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Abscessed Boris

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jml

Hi all, I hope someone can provide some advice.

I've been reading through some of the threads on here, and you all seem a pretty knowledgeable group. Yesterday my partner and I noticed a lump under one of our pig's chin, pretty much as a lot of the guinea pig websites describe abscesses.

We took him to our local Companion Care vet tonight, having done a bit of reading up on abscesses beforehand. The vet there told us that he'd like to anaesthatise Boris before draining the abscess. Having read about this I said I'd prefer him not to do this, if it didn't appear to be necessary, and the vet has said he'll try shaving/lancing/draining first, and use a local/general if need be.

Any advice on whether this sounds reasonable? We don't want to put him through unnecessary pain / medication if we can help it and I'd like him to get the best treatment possible. We've not had him very long at all, and I don't want to lose him to a vet who isn't particularly careful with what he referred to as 'small furries'.

Meghan
 
Greetings,
There is certainly no need for a GA to lance/drain an abscess that is at "skin-level". In most cases there is little or no need for a local anaesthetic. All that it takes to drain an abscess is to get into it either by using a large bore needle or by a small incision.
The important aspect is to try and establish the cause, which is not always possible. Antibiotics are given if necessary.
You will find on this forum that a lot of advice is repeated, this is done so you can see that you are not the first to have a pig with a given problem!
You will also get opposing views, quite a normal scenario as well.
More details would be appreciated eg size, exact location, duration and possible cause of the abscess.
Is he an only pig?
Depending on where you are someone may be able to give you the name of a knowledgeable vet. or a pig owner who could give you advice and help.
Best wishes.
 
Thank you for responding :)

We took him back in this morning, and retrieved him this afternoon. He's had the abscess lanced and drained, and he now has an impressive hole below his chin! The vet seemed quite capable, and has given us Baytril to give him orally once daily in 0.75ml quantities. He seems pretty happy again, though a little quieter than normal.

Boris is about a year old, he's housed with another guinea of about 2 1/2 years and they get on really really well, to our relief (we had another pig who sadly died recently and got Boris as a result).

The size of the abscess was about the size of a quail egg and was quite firm to the touch, though seemed detached from anything else. The veterinary nurse told us it was quite gross to see this cheesy-looking pus drained from him!

No GA was used, though he was sedated. He's now eating normally again and back in with Percy. We're under instructions to give him the Baytril and to bathe the hole in salt water daily. Anything else we can do?

Thanks for reading all this, we're very relieved to be in a place where people have such similar experiences!
 
Good to hear some good news from you. Even sedation is unnecessary in order to drain an abscess, at least you know now, if there is a next time.
0.75ml once daily is not the usual dose, the "standard" dose is 0.4ml twice daily, this assumes that the vet gave you Oral Baytril 2.5%.
You may have a problem with the drainage hole closing, so it is better to clean it out every few hours, rather than once or twice a day.
Sterile saline solution, as sold for contact lenses, is ideal for flushing out and around an abscess. Any idea yet as to the cause of the problem? I'm just wondering if his friend could have bitten him or else there maybe a problem with one of his lower incisors.
Regards.
 
We did indeed get that - Oral Baytril 2.5%. How quickly do these holes close? It seems very odd to me! How exactly are you supposed to 'flush out'. Is it literally a squirt of saline solution into the hole and letting this drip back out?

We don't yet know the cause of the abscess, and the vet didn't notice any problems with his teeth. As the pigs were only recently introduced I suspect it could have been a scratch/bite from Percy.
 
A clean incision can heal within a few hours. An incision made to drain an abscess, or cyst, may take 24 hours to heal. If it is a "ragged" hole it may not heal until the abscess has cleared up completely.
Drip the saline into the cavity with a syringe, massage the area, gently squeeze the fluid from the cavity, repeat a few times until the fluid drains out clear. Then repeat the whole process in a few hours.
If it were a scratch/bite from Percy I would hope it clear up fairly soon, pig bites, generally, are fairly "clean". Fingers crossed!
 
Thank you so much for your advice, it really is very helpful. We feel a bit useless! Where the lump was we can still feel a bit of a bump, but we're not sure if it's just the skin left over from where it grew. We've been washing it with salt water and he's behaving himself.

We ended up buying some saline solution from Tescos and have just flushed for the first time. He seemed pretty relaxed once we used the towel-wrapping technique (thank you Guinea forums for this idea!) and has taken it all very well. Thankfully both pigs are behaving themselves so there's no need to worry about any further injury I think!

More flushing in the morning :)
 
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If the abscess is healing you will often find a hard "lump" remaining for sometime, it is usually scar tissue which takes a little longer to be absorbed.
It does seem that so far so good.
 
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Update! We finished Boris's treatment of Baytril, and though he hated it we got giving him it down to a fine art by the end of the week. His lump has reduced massively over that period, and the hole has been healing nicely so far as we can tell. The lump is much smaller and he seems fine now, so we're much happier piggy carers!

Thank you so much for all the help and advice, it's really comforting to know this place is around :)
 
Excellent. For those of us used to such problems it is easy to forget how "difficult" it is someone for dealing with an abscess for the first time.
I am still surprised that the vet gave a sedative. Maybe it was the first time that the vet had dealt with a gp abscess!
Watch and wait now, if nothing recurs within, give or take, 14 days that should be the end of the matter.
An "exploding" abscess, where the contents reach the ceiling, is another story........
 
I was rather against the sedative, given what everyone has said on this board, but the vet was quite adamant. It seems to have gone without hiccup! The nurses at the surgery told us that he's quite experienced with gps and he said himself that he's dealt with a large number of abscesses.

An exploding abscess I don't think I want to know about!
 
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