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Help! Urgent - Vaginal Swelling

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Piggles13

Piggles13

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image.webp Tonight when I picked my guinea pig up to check over her I noticed an awful abscess/swelling around her vagina.
I panicked and rushed her to the vet immediately and the vet gave her an injection pain relief as well as antibiotics. Also she put her on critical care and said we need give her cc every hour.

I had only just bathed her yesterday and checked over her and did not at all notice this! Unless it was there and somehow I did see it as she is very hairy or maybe the shampoo aggravated it. I don't know but the vet seems to think she may have something stuck in there or maybe she had a cut or scratch and it got irritated by her peeing.

When the vet squeezed it, it popped out a lot of pus and blood and brought me to tears. I'm very distressed and any advice or info would be appreciated (or if anyone has seen this before).
I'm dropping her to the vet in the morning to have her sedated so she can have it cleaned out
 
Can't help you as have never seen this but just wanted to say you found it and got her in quick.She us lucky to have you as an owner.Huge hugs
 
oh bless you, what a shocker for you but as madguinealady says, least you found it and got her seen quick!

I've never dealt with abscesses but did the vet give you any tips on keeping it clean. I know from posts on here that they need to heal from the inside out so it may need regular cleaning until it is healed
 
That looks sore bless her, it's great you got her seen so quickly. If it is an abscess once the vet has cleaned it today they may show you how to flush it daily. What antibiotics did the vet give you? (in the UK Zithromax is recommended for abscesses).
 
I'm not sure what the antibiotics are because she's getting them in injection form at the vets. The vet just told me to monitor her pooing and weeing and make sure she's going. And also keep feeding her because just in a day she seems very thin. She's very shy compared to my other pigs and they are quite dominating over her so I've put her by herself for now as the vet recommended - but next to her buddies so she can still see them.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the vet will be able to see a slight improvement in her tomorrow and that she doesn't go downhill.

I've brought her cage in my room along with her friends in the spare crate so I can keep a watch on her and so she has peace and quiet and is comfy. I can see she's eating and she's taking the critical care formula without resisting
 
Piggles13 said:
I'm not sure what the antibiotics are because she's getting them in injection form at the vets. The vet just told me to monitor her pooing and weeing and make sure she's going. And also keep feeding her because just in a day she seems very thin. She's very shy compared to my other pigs and they are quite dominating over her so I've put her by herself for now as the vet recommended - but next to her buddies so she can still see them.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the vet will be able to see a slight improvement in her tomorrow and that she doesn't go downhill.

I've brought her cage in my room along with her friends in the spare crate so I can keep a watch on her and so she has peace and quiet and is comfy. I can see she's eating and she's taking the critical care formula without resisting
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Fingers VERY firmly crossed! You did absolutely the right thing in having her seen as an emergency straight away before coming on here.
I hope that you can find out what has caused it. If it is pyometra (infection of the womb lining), then the sooner it is treated, the better your chances of a quick recovery. She may need the strongest antibiotic that your vet is prepared to give.

Please syringe feed and water her around the clock. Little but often, as much as she is prepared to take in one go, and adjusting the frequency of the feeding session to the intake.
Here are more tips: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
Update: picked her up from the vets today after her anaesthetic and procedure. The vet said it is not an abscess and she does not have anything lodged in there but infact has lost skin due to urine burning it off. She said that it's most likely caused by her behaviour as she's very shy and never runs around she stays in one place. So she's on a course of antibiotics and pain relief and the vet said what she thought was pus is actually healing skin. But I still need to keep her clean and give her a lot of tlc!
 
Piggles13 said:
Update: picked her up from the vets today after her anaesthetic and procedure. The vet said it is not an abscess and she does not have anything lodged in there but infact has lost skin due to urine burning it off. She said that it's most likely caused by her behaviour as she's very shy and never runs around she stays in one place. So she's on a course of antibiotics and pain relief and the vet said what she thought was pus is actually healing skin. But I still need to keep her clean and give her a lot of tlc!
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Make sure that you change the bedding in her area twice daily and give her frequent bum baths with hand/elbow warm water to prevent urine scald.
If her bits are protruding this far, it also means that she is likely rather underweight. How old is your girl and is she getting enough food?
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight
 
ditto to the above
You have to things to take into considerationInfection and fly strike.
 
gizzy said:
ditto to the above
You have to things to take into consideration. Infection and fly strike.
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I did consider flystrike, but there is no evidence of it in the picture (no white blobs that would indicate maggots); if it was flystrike, the deterioration would have been very quick at that fairly advanced stage.

Do you mean pyometra (infection of the womb lining) or UTI, @gizzy ? Frequent urination can be caused by a urine infection or cystitis.
 
The vet didn't think it was pyometra and she stuck a scope inside her and said she couldn't see anything. She is under weight, but I put lots of food there I think she just misses out. The other two that live with her are fat and active.

She's only 8 mths old
 
Piggles13 said:
The vet didn't think it was pyometra and she stuck a scope inside her and said she couldn't see anything. She is under weight, but I put lots of food there I think she just misses out. The other two that live with her are fat and active.

She's only 8 mths old
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Could you separate during meal times to make sure that she is getting her fair share and see whether that is making a difference?
 
I always leave pellets out for them to eat as well as Timothy hay so I'm not sure why she doesn't get enough I've even tried putting more then one food bowl in I think she's too scared to eat around the other pigs cause she gets pushed around. Since I separated her I have put her right next to the other pigs and she can still see them I'm just scared that she might get hurt or get more infection from their urine and faeces.

She's been moving around a little bit and eating but I'm going to keep her on critical care til she gains more weight and I'm happy that she's eating enough. I feel so bad for her but atleast I know that with pain relief and antibiotics she's more comfortable .
 
She seems a lil better today. She has been eating well and drinking. While the sore still looks bad I can see a slight improvement it looks a tiny amount better then it did, looks alot cleaner and less yellow since she started the antibiotics. Infact the yellow bit is gone
 
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