a cyst. He also had a rash on his neck so he got antibiotics for that. A couple of days later i had noticed a serious drop in weight so we went back to the vet and discovered his molars are overgrown. He had the operation to grind them down and i took him home. At this point he was only eating powdered pellets mixed with water. He gained his weight back on this but then dropped it all again (i weigh him daily) so back to the vet and he had his front teeth clipped as they were still very long. That was about 4 days ago. then yesterday i went out to see him and there was puss beside his eye i pushed near it and heaps came out i knew it was an abscess as i had a horse who had them all the time. I took him to the emergency vet as mine wasn't open and they flushed it out and cleaned him up. They gave him fluids, pain killers and antibiotics. They are hoping this is the reason for not eating but said it could be connected to a diseased tooth which may need removal. I am taking him back to his normal vet tomorrow as they are shut today but if its connected to his tooth i might take him to a small animal specialist about an hour away. What happened today though was i was flushing it out and this bit of skin fell off which opened it right up. i also noticed another exit point that must have opened last night its a lot smaller though but does have pus too. The bottom wall of the abscess is filling with blood from underneath but the skin at the sides seems dead and I'm worried that losing more skin so close to the eye could be dangerous. i am so sorry this post is so long i just want to cover everything. So yeah do you guys think the abscess is linked to a tooth? Am i doing the right thing? Will more skin come off? Has anyone else had this happen? Any more ideas on why he only eats soft food? Any help would be so so so appreciated.

 

[Cavyhappy]

Hi, fellow Australian welcome to the forum, it's very useful here!
That's great that you weigh him daily, could you tell us his weight and also what antibiotics?
His food sounds good, if you try to give him mushy fruit and vegetable like banana and maybe grind up some capsicum. You are doing the right
thing and depending on the severeness more skin may come off until it starts to heal. Soft food is better for the sore molar, so it will probably be a bit sensitive still so until it recovers I would suggest keep giving him soft food and make sure he has plenty of water, and if he's not taking it, you might have to make him have it in a syringe.
Also, if you can, maybe placing a small animal vitamin lick in his cage or hutch (you can purchase from most pet stores)
And make sure his hay isn't sharp, maybe try and dig out the soft stuff at the bottom of the bag so it's soft for him and his mouth as well.
Hope this helps.

@furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary may be able to help more.

 

[Elwickcavies]

I think it's pretty likely that the abscess and the tooth are linked. You are doing all the right things. Keep clearing the pus out. Abscesses heal from the bottom up, so I don't think the skin will be a problem once it's all sorted. @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary will definitely know more. x

 

[Stewybus]

Yes Debbie @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary is the best to give you advice on this as she's treated lots of piggies with dental problems & abscesses connected to the tooth area. I think at the moment the main thing is to protect against infection. Did he get an antibiotic injections & or is he on a course of antibiotics. If there was a hole in the abscess I'd just recommend to keep clean and open by using a cotton bud (q-tip) & also to apply some Manuka honey which helps to combat infection. This worked well on Minky last year when she had an abscess.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Hiya! I would definitely say the abscess is linked to the dental issue. Whether the abscess caused the dental issue, or whether a diseased tooth caused the abscess is hard to know, but whichever way round it happened it is going to need the same treatment. I think you need to get your piggy seen by the specialist vet as soon as possible. Here at TEAS we have dealt with many abscesses including tooth root and jaw abscesses and we have had excellent results using the antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax). In the meantime try and remove as much pus as possible. Try not to worry too much about necrotic tissue coming away, as new tissue will form as the abscess heals. Keep your piggies weight up by syringe feeding too and get to the specialist vet as soon as you possibly can. Keep me posted with how you get on and if your vet wanted to get in touch with mine I can provide you with his email address xx