• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Help regarding surgery

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Steph182

Joined
Aug 29, 2009
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Middlesbrough, England
My friends guinea pig had a lump under her nipple which was removed a few weeks ago. It was found to just be a fatty lump (expected) however it was removed as it kept growing.
Since then the wound has got infected... There is about a pinhead of puss coming out of it when it pops so not a lot.

Her vet has said that surgery is the only way to get rid of the infection, and I need advice on his. They basically want to cut into the site and scrape it all out.

My friend is completly distraught. Last time, Fudge did not wake up quickly. It took her a few hours longer to come around than it should have. She's basically terrified that another GA will kill her because of how she reacted before.

The piggie is currently on baytril and has been getting mahkuna honey on the infected site, although I'm not sure on the strength of the honey.


Is surgery the only way to go? Or are there any other ways to combat this?
 
It's difficult to give an opinion when you can't actually see the abscess but I'd definitely not be so quick to jump to a surgical solution. When I've dealt with my abscess pig's abscesses there's only been one that made me think that I might have to take her for surgery because it was a big one. That said, we kept flushing it with salty water (saline) two or three times a day depending on how it looked and she was on baytril (though I believe there's a better one you can get if the vet is willing to prescribe it for a piggy - hopefully someone else can give you the name of it...) whilst we did it. She's had something like 8 now and we've dealt with each one by cleaning and antibiotics - she's been lump free for a good 4 months now!

However, my piggy has never had abscesses where this one is. I don't know what bedding she's on now, but if she can be moved to something like fleece (or even newspaper) that can be changed daily to prevent reinfection - you'd have a good chance (I'd have thought) of dealing with this by keeping it clean and keeping her on the antibiotics - you might need some painkiller for her considering where it is too - it might be sore for her when she walks around. See if your friend can see a different vet and get another opinion. It's totally understandable that she wouldn't want to put her piggy through another GA considering she didn't go through it very well.
 
Honey is a great antimicrobial and works well on infected wounds removing dead tissue, killing bugs and providing moist environment for healing.

If this and good antibiotic cover is not working then it might be worth some surgical exploration as sometimes the infection appears small on the outside but can spread beneath teh skin.

Also not all bugs are sensitive to the same antibiotics so they should try changing Baytril for something else like Zithromax as itmight be more effective for that particular bug. Worht getting them to check before going for a more invasive option...
 
Thanks :)
I understand its hard without seeing it, I just need to do as much research as I can to try and stop her having to go through surgery again.

I'll tell her to ask about zirthromax.
Hopefully it can be beaten, I'm going to get her to set the cage up so it can be cleaned out as often as possible so no stray poos or wees are able to hang around.

Been really helpful though, thankyou!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top