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Abscess under chin, and in both eyes (?)

Rusholme

Rusholme

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello,
I have a medical query about something I've not come across before, and am wondering if anyone has similar experience or further info about this sort of problem.

We took our Marmalade (3-year sow) to the vet today after discovering a very mobile lump under her chin, about the size of a grape. We though it was a lymph node, but the vet has indicated it's an abscess. Whilst inspecting her, he also noticed 2 very small lumps (which he also thinks are abscesses), one in each of her eyes under the eyelid (see pic). These are only about ~1mm in size. Surprisingly, he said he has not seen an abscess on the eyelid before, even though he is quite experienced, and we know he has been very good/knowledgeable with our piggies in the past.

In addition to this, we had noticed a very small amount of 'crust' around her nipples about a month ago, which we cleaned off easily. But within the past week this seems to have got worse. Having said that, the vet didn't seem too concerned about this today. In all other respects she is absolutely fine, no weight loss, seems perfectly normal and happy.

The vet's opinion is that an infection (from some unknown cause) has spread through her blood and is causing these abscesses to grow. It is possible that there are further abscesses on her ovaries, which is causing the discharge...but the nipple discharge could actually be totally unrelated. She is currently on ABs, but I don't think the vet is too hopeful this will fix the problem. The only other treatment offered would be a CT scan to identify any further abscessed and then surgery to remove them all (but he said it's not easy to remove internal abscesses, and the eyes will be particularly difficult I think).

So I wondered, has anyone come across a similar condition before? Is there a name for this condition I could google? I find it confusing that there's no evidence of any previous abscesses having ruptured, which I think (if I'm correct) would need to happen for an infection to spread in the blood. It also seems odd that she is absolutely fine in terms of general behaviour and weight. Any thoughts?

Thanks42980372_331309644330071_4893481708935970816_n.webp
 
I would wonder if the eyes might be pea eye, which is a benign condition and not related to the abscess under the chin at all. Here's some info on pea eye from Guinea Lynx.
Guinea Lynx :: Eyes
 
Thanks. That's what we thought, but if you look carefully the growth is definitely on the eyelids and not the conjuctiva. (We've had a piggy with pea eye before and it does look slightly different).
 
Hi. Abscesses under the chin are very common in piggies. The lesion on her eye looks more like a blocked gland rather than an abscess. However it's hard to tell from a photo.
I think if she had extensive abscesses she would be very unwell. Has she lost weight?
The nipple discharge is common in older sows and usually has a hormonal cause. Occasionally there is a mammary gland tumour causing the discharge which would form a hard lump under the nipple.
I don't think an expensive CT scan will help. A simple ultrasound scan would pick up any ovarian or internal problems and would not require an anaesthetic.
Maybe consider getting a second opinion from a vet who is on our recommend vets list?
www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/recommended-guinea-pig-vets.158174/
 
pig in the city said:
Hi. Abscesses under the chin are very common in piggies. The lesion on her eye looks more like a blocked gland rather than an abscess. However it's hard to tell from a photo.
I think if she had extensive abscesses she would be very unwell. Has she lost weight?
The nipple discharge is common in older sows and usually has a hormonal cause. Occasionally there is a mammary gland tumour causing the discharge which would form a hard lump under the nipple.
I don't think an expensive CT scan will help. A simple ultrasound scan would pick up any ovarian or internal problems and would not require an anaesthetic.
Maybe consider getting a second opinion from a vet who is on our recommend vets list?
www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/recommended-guinea-pig-vets.158174/
Click to expand...

Random but my hamster had a little lump on his eye that looked just like this and that was a blocked gland in his eye. The vet just suggested a warm compress on it a few times a day and it went away by itself!
 
Thanks for your thoughts, @pig in the city . I'm not convinced by the abscess theory either, she is absolutely fine and happy with no weight loss or signs of distress. Yet it does strike me as odd that she has one in both eyes...
This vet is at one of the practices on the list (Holly House in Leeds). I don't think Segio Silvetti practises there any more, but Richard is generally quite good. (Actually, there is a better gp vet at a different practice in Leeds, but she has been off sick for the past few months, hence we now go to see Richard).
Richard has asked to see her again once the AB course has finished, so we could ask about ultrasound then. But I think it might be worth getting a second opinion anyway, like you suggest.
 
Wheekallweek said:
Random but my hamster had a little lump on his eye that looked just like this and that was a blocked gland in his eye. The vet just suggested a warm compress on it a few times a day and it went away by itself!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I suppose it won't hurt to try that!
 
Rusholme said:
Thanks for your thoughts, @pig in the city . I'm not convinced by the abscess theory either, she is absolutely fine and happy with no weight loss or signs of distress. Yet it does strike me as odd that she has one in both eyes...
This vet is at one of the practices on the list (Holly House in Leeds). I don't think Segio Silvetti practises there any more, but Richard is generally quite good. (Actually, there is a better gp vet at a different practice in Leeds, but she has been off sick for the past few months, hence we now go to see Richard).
Richard has asked to see her again once the AB course has finished, so we could ask about ultrasound then. But I think it might be worth getting a second opinion anyway, like you suggest.
Click to expand...
Let us know how she goes. Fingers crossed!
 
Quick update on Marmalade...After a week of ABs there is no change in any of her lumps. However, the 'crusty' nipples seem to have improved.
The vet is still not sure about the diagnosis for the lumps on her eyes, but we have decided to have the lump under her chin removed with surgery since whether it's an abscess or tumour it will need to come out. We will get histology done so that we know whether it was benign or not.
She is still perfectly happy in herself, so fingers crossed it turns out just to be an isolated abscess/benign lump!
 
Just a quick update on Marmalade. She underwent surgery 10 days ago, and after losing a little weight post-surgery is now doing very well. Thankfully the lump under the chin turned out to be an abscess, which was successfully removed. There has been no change with the lumps/abscesses on her eyes and they don't seem to be bothering her at all, so for now we are just monitoring those.

So overall we're very pleased with how it all worked out! :)
 
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