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Abscess recovery

F

Fig

Junior Guinea Pig
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My poor little dude had an abscess the size of a ping pong ball under his mouth. The vet decided the pus was runny enough to drain with a needle. Now I'm giving him antibiotics. I am just wondering if this looks like normal recovery based on other people's experiences. It seems like most others have them surgically removed or lanced+left as an open wound that they have to clean. I didn't see a lot of posts about needle draining

Here is him with the abscess
IMG_1523.webpIMG_1522.webp

Here is him after the draining. Sorry for the bad photos, hopefully you can see the lump under his chin. Could that just be loose leftover skin, or does it look like the abscess is filling up again? It's only been 2 days since it was drained.
IMG_1569.webpIMG_1568.webpIMG_1573.webp

I have a followup appt with the vet next week, I'm just super anxious about this whole thing and want to know what to expect.
 
I've never had any luck with absces draining via needle, they have all required lancing or have popped of their own accord (one alarming mouth abscess springs to mind, she was fine) then further draining usually.

This location will probably have some loose skin, especially after an abscess. It's impossible to tell from pics whether it's refilling, you will be able to feel much better if it's juicy again.

My lovely boy Theodore had a biiiig dewlap abscess, when it was drained he was a totally different pig and much more adventurous in his veg exploration! It was well worth pursuing.
 
GuineaDobbin said:
I've never had any luck with absces draining via needle, they have all required lancing or have popped of their own accord (one alarming mouth abscess springs to mind, she was fine) then further draining usually.

This location will probably have some loose skin, especially after an abscess. It's impossible to tell from pics whether it's refilling, you will be able to feel much better if it's juicy again.

My lovely boy Theodore had a biiiig dewlap abscess, when it was drained he was a totally different pig and much more adventurous in his veg exploration! It was well worth pursuing.
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Oh that’s so great to hear about Theodore’s recovery. Was there a root cause for any of your pigs’ abscesses, or were they just one-off situations? I’m concerned my boy’s abscess is coming from some other issue, vet is gonna inspect his teeth in the followup
 
In most cases, needle draining isn't enough to clear an abscess. Guinea pigs have an enzyme that makes their pus really thick and it's very hard for their bodies to clear that away- also hard to get it to drain through a needle-prick that heals over very quickly. Most pigs either need the entire abscess surgically removed or (more likely on the face and neck) the abscess opened up and left open for the owner to continue to irrigate and clean out, coupled with an antibiotic to treat the underlying infection.

I had one piggie with a nasty facial abscess who did make a full recovery, but we did a LOT of aftecare/cleaning of the wound with sterile saline for quite some time in order to get it to heal, in addition to a long course of antibiotics. Hers was likely a tooth issue, it was along her jawline and she had tooth issues prior to abscess swelling up.

If you're feeling like the lump is growing again, it's worth going back to the vet and inquiring whether something more than a needle aspiration is warranted. You may need the abscess opened up more so you have an easier time keeping it clean.

Your little guy is adorable, by the way, I have a girl named Dahlia who looks a lot like him right now!
 
Freela said:
In most cases, needle draining isn't enough to clear an abscess. Guinea pigs have an enzyme that makes their pus really thick and it's very hard for their bodies to clear that away- also hard to get it to drain through a needle-prick that heals over very quickly. Most pigs either need the entire abscess surgically removed or (more likely on the face and neck) the abscess opened up and left open for the owner to continue to irrigate and clean out, coupled with an antibiotic to treat the underlying infection.

I had one piggie with a nasty facial abscess who did make a full recovery, but we did a LOT of aftecare/cleaning of the wound with sterile saline for quite some time in order to get it to heal, in addition to a long course of antibiotics. Hers was likely a tooth issue, it was along her jawline and she had tooth issues prior to abscess swelling up.

If you're feeling like the lump is growing again, it's worth going back to the vet and inquiring whether something more than a needle aspiration is warranted. You may need the abscess opened up more so you have an easier time keeping it clean.

Your little guy is adorable, by the way, I have a girl named Dahlia who looks a lot like him right now!
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Yeah the vet will see if surgery is necessary in the followup but wanted to try the draining first. He quoted $1200+ for surgery. I’m also nervous about surgery since I heard how hard it is on their little bodies

Dahlia must be a cutie ☺️
 
Fig said:
Oh that’s so great to hear about Theodore’s recovery. Was there a root cause for any of your pigs’ abscesses, or were they just one-off situations? I’m concerned my boy’s abscess is coming from some other issue, vet is gonna inspect his teeth in the followup
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Nearly always one-offs, but they have been pretty common with our peegs. Theodore's was a mystery, Bumblebum had many abscess issues and was a cysty pig generally. I suspect Carmen's was the result of some food sticking at the top of her incisors. Rachel had a tiny little abscess on the top of her head, which was also a mystery.

Only Bumble had serious, recurring issues with abscesses, but she still lived a full and happy life.

Thorough treatment as described above has sorted all of them without invasive surgery. I believe most of our vets (exotics all) have used local anaesthetic and made the small incision with a scalpel. We have then kept the incision open with vaseline and continued clearing and flushing it as necessary until the thing dried out and shrank. $1200 sounds well excessive to me, unless there's something else going on.
 
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GuineaDobbin said:
Nearly always one-offs, but they have been pretty common with our peegs. Theodore's was a mystery, Bumblebum had many abscess issues and was a cysty pig generally. I suspect Carmen's was the result of some food sticking at the top of her incisors. Rachel had a tiny little abscess on the top of her head, which was also a mystery.

Only Bumble had serious, recurring issues with abscesses, but she still lived a full and happy life.

Thorough treatment as described above has sorted all of them without invasive surgery. I believe most of our vets (exotics all) have used local anaesthetic and made the small incision with a scalpel. We have then kept the incision open with vaseline and continued clearing and flushing it as necessary until the thing dried out and shrank. $1200 sounds well excessive to me, unless there's something else going on.
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I’m quite relieved to hear your piggies recovered and they were mostly one-off situations. I’ll ask about the incision method and see what is the best course of action. It’s been a big financial hit but there are so few other exotic vets near me
 
I think my boy got his tooth root abscess by running into the wall of his cage. He banged his teeth and then a short while later got the abscess.
 
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One of mine got a fairly large neck abscess and then a small face one. The neck one was removed whole so it needed no further treatment and the small face one was drained and I bathed it for a while to make sure it didn't refill. There was no underlying tooth problem but the vet felt he got them from hay pokes which let bacteria in, he was a prolific head first hay jumper!
 
Wanted to update for anybody who might find this info useful:

My piggie’s lower incisor actually broke. No clue when that happened, the tooth had stayed in place so it looked normal. Vet plucked it right out and filed it down. Perhaps that was the source of the abscess, as we also did an xray and didn’t see anything else wrong.

The needle draining has been really effective treatment. The abscess was drained twice and we syringe-fed metronidazole and sulfatrim. The lump is virtually gone after 2 weeks! My boy finally has his spunk back
 
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