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Dennis The Piggy - Post-neuter Abscess

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Betsy

Betsy

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Hi all

My Piggy Dennis cut himself underneath near his privates the other day it is quite a deep cut. All the fur has come off it in a neat circle around the cut. It has been clean for a few days. This morning, however, when I came to take him out of the hutch to put him in the run for his daily exercise along with Mum, Aunty, his brother and sister I noticed this light green pus coming out of it. Does this mean an infection? If so I'll take him to the vet today. He is his normal happy self, eating and drinking normally and chasing the 3 girlies. He has been neutered as I don't want any surprises!
 
No as it had a scab over it and I didn't want to pick it off. When the scab fell off the wound was nice and clean.
 
Betsy said:
Hi all

My Piggy Dennis cut himself underneath near his privates the other day it is quite a deep cut. All the fur has come off it in a neat circle around the cut. It has been clean for a few days. This morning, however, when I came to take him out of the hutch to put him in the run for his daily exercise along with Mum, Aunty, his brother and sister I noticed this light green pus coming out of it. Does this mean an infection? If so I'll take him to the vet today. He is his normal happy self, eating and drinking normally and chasing the 3 girlies. He has been neutered as I don't want any surprises!
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Please have him seen promptly for an abscess; it needs draining and then flushing 2-3 daily with a mild disinfectant like saline or hibiscrub to allow it to heal from the inside out. He will also require an antibiotic.

How old is he?
 
Dennis has an appointment at the vets tomorrow morning which is the earliest I could get. Dennis was born on 5 May last year. He is the runt of the litter so he is quite small for a boar but still very cute.
 
Hi all

I took Dennis to see the vet this morning. He didn't particularly like being prodded and poked and objected quite loudly to his temperature being taken! He came to me for reassurance once all the poking and prodding had finished. He does have an abscess. Apparently it is a post neutering abscess. He has twice daily antibiotics and I have to clean him up twice a day with cooled boiled water for 7 days. He goes back for his check up next week. He is still his normal self, still eating and drinking normally and this morning was trying it on with his sister, Meg, who had to do 'doughnuts' to stop him from getting at her.
 
How long ago was he neutered? Did the vet say anything about leaving the wound open for flushing?
 
Dennis was neutered in September last year. The vet didn't say anything about flushing the wound. She did say to apply gentle pressure to see if any more pus came out and if it did to wipe it away with cooled boiled water. If nothing came out I was to still clean the wound site with cooled boiled water. She also said I had to clean out the hutch as soon as I got home if I hadn't done so already. I did that thoroughly on Sunday as soon as I saw his wound was infected which is 3 days earlier than I would have done. All 5 piggies are in the run on the patio at the mo as the lawn has been treated. I clean the patio off every night when I have put Velvet, Betsy, Meg, Christian and Dennis in the hutch after they have had their daily comb and cuddle and then they have their dinner of veg.
 
First thing I'd do is take him indoors if he is poorly he doesn't need the cold & trying to get rid of an infection & his hutch mate, so he doesn't get lonely.
You need to put a little bit of salt in boiled water then cover so it doesn't get contaminated.
Put pads in once, or it will go yuk.
Is your vet cavy savvy, because I'm not convinced it's nothing to do with the neutering after 6 months.
Hope he gets well soon.
 
Betsy said:
Dennis was neutered in September last year. The vet didn't say anything about flushing the wound. She did say to apply gentle pressure to see if any more pus came out and if it did to wipe it away with cooled boiled water. If nothing came out I was to still clean the wound site with cooled boiled water. She also said I had to clean out the hutch as soon as I got home if I hadn't done so already. I did that thoroughly on Sunday as soon as I saw his wound was infected which is 3 days earlier than I would have done. All 5 piggies are in the run on the patio at the mo as the lawn has been treated. I clean the patio off every night when I have put Velvet, Betsy, Meg, Christian and Dennis in the hutch after they have had their daily comb and cuddle and then they have their dinner of veg.
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Hi! Please bring him inside and flush the wound 2-3 times gently with saline solution (1-2 teaspoons of salt mixed into 1 pint of boiled, cooled water) or any other mild disinfectant like hibiscrub. Ideally you keep the hole open for as long as possible (as close to 10 days or more) to allow drainage. You may have to peel away the crust everytime. As long as what is coming out still smells of abscess pus (you cannot miss that stink), there is still some infection left in the body which can build up again and cause a new abcess. Abscesses need to heal from the inside out, any spec of infected stuff left in one of the pouches can restart it with a vengeance. It is not a pleasant process, but well worth doing right.

I am sorry that you have caught a post-op abscess about as late as they come. :(

What antibiotic and dosage is he on? Ideally you want as strong an antibiotic as possible as not all can cut through an abscess.

@furryfriends (TEAS)
 
The vet gave Dennis Sulfatrim Oral drops at 0.15ml twice a day. I'll bring him inside tonight with his brother Christian. How should I flush the abscess out?
 
Betsy said:
The vet gave Dennis Sulfatrim Oral drops at 0.15ml twice a day. I'll bring him inside tonight with his brother Christian. How should I flush the abscess out?
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You use a slightly larger syringe which you can get from a pharmacy to flush the absecess cavity with water.

That is a VERY low dose of antibiotic (it translates to 0.3 ml of pediatric septrin twice daily) and less what you'd give an adult guinea pig with UTI.
 
At the mo I have the two boys inside as Dennis is recovering from a post op abscess and Christian is keeping him company. The 3 girlies are in the hutch. As they seem to be missing each other I had them all together for cuddle time and it was very vocal as they were all saying hello and getting acquainted again. The boys are in for another 2 days while Dennis finishes his antibiotics.
 
Thanks Dennis is looking much brighter than he was and if the weather is good tomorrow I am thinking of putting him outside in the run with everybody else. His abscess draining 'hole' has now joined together and no more horrible stinky pus has come out for a couple of days now and it is nice and clean. I'll bring him and his brother in at night still.
 
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