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Found A Lump, Is It Absces Or Worse?

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oxtinamona

oxtinamona

Junior Guinea Pig
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hi,
I got from work today and went to see my piggies as usual. First thing I noticed was that one of my boars had like a loose piece of skin/fur hanging down their neck which I have never noticed before. Considering he's short hair agouti and I had lap time with him and his sow wife j haven't noticed anything yesterday ! And I notice things straight away .

Anyway, my worst fear materialised and I'm almost certain it's absces, hopefully not a cancerous lump. I'm petrified as have seen so many stories in you tube about people losing piggies due to absces complications.
He was fine yesterday popcorning and chatting away as he does usually.

This afternoon his behaviour was fine, he wheeked for food and ate all they were given, but as I'm now monitoring him closely I'm noticing very slow change. He was eating his pellets before bed time but I am certain he was a bit uncomfortable ... it looked like when humans have say an ulcer in their mouth and we try to eat on one side... he was doing similar.
The lump is quite large, approx a size of an acorn and he doesn't shriek or cry or moves away when I was touching it. The lump is fairly firm. Kinda hanging down loosely...

Does it sound anything like you're experience with abscess if you had any?
I have no idea where did that come from.
He was perfectly ok on Sunday, yesterday fine and eating and popcorning although he was sitting in a 'ball' as I call it, i.e. Sitting not laying down relaxed... he was relaxed earlier today though.

Does this sound like abscess? I'm obviously taking him to the vet, but when I was browsing internet all I found were the horror stories of failed abscess treatments etc and now I'm suddenly finding myself with no hope in 2016, 21st century and modern medicine anymore.

X
 
Sorry i cant really offer much advice as i have never had any experience of guinea abscesses, but there have been a number of members on here just lately that have had success with them, either by their vet lancing & draining or capsule removal & a back up of antibiotics (apparently Zithromax (sp?) is very effective with these-better than baytril or septrin although unlicensed on piggies)

abscesses usually come up quite quickly so hopefully its going to be that- sounds like a vet visit though. make sure he has pain relief- fom personal experience they hurt like hell! :vom:
Just wishing your little man a speedy recovery whatever it is - fingers & paws all crossed for him. xx
 
One of my pigs had an abscess on her neck area a couple months ago. It was huge, about the size of a golf ball. She was eating fine and playing but it kept getting bigger so I took her to the vet.
They shaved her neck and either lanced/drained it (not sure which) which only took about an hour. They told me it was just an abscess and sent me home with antibiotics. She's been fine since and her hair has finally grown back!
 
Ginnyandpia said:
One of my pigs had an abscess on her neck area a couple months ago. It was huge, about the size of a golf ball. She was eating fine and playing but it kept getting bigger so I took her to the vet.
They shaved her neck and either lanced/drained it (not sure which) which only took about an hour. They told me it was just an abscess and sent me home with antibiotics. She's been fine since and her hair has finally grown back!
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Hi thank you replying.
He's now visibly struggling with food. I can tell he's in pain. He's lost just under 50g since Monday ! :(
So worried , as I've seen so many people has lost their piggies to abscess complications and post op recovery
X
Can anyone advise on care? I mean I know what to do but wanted to hear more people's experiences
 
Ginnyandpia said:
I hope he goes to the vet soon and has a healthy recovery! :luv:
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So my little darling Presley is having a surgery tomorrow :(

Absolutely petrifying. I've seen so many sad news from piggie owners in GP comunity all around the world. Most due to abscess
Complications :(

Wish us luck please x
 
I hope everything goes ok, he will probably come home with antibiotics and the wound may be left open for flushing if it is an abscess. Has the vet confirmed that is what it is?
 
helen105281 said:
I hope everything goes ok, he will probably come home with antibiotics and the wound may be left open for flushing if it is an abscess. Has the vet confirmed that is what it is?
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She said it's most likely option as if occurred so quickly. They will not know 100% until they see it during the surgery. they will also check Presley's back teeth to see if that's what was the cause of abscess. I'm hoping it's not otherwise it is likely abscess will reoccur..but not much I can do. We can only deal with it best we can.

Thank you all for kind words and support x
@Tiny loved reading your post. You sound as neurotic and piggy obsesssed as me :mal:
 
@oxtinamona Oh my gosh, yes I am! Considering I've had piggies before and none have ever needed anywhere near as much vet attention, so it was a huge shock, surprise and steep learning curve!
 
Here we go. The day is here. We are now getting ready to leave our beloved boy in vet'S hands. Probably most never wrenching few hours of my life ahead of me ...
 
Good luck at the vets hope all goes well. Fingers &paws all crossed here for him xx
 
Good luck little one. Make sure he is sent home with pain relief for his recovery period x
 
Good luck at the vet's! If it's any consolation, Sundae did really well after an abscess that was affecting her teeth was lanced and drained several years back! Hope all goes well!
 
Hi all! Vet rang me a little while ago. It all went well. The abscess was drained and Presley was awake and even eating which I'm thrilled about!
They said there was no dental work needed so I'm guessing it was by poke that cause the abscess :(
I'm picking him up at 5pm. Cannot wait
 
Very glad to hear the op went well and that there isn't an underlying problem that's caused it. Wishing Presley a speedy recovery
 
So it didn't go all as smooth as I hoped!
When they rang me they said op went well
And he is recovering and when we
Got then the vet dropped a bombshell to the point i was speechless for few minutes.

Apparently this lump was/is caused by lymphadenitis! Has anyone heard of it?
They said that they suspect that's whst it was and that usually it is not curable and can be 'managed' instead. Eventually he will die!
I'm shock!
I'm literally ... just give up. Does it mean that he will then pass it onto all our pigs?! Will they all contract it now?
I read on some websites that it can be caused by unclean bedding ( well that's not the case then) harsh foods ( I don't even know what this means as I feed them balanced diet ) or could be from other pigs who sneeze, cough, or genital contact...
Well some of our pigs sneeze sometimes but does it mean they all have it?
This is not what I expected when I went there all happy to pick him up:(
 
oxtinamona said:
So it didn't go all as smooth as I hoped!
When they rang me they said op went well
And he is recovering and when we
Got then the vet dropped a bombshell to the point i was speechless for few minutes.

Apparently this lump was/is caused by lymphadenitis! Has anyone heard of it?
They said that they suspect that's whst it was and that usually it is not curable and can be 'managed' instead. Eventually he will die!
I'm shock!
I'm literally ... just give up. Does it mean that he will then pass it onto all our pigs?! Will they all contract it now?
I read on some websites that it can be caused by unclean bedding ( well that's not the case then) harsh foods ( I don't even know what this means as I feed them balanced diet ) or could be from other pigs who sneeze, cough, or genital contact...
Well some of our pigs sneeze sometimes but does it mean they all have it?
This is not what I expected when I went there all happy to pick him up:(
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Oh dear! while I don't expect vets to drop this news over the phone they really do need to manage expectations a lot better. a simple "the op has gone well but we did discover something we would like to discuss with you" would have been more apt. Perhaps you can feed back to them on how they handled it.

I have never heard of the condition so can't give any advice other than sending you both hugs and strength
 
T
Lady Kelly said:
Oh dear! while I don't expect vets to drop this news over the phone they really do need to manage expectations a lot better. a simple "the op has gone well but we did discover something we would like to discuss with you" would have been more apt. Perhaps you can feed back to them on how they handled it.

I have never heard of the condition so can't give any advice other than sending you both hugs and strength[/QUOTE

Thank you... I just don't know what to think or do at present. Numb
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P.S. I've gently touched the area on Presley neck where the lump was and I can still feel it :bye:
 
So we are going back to vets today. Presley's lump is 3x the size it was original and very hard to touch. I can see he is in pain, not sure if metacam is doing the job...
So hard to see his big sad eyes and small body like this... almost unfair I put him trough the op :(
 
I hope the vet can help. Am afraid I don't have any knowledge about Lymphadenitis either.
 
Turns out it's notnecessarily lymphadenitis.
We went back@12pm there as I was worried that the lump got 3x bigger and really hard.
They said they'll try to make puncture to release the puss... she then came back and said there was no puss and thy she wants to take a sample to know what they're dealing with so my baby boy went under local anaesthetic again and sedation to relax him.
He came out very quickly out of sedation and also pain returned. I can see it in his eyes.
I'm now forcing critical care in him as he is not eating enough.

Vet we saw today was great and very informative I almost hugged her.
3-5 working days wait for the sample test results is however very long for an unwell piggy.
:(
 
Is he on antibiotics too? And pain relief? Please make sure they have prescribed adequate pain relief, Loxicom OR Metacam & Tramodol if he is really poorly.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Is he on antibiotics too? And pain relief? Please make sure they have prescribed adequate pain relief, Loxicom OR Metacam & Tramodol if he is really poorly.
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He's got metacam and Zithromax, I'm giving him probiotics as well and anti bloat in case antibiotic gives him gas.
This morning he was wheeking for food and eatint a bit on his own which is encouraging but he's not eating enough overall at all.
So I'm also topping him up with critical care.
He's munching on hay and for some reason is keen on reading grass... it's just not enough for him. sadly I haven't seen him drinking any water so I'm giving him some with syringe and also leave the veggies wet.
 
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