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Do I need to pick off scab to check if abscess is healing?

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boysmum

My boy had an external abscess on his testicle popped at the vet on Tues night. It has now formed a scab and it feels as though that is all there is.

He was not operated on, the vet merely squeezed it gently and it all oozed out. In fact, I wonder if this was perhaps a cyst?

He is on baytril twice a day and fibreplex pro-biotic. So far, he seems happy enough. Eating and pooping ok.

Do I need to break the scab in order to check that there is no more pus building up? I have been cleaning him with hibiscrub on the area and it feels empty apart from the hard scab. I presume this will fall off in time?

Not quite sure what to do.
 
am sure someone will correct me, but i think you are suppossed to remove the scab to remove all the pus. so i am presuming you have to remove this scab to make sure it is pus free as you don't want him getting infected. if it was a cyst then there would not have been any pus! an abscess isn't healed until all pus is gone. good luck. hugs and cuddles to you and your boy from me and the girls in oz. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Yeah I think you're supposed to remove the scab with warm water and make sure there's no build up of pus underneath and then flush out the area.

If I were you I'd give the Vets a ring just to be on the safe side - most Vets are OK about giving advice over the phone. They really should have told you what to do for aftercare.

Good luck O0
 
I'll tell you, my guinea had a couple of abscesses removed, and we've been going back and forth to the vet for a couple of months now. And everytime we go, she does take the scab off and gets out all the pus and then cleans it. She said if the pus accumulates underneath, the abscess can grow again. She never told me to take the scab off, but then again she wouldn't make money if I did it on my own! Most of the time my guinea, Ricky, rips the scab off himself and the pus comes out on its own. The vet says he's doing me a favor! So I don't think there would be any harm in doing it yourself. The only thing is, after I flush it, she gave me an antibiotic gel to put in the cut. I don't know if you would need that for an infection to not grow. But that's only what the vet would do anyway (take the scab off). It's costing a fortune to go back and forth to the vet, when it's something I could do on my own. Good luck to you! Let us know how your little one is doing! :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
My Lois has just had this too, although she had surgery and it came up after that again.. anyway you need to soak the scab off with some warm water, sqeezw gently to see if there is any puss and wipe it clean with some salt water, if you see no pus for 4-5 days then you can let it heal up, i didnt need antibiotic gel with lois she was just on baytril and pro-biotics :) id do it yourself its easy, because if your vet is doing it weekly and not getting all he puss out it will keep building up and will never be clean unless you do it everyday.. its also not good for your guinea to be pulling the scab off and having puss coming out i think the puss can harm them.
 
Larry's scab is now off and the wound is looking nice and clean. I've had a good feel and it feels flat and nothing came out when I squeezed.

However, I am taking him tomorrow to the vet to have a check as I want to know if I'm correct ie that is healing ok. I would hate it if I was not being vigilant enough!

What is worrying me more is the Baytril side effects. He has definately gone off his veggies ie carrot and spring greens but will take lettuce, apple, hay and grass quite happily. I know baytril can upset appetitie and I am giving him probiotics. His poops look fine, no diarrohea. I have 3 more days on baytril. I really don't like it at all as I get worried when the appettie is affected.

However, he is active, alert and pop corns.
 
glad larry is doing better. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: good luck at the vets tomorrow. grass and hay are quite good for him not too much apple though. you could give him a vitamin C supplement if concerned that larry is off his veggies. i hear in the UK you can get it in tablet form, here in oz we get it in powder, we put a pinch in their water bottles and add some to pre boiled water and syringe it to them. sending hugs and cuddles to larry and hoping all goes well at the vets. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: and larry my girls send you some :-* :-* :-*
 
Well done Larry and good luck at the Vets O0 You must eat up your veggies tho to get back on track asap! O0
 
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