Specialist Emergency: Suspected Abscess.

[louwhiskyy]

Hi, I really need to ask for some advice.

I have just found a large lump under Poe's chin, I am very worried and I assume he should go to a vet straight away. The problem is I am 17 and home alone, my parents are away from the weekend. I have a car and I can drive - but I am very worried about going to the vet on my own (anxiety).

I have two options, one is to take him to the nearest general vet. They are not specialised in exotics and mainly just do cats and dogs but for an initial look it might be suitable - I am worried they might just say sorry but piggies are too small go away - and I know it's stupid but that would terribly embarrass me. The second option is I can take him to a specialised animal hospital that has an exotics vet but a) is harder to get to and b) considering I am by myself is a little bit scarier.

Basically I want to know - how urgent is the situation and should I go straight to the experts?
He seems ok - eating and what not, I am just terribly worried. Please provide your suggestions.

 

[Julie M]

Sorry to hear this. I am not a health expert but I would take him to a vet to be safe. Could you take a friend with you for moral support?

 

[biscandmatt]

personally, i would always recommend going to the exotics vets for any situation. i can really relate to the anxiety situation as currently i can only leave the house to go to the vets if any of mine need to. but it is extremely hard to do so hugs being sent. is there another family member who could go with you? i know it is easier said than done, but don't think about anything other than your pet needs you and focus on that and not what people are saying/could say. just think that you know your pet best and they only have you to speak on their behalf. you know though, most people are generally quite good about these issues now. i am always a nervous wreck in the vets. i've even had full blown panic attacks in there and the vet and staff have been kind to me even though i was so embarrassed! i hope you can manage to get there x

 

[Freela]

I would definitely go to the exotics vet... my experience is that it can make a BIG difference in outcome when treatment is required. However, if anxiety is a huge issue and your pig is eating normally and seems fine other than the bump, you would likely be fine to wait until Monday when someone can go with you. If he's not eating, drinking, or is sitting in the corner puffed up and in any distress, of course, you'll have to have him seen sooner (and check out the guide to hand-feeding in the stickies above- very helpful!)

One of my pigs had a huge abscess lanced and drained a couple years ago- even so, I took her home for the weekend and returned her for surgery on Monday, based on my vet's schedule and the fact that the office is closed on Sunday. So in a pinch, I think he will likely be okay until Monday morning. Maybe phone and book an appointment for then and take him in sooner if his condition changes.

 

[louwhiskyy]

Thank you everyone for all your support!

So here's what happened - I found an animal hospital that, though not specialised, treated exotics and, after speaking to a vet on the phone, booked an appointment for Poe to go in to have it looked at then. A friend came with me, (thanks for that advice @Julie M ) and Poe has had his abscess lanced and has been given Baytril (dose of 1/4 of a mL twice a day - just want to check, does this sound normal?) with the suggestion that my parents should phone and book an appointment for Poe to have it opened up on Monday. To be honest I am quite proud of myself for managing the situation and how it all worked out and because little Poe seems ok I can relax a little - the whole thing was quite exhausting, but vets are nice people.

Now i just have some questions about the procedure - would you say it's recommended? I don't want to do anything excessive and if lancing and flushing it would work appropriately then i don't want to risk anything. However it has come up very quickly, is moderately large, and very hard. Not sure whether it's important, but the pus he got out of it was described as "cheese like" as opposed to liquid, and I've read these sorts of abscess are harder to deal with. The vet said surgery would probably be required over the phone, before he had even seen Poe, so is this generally the process for a guinea pig abscess? Is the surgery dangerous/risky? Sorry for all the questions - I am still quite worried and am just wondering if any one has any experiences with abscesses they could share. Poor little Poe

 

[Pebble]

I'm very impressed with how you handled the situation - well done..

The decision on whether to remove the abcess rather than just keep it open and flushed will largely depend on its position and size. If it is difficult to keep draining the pus (which sounds like the case if it is "cheese-like") then removal may be a better option.

Tagging the abcess queen for you @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary

 

[Kerrie74]

I don't know about guinea's that have abscesses, I have two myself, but I'm ok and not a little piggie. I just wanted to post and give you my moral support and hope everything goes well for Poe

 

[louwhiskyy]

Thank you @Kerrie74 this is such a lovely forum and @Pebble thanks so much, you are always so helpful!

 

[Kerrie74]

Your welcome @louwhiskyy

There are a lot of awesome people on the forums who will give advice if people ask So never be scared to ask!

 

[biscandmatt]

i am glad you were able to go. it's a big achievement when you get so anxious. i can't offer any advice regarding abscesses but wanted to wish poe well

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I have treated abscesses very successfully that have been lanced and drained. However, the key to success is lots of flushing and making sure it stays open so that you have drainage for the pus. I have never found Baytril particularly good for dealing with abscesses and my antibiotic of choice would be Zithromax. Are you still getting good drainage or does it seem to be refilling?

 

[pig in the city]

Well done for sorting Poe out so promptly. After flushing the abscess cavity it is worth using medical grade Manuka honey in the cavity, it helps amazingly. I have had the unfortunate experience of treating several abscesses , the key is keeping the cavity open by daily or twice daily flushing, this allows the abscess to heal from the base and stop further pus building up. Its not fun to do but its well worth persevering

 

[louwhiskyy]

alright, thanks everyone. Today i will ask my dad to take Poe to a more specialist vet that we have had experience with, as I am not totally confident with the vet I took Poe to yesterday. @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary are you saying that Baytril was the wrong antibiotic to prescribe? Poe seemed good last night, popcorning and running round my room for hours but it did seem to me that the abscess filled quite quickly again. I am not really sure how to go about flushing or keeping it open - and now that it is already pretty much full again i am not really sure what to do.

 

[louwhiskyy]

Also, should I separate Poe and Stuey, or is that not necessary? I don't want Stuey to pick up an infection or anything.

 

[Julie M]

Hope Poe gets better soon. I don't think they need to be separated due to an abcess.

Well done for going to the vets.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

alright, thanks everyone. Today i will ask my dad to take Poe to a more specialist vet that we have had experience with, as I am not totally confident with the vet I took Poe to yesterday. @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary are you saying that Baytril was the wrong antibiotic to prescribe? Poe seemed good last night, popcorning and running round my room for hours but it did seem to me that the abscess filled quite quickly again. I am not really sure how to go about flushing or keeping it open - and now that it is already pretty much full again i am not really sure what to do.

Zithromax works very much better. Did the vet not show you how to flush the abscess and how to keep it open? If it heals with the infection still inside you will be back to square one. You must keep it open so that the pus can drain and it will heal from the inside outwards.

 

[louwhiskyy]

Hi everyone, well little Poe went to a more specialist vet yesterday. He's meant to be one of the best vets for piggies in our state and we had seen him for our rabbit a couple of years ago. He agreed that Baytril wouldn't be ideal on it's own so added a dose of Flagyl on top of the Baytril. He was concerned however, that it looked like this abscess could be dental (this freaks me out a little, because a) this is what my rabbit died from and b) i know dental issues are rarer in Guinea Pigs!) He didn't drain/lance it or show us any of the draining/keeping it open - again, I am really not sure why. This could be because of his concerns about the dental issue - maybe he felt that doing that could be essentially pointless if it was a dental issue, but I feel a bit dissatisfied that the only procedure at the moment is to continue with the antibiotics and see how that goes. I think the plan if it does nothing is that we will get him an x-ray and then look at having it opened.

 

[7squeakers.]

I am very pleased to hear that poor little Poe got through the initial healing processes with this abscess. My little boy Clyde had a large abscess under his jaw just like Poe. Although I think my Vet is quite good, he is not particularly piggie-savvy. Clyde got Baytril as well. I mentioned Zithromax to my Vet but he said it depends on what they find inside the abscess. However, my boy refused to eat after his operation and died two days later. Perhaps if my Vet had used Zithromax, my boy might still be with us.

 

[louwhiskyy]

I made a post about little Poe a couple of weeks ago after finding a large lump beneath his chin. He was put on a course of antibiotics (Flagyl and Baytril) and we started weighing him everyday. After a while he started losing weight, so we brought him back to the vet - concerned about the size of his abscess and the weightloss - and were told to start syringe feeding him critical care . The vet - who is Cavy Savvy did not want to lance or drain his abscess and Poe still seems himself, eating, talkative etc.

However the last couple of days he has continued to lose weight - we are giving him the critical care but probably not enough, instead we are trying to make sure he spends lots of time outside on the grass as was suggested because the grass is easy to eat and he spends all day munching. (He is eating all the veggies given to him as normal, but maybe he is having trouble eating hay?). Today, giving him his morning meds i was just so shocked by how big his abscess is. It is scarily big. I'm not sure whether it has grown but I was just suddenly taken aback by it's size. Our Vet is away till the end of the month but we have made another appointment for another vet tomorrow. I do not want to be told to just continue with the antibiotics again - because it is not working. He is now down to 650grams. I am very concerned. His poop is soft and clumping which is making a right mess on his fleece bedding which is another thing that is concerning me - I am assuming however this could be due to the antibiotics? (he has been on them for about 3 weeks) What should our next step be?

 

[Wiebke]

As far as I can see, the next step is either:
- lancing/draining the abscess and switching to a stronger antibiotic (Zithromax, i.e. azithromycin has been found to be one antibiotic that can help where others fail)
- operating


Please syringe feed as much as you can get into him to keep up the strength: the less he is eating in one sitting, the more often round the clock. He may be eating more slowly due to the discomfort, so seeing him chew can be very deceptive. Both the infection and pain are impinging on his appetite.

I have merged your threads, so we have got all information together, but have tagged our abscess specialists and medications heavyweights in again for you.

@furryfriends (TEAS) @Pebble

Fingers very firmly crossed!