Abscess on cheek...

[Sodapops]

after the separation of two of my boys on Saturday - i noticed one of them (homer) had a wound on his cheek/face. I cleaned the wound with a salt water solution and by sunday evening it was scabbed over and looked much better - this however was short lived.

When giving Homer a treat of corriander i noticed the side of his face looked odd (swollen) - he didn't really want me to 'mess' with him so i contacted the vets for advice who thankfully fit us in at 5:30pm last night.

She examined him and took him out back to check if it was an abscess - she came back about 10mins later with homer sporting a very nice haircut - turns ouyt he has 3 puncture wounds to his face and not the one i'd originally discovered/cleaned up). The vet made several incisions and had 'drained' the abscess - they'd also 'opened up the healed wound to help with draining the abscess.

We were sent home with 0.2ml of baytril to give once a day - and ive been told to clean the area with salt water once a day and 'squeeze' out any puss.

I attempted this 'deed' this morning (bearing in mind i have a very weak stomach) and it was awful - i was mainly scared of 'hurting Homer, but also the smell wasn't very pleasant (which didn't help things) - question is - ive witnessed another one of my pigs have an abscess drained and the 'contents' of that particular abscess were more of a paste like consistency with no noticeable smell - the 'attempted' draining of Homers abscess saw a more liquid type puss with a strong smell - is this normal?

Do i really have to drain it? or should the baytril help clear things up?

Any tips for flushing out the abscess are greatly appreciated >>>

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Firstly abscesses smell! A very awful smell! However, they must be kept open and flushed regularly or they won't get better. It will keep scabbing over and you must pull the scab off and flush it. I've dealt with a lot of abscesses and actually get satisfaction out of getting the horrible pus out and seeing the abscess slowly heal from the inside out. You need to be quite firm in how you hold your piggie and use a syringe to get the water into the hole. Gently squeeze the abscess and wipe away the pus. I find the cotton wool pads are best for this. The pus will keep building up as fast as you drain it, but the more you do this the smaller the abscess will become.

The baytril dose you have been given seems very small. How much does your piggie weigh?

 

[Sodapops]

Thanks for the advice

Homer weighs 1.3KGs - i did think the dosage was small too - but I'm guessing the vet thought she's drained it well enough and the baytril just a precautionary measure.

She did say, that i should get him back if I'm worried.

The main problem is the incisions she made have closed up - so the only outlet for the puss is the open wound that does keep scabbing over >>>

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Just keep pulling the scab off and getting as much pus out as you can. The problem is you can drain off a lot of pus but it will refil again very quickly. I would've thought a dose of 0.4 ml twice a day would've been a more useful dose of baytril. In fact the very best antibiotic to use when dealing with abscesses is zithro-max but your vet may not be willing to prescribe it. You could always ask though.

 

[Sodapops]

I'll see how things go over the next couple of days and if necessary i will take him back and ask about zithro-max - how often daily should i be draining the abscess?

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Do it morning and night. Don't feel bad about pulling the scab off. Do it really quickly. It hurts less that way. Sort of like when we pull a plaster off. Abscesses can be very persistant and it isn't always that obvious that it is healing as it does so from the inside first, but it is well worth getting the pus out as quickly as it forms.