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Cauliflower Willy Problems....

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Clareyfairy

Clareyfairy

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Hey,

I have a guinea pig who has cauliflower willy, i only recently figured this out, before i just thought he was abit 'bigger' then the rest.

I noticed yesterday a lump on his belly just above his bits, his bits were also abit smelly (cheesey @) ). I have a little look to cee if there was anything stuck in it and there was a long peace of 'hard puss' (Thats what the vet called it)

So yeah we took him up to the vets yesterday and he opened his bits abit more and there was more puss.

He said it is either a abcyst or a tumour which i suspected. From previous experience i was not keen on the idea of them removing it as a majority of our pets that have gone to the vet usually die.

I am just wondering if there is anyone else who has had this same situation and what they did?

Clare.

x
 
i've never been in the situation, but i'd advise a vet trip. if i were you, i'd take him to the nearest well reputed exotics vet. good luck with him :)
 
If there has been pus and an abscess is indicated, what has your vet done about it?
 
Your vet should have started him on some oral antibiotics to clear the infection. You'll also need to clean the area at least once a day with some sterile water (cool boiled water is fine) and perhaps some antiseptic such as hibiscrub. A tumour would NOT cause pus as far as I am aware. I wondered if perhaps your boar didn't have an abscess but had got a collection of dirt and debris in his cauliflour willy, which has gotten infected, as the willy is an unusual place to get an abscess in my opinion?
 
The lump is on his stomach, just above his bits.

I'm not a fan of giving them anti biotics as this kills there amune system and usually causes them to die because of something else.

Also another thing i noticed when cleaning is that at the very end of his willy, like the very very end there are 2 pointy bits... Kind of like a snakes tongue...

I'm not sure if this is not for caulifower willy or not, before i noticed this i had just been removing bits of hay (asuming its hay) from in his bits which is what has obviously caused the infection...

I think i am going to just clean this every day and see how its goes, i am really reluctant to go to the vets because of previous experiences... Alot of money lost and alot of pigs lost :(.

Pigday051.jpg



The pic is the pig in question, his names Barney, my fave pig out the lot typically. Can't beat a texel guinea pig, although his curls are all gone where i bathe him regularly and blow dry it :).

He's pampered :)

x
 
The two bit at the top are normal for a guinea pig penis.

However, I have to say that if you do not treat an abscess, it will simply grow and kill the piggy. And this time, it will be on your conscience. Do you know that you can cushion the effects of an antibiotic by giving probiotics afterwards?

Please go and find a proper exotics vet who knows guinea pigs!
 
I do want it treated, just a tad worried because as i said previous experiences.

We do give them probiotics when they have been on antibiotics, we have only had 1 thats had survived antibiotics for a cold. Shes fine now but she also has an absyss of her stomach but higher up and this has been the same for a year now and shes fine.

Do you know any quinea pig specialist vets or is it something i should just search for on the net.

Clare.x
 
You may want to ring up this excellent rescue here - they are based in Bristol. I am sure that they can tell you which vet they use.
http://www.cavyrescueandretreat.org.uk/contactus.htm

Sorry about being harsh, but we have just had a couple of cases on here were abscesses have grown into the body and killed the piggy. It is always rather upsetting. We also have had a couple of cases where newly rescued boars could not be saved.

You may help your boy by washing and rinsing his penis pouch thoroughly at least twice a day with saline solution made from 1 pint of boiled and cooled water to which 1 tsp of salt has been added. Like another poster has said, it is probably debris in there that has caused the infection; however, it can become a problem if left untreated.
 
No need to be sorry i understand.

Yes we are cleaning it, cleaned twice today and looks alot better.. compated top before anyway.

Still doesn't resove the the lump though.

I will show the link you posted to my mum and see what shes says.

I will let you know how thinsg go.

Thanks for your help.

x
 
Welcome to the forum Clare, sorry to hear your boy has such problems with his delicate parts!

I'm also sorry to hear you have bad experiences with medicating piggies in the past. Certain antibiotics can wipe out the gut flora of guineas and cause a fatal diarrhoea (this is the toxic effect of such dangerous drugs as penicillin, as I understand it), but the use of a toxic drug doesn't always explain deaths of piggies on antibiotics - often a perfectly safe drug is used yet the guinea still doesn't recover. An incorrect dosage, incomplete treatment plan, and even misdiagnosis can be to blame; more frequently the two former suggestions, what happens is that guinea is not given enough of the drug to get to the infection quickly enough, or the use of another drug alongside the antibiotic is necessary (to allow time for the antibiotic to work) but is not used, so piggie dies of the original or accumulative illness. It sounds complicated, but it just comes down to having the right dose and the right treatment plan according to your guineas needs.

There are plenty of antibiotics that have been used on many piggies with very few or no issues at all - Septrin is about the gentlest one you'll get and is especially good at dealing with urinary infections, while Baytril is the most widely prescribed and is a little stronger, but good success rates when given at the right dose, and as Wiebke has said probiotics can help to lessen any side-effects from any antibiotics.

Best of luck getting your boar treated, please do keep us updated, I hope his troubles clear up very soon. xx
 
Hey guys,

An update as promised.

Good news actually, as i said i don't like going to the vets as i have had some bad experiences and just regretted it after.

We left the lump and cleaned his doo dah everyday to get with off the puss and crap and it got better and better, less each time.

The lump started to go down and become softer.

He bit it today and it has burst outwards (i know what your thinking "ew").

But this is good as the poison and stuff came out rather then in his blood stream.

My mum has cleaned the 'hole' where the puss came out off and it is healing already, we have researched this quite alot and liquid parafin is good for cleaning out wounds like this...

It is healing already and the hole is smaller and hes eatting more than ever!

Fingers crossed it will keep getting better and better.

I will keep you updated! :D

x
 
Make sure that you are keeping the hole open long enough that new pus can't build up again behind it.

A course of antibiotics would be really helpful with a bad abscess like this.
 
Yeah we are, cleaning it all the time too.

I'm going to bath him tomorrow and give it a proper wash!

And yeah he is having some kind of natural anti biotics, not the what vets give out though.

It's when he stop eating well i will begin to worry, but at the mo he's doing good thankfully!

He has had me on edge the past week!

x
 
Manuka Honey is a great aid in healing wounds & has helped with the healing of abscesses.

I'm glad your boy's getting better, he is lovely but i wanted to say i think the 2 things are unrelated.

I think his abscess is most likely due to a haypoke ( i had a boar with an abscess in the same place) & the hardened pus your vet referred to (from his penis), to me sounds like a sperm rod especially if it was white in colour.
The cheesy stuff is smegma, a normal secretion to keep the shaft of the penis lubricated & the 2 horns on the tip of the penis are also normal.

Cauliflower willy doesn't relate to the penis itself, it describes the foreskin, which becomes frilled & resembles a cauliflower head :)
 
Thanks i will let my mum know that, we have some in the kitchen i believe.


I agree with them not being related, and funny you should say about haypoke, when we put hay in the cage all the other boys eat around and Barney goes and sits in it.

Thanks for the advise!

X
 
Update.

Heyy,

Just a little update, Barney seems fine, it is still healing but has gone do a hell of alot.

There is still the occasinal bit of puss but seems to be getting better.

Anymore ill let you know..

Hope you are all well :)

x
 
ive only just seen this as I'm new..but ohmygosh! what a illness! poor little guineapig! i really hope he gets better! it sounds awful! its always my favourite that has all the problems to..grrr! pow-pow
 
Heyy,

Barney lump has gone and pretty much fully healed now.

His bits still smell and there cheesy stuff but i think its just normal, the fact its all 'cauliflowered' makes it seem a tad unusual.

But then that he seems fine guys!

:D
 
Good news on the lump As someone said I thing the cheesy stuff is smegma :)>>> uncircumcised humans get it too under the foreskin specially when it's hot or they don't wash properly :)>>>
 
Hey,

Just another update.

I got barney out yesterday to have a little check and it was all discuting and smelly so i washed it and i think it is really clearing now as i can.... pull it all the way back now as where before it was just too sore i couldn't.

I found a few bits of hay on the actual penis itself which i removed and washed.

Barney gave me the whole "you bathed me the other day" look....

x
 
I am glad that he is clearing off and getting better. Boys bits are always smelly!
 
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