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Abscess On Mouth

sandralynn

sandralynn

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 23, 2015
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Location
Tamworth Staffordshire UK
Hello, I had to take Dougie, a neutered boar, to the vets yesterday with a huge abscess on the side of his mouth. They drained it under anesthetic and gave him baytril to have twice daily. The vet said his teeth on that side were very brown which leads him to believe there is root damage. He said he had ground the teeth down the best he could. Today Dougie is still finding it difficult to eat, although he keeps trying so I think he is really hungry, the place where the abscess was had a hole there yesterday, but today the lump is back, although no where near the size it was when I took him to the vet. Any advice as to what to feed him that he could eat easily? I have tried chopping veg up really finely but he is still having trouble. Should I be concerned that a slight lump is back? Any advise really appreciated. Thank you
 
sandralynn said:
Hello, I had to take Dougie, a neutered boar, to the vets yesterday with a huge abscess on the side of his mouth. They drained it under anesthetic and gave him baytril to have twice daily. The vet said his teeth on that side were very brown which leads him to believe there is root damage. He said he had ground the teeth down the best he could. Today Dougie is still finding it difficult to eat, although he keeps trying so I think he is really hungry, the place where the abscess was had a hole there yesterday, but today the lump is back, although no where near the size it was when I took him to the vet. Any advice as to what to feed him that he could eat easily? I have tried chopping veg up really finely but he is still having trouble. Should I be concerned that a slight lump is back? Any advise really appreciated. Thank you
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Please offer syringe feed. Our illustrated step-by-step guide will talk you through every aspect, including support products. In an emergency, mushed up pellets with a prepped syringe tip (see guide) will do for stepping in immediately. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Please also try to see Simon Maddock in Northampton. He is by far the most experienced vet in the whole country when it comes to dental problems and root abscesses; he sees guinea pigs with dental problems from as far Edinburgh and has dealt with my own piggies with root abscesses, even if it has meant a train trip for me. You will be in the best and safest hands there.
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

Your boy will need a very strong antibiotic. Baytril does not cut through a dental abscess; it will come back worse than ever! :(
 
@sandralynn Is the abscess on the inside of his mouth or on the outside cheek area?

It's just my Grace had an abscess on her cheek (outside) & had it marsupualised after a course of Zithromax (antibiotic) to stop the infection coming back. i then had to keep the wound open to flush the hole with Baytril, but carry on giving the Zithromax orally to fight the infection from both directions! She was on Zithromax for about 5-6 weeks & the pus all dried up & she's been about 5 months all clear now.

If the lump is back again this probably means the abscess has closed over & the infection is building inside again. :(

If you have transport difficulties it may be worth asking your regular vet to prescribe the Zithromax to clear the infection more quickly than the Baytril, or even ask your vet to contact Simon at the Cat & Rabbit clinic to discuss his treatment & the best way forward.

Is Dougal on any painkiller/anti inflammatory (loxicom) at the moment? Any dental work usually seems to be painful, so Dougal may be trying to eat with a sore mouth if he's had dental work done this may contribute to his appetite/eating ability.
Try hand feeding him strands of Hay to help keep his teeth worn down & hopefully blunten any sharp edges that may be left after the filing down of his teeth.

I gave (turquoise packet) Supreme Science Recovery for Small Animals (£19 inc P&P from viovet, cheapest i could find at the time)
to Grace when she had digestive problems back along & she would wolf it down off of the spoon, (trying to squeeze her head in the egg cup i was mixing it in at one point). this may be easier than syringe feeding if you have mobility problems?

it looks like Debbie the dental/abscess guru has been tagged already, so....

:luv:Healing vibes to Dougal. Speedy recovery let us know how he gets on. :tu:xx
 
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I've been through a couple of dental abscesses with my pigs. First of all, it's important to realize that abscesses are generally not a quick 'lanced, drained, and done' procedure. It's important to keep the wound open and to express any new pus that is forming to allow it to heal from the inside out. If you are seeing a lump build back up, it is likely more pus inside the cavity. I'm assuming that the wound was left open and not stitched- you may simply be able to express the pus that is building up again. When my pigs were recovering from abscesses, I used sterile saline in a dental syringe to gently irrigate the wound, and then would gently apply pressure in the direction of the hole to express any more pus that had built up. With this and antibiotics, gradually the wound healed.

It is important to keep getting food into your guinea pig during this time- the syringe-feeding guide posted above will hopefully help.

Sometimes abscesses/dental issues are a long road, so it might be worth finding the most experienced vet you can at dealing with these issues. It can make a huge difference to outcomes to find someone who has a lot of experience with guinea pig teeth.
 
GPTV said:
@sandralynn Is the abscess on the inside of his mouth or on the outside cheek area?

It's just my Grace had an abscess on her cheek (outside) & had it marsupualised after a course of Zithromax (antibiotic) to stop the infection coming back. i then had to keep the wound open to flush the hole with Baytril, but carry on giving the Zithromax orally to fight the infection from both directions! She was on Zithromax for about 5-6 weeks & the pus all dried up & she's been about 5 months all clear now.

If the lump is back again this probably means the abscess has closed over & the infection is building inside again. :(

If you have transport difficulties it may be worth asking your regular vet to prescribe the Zithromax to clear the infection more quickly than the Baytril, or even ask your vet to contact Simon at the Cat & Rabbit clinic to discuss his treatment & the best way forward.

Is Dougal on any painkiller/anti inflammatory (loxicom) at the moment? Any dental work usually seems to be painful, so Dougal may be trying to eat with a sore mouth if he's had dental work done this may contribute to his appetite/eating ability.
Try hand feeding him strands of Hay to help keep his teeth worn down & hopefully blunten any sharp edges that may be left after the filing down of his teeth.

I gave (turquoise packet) Supreme Science Recovery for Small Animals (£19 inc P&P from viovet, cheapest i could find at the time)
to Grace when she had digestive problems back along & she would wolf it down off of the spoon, (trying to squeeze her head in the egg cup i was mixing it in at one point). this may be easier than syringe feeding if you have mobility problems?

it looks like Debbie the dental/abscess guru has been tagged already, so....

:luv:Healing vibes to Dougal. Speedy recovery let us know how he gets on. :tu:xx
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Thank you so much for your in depth reply, the abscess is on the outside of his cheek. I am going back to the vet tomorrow and taking all this info with me, and see if he will take notice. Thanks again
 
Freela said:
I've been through a couple of dental abscesses with my pigs. First of all, it's important to realize that abscesses are generally not a quick 'lanced, drained, and done' procedure. It's important to keep the wound open and to express any new pus that is forming to allow it to heal from the inside out. If you are seeing a lump build back up, it is likely more pus inside the cavity. I'm assuming that the wound was left open and not stitched- you may simply be able to express the pus that is building up again. When my pigs were recovering from abscesses, I used sterile saline in a dental syringe to gently irrigate the wound, and then would gently apply pressure in the direction of the hole to express any more pus that had built up. With this and antibiotics, gradually the wound healed.

It is important to keep getting food into your guinea pig during this time- the syringe-feeding guide posted above will hopefully help.

Sometimes abscesses/dental issues are a long road, so it might be worth finding the most experienced vet you can at dealing with these issues. It can make a huge difference to outcomes to find someone who has a lot of experience with guinea pig teeth.
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Thank you very much for your help, had no sleep worrying about him
 
Tim said:
@sandralynn If you can get your little boy an appointment with Simon and Debbie (@furryfriends (TEAS) ) can look after him for a short while I will be happy to take him there for you :)x
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That is so kind of you. I am going back to the vet tomorrow, if I am not satisfied with the outcome, I will get in touch with you. xx
 
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We have had that problem with one of our piggies. The wound was kept open and had to be flushed and our piggie also received antibiotics. I had actually heard about Zithromax on here and had to message it to our vet who used it successfully. It came back once more and we knew to act quickly and take her back to the vet. At that point, the antibiotic helped. We got special food from our vet to syringe-feed her, could yours give you something? He also recommended the little glasses with baby food as long as we made sure it was purely vegetables, but I would ask the vet before feeding somthing like that to a piggie. We bought one of those, but didn't have to use it.
 
UPDATE
Have bathed the wound and it opened up and loads of gunk poured out. He still cant eat on his own so have ground his pellets as suggested and bless him he was taking it out of the syringe no problem. He seems very hungry, ordered some critical care now which should be here tomorrow. Still going back to the vet tomorrow to see if he will give me Zithromax. He seems ok in himself, running about and trying to eat on his own, Heartbreaking, but feel like I have helped him a bit this morning.
 
I took some pictures of Graces abscess & they look gross, but with the flushing it was just over month from surgery to pretty much recovery, i was glad the vet marsupualised the wound (stitched it open) the mess all drained out (i had her on puppy pads for 7-10 days so i could see what was going on drainage wise & less risk of bedding going in the wound) this helped me to flush the hole, although i did have to keep putting a cotton bud in her face to re open it & keep it draining.:vom:
I'll post the pics if you think it will prepare you, her face looked horrific after surgery - but to look at her now you would never know! Good luck at vets. xx
 
Grace - Abcess Brewing?

just found the thread i did for Grace's abscess, it might be useful for you & has a couple of post op pics, Grace seemed fairly unphased throughout the whole ordeal though! Well she was enjoying her Loxicom on a daily basis, just in case it was painful!
Healing vibes xx
 
sandralynn said:
That is so kind of you. I am going back to the vet tomorrow, if I am not satisfied with the outcome, I will get in touch with you. xx
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Anything I can do to help, I will. We will get your little fella back to 100%, my promise :luv: xx
 
furryfriend said:
How did you get on?
I can’t see an update
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Sorry for no update it has been a busy couple of weeks with syringe feeding 3 times a day! Dougie is now on the mend I am pleased to say the abscess has now almost gone, he is still taking antibiotics. I did find another vet who dealt with the abcess a lot better than the first one, but.........he cut his front teeth far too short, so the poor chap couldn't eat. Yesterday was the first time that he managed to nibble at a bit of sweetcorn. Anyway I think we are getting there now......Whew!
 
sandralynn said:
Sorry for no update it has been a busy couple of weeks with syringe feeding 3 times a day! Dougie is now on the mend I am pleased to say the abscess has now almost gone, he is still taking antibiotics. I did find another vet who dealt with the abcess a lot better than the first one, but.........he cut his front teeth far too short, so the poor chap couldn't eat. Yesterday was the first time that he managed to nibble at a bit of sweetcorn. Anyway I think we are getting there now......Whew!
Click to expand...
That is good news!
 
Such a relief! We’re always here if you need a hand :hug: x
 
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