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Jaw abscess has returned

piggydobz

piggydobz

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi again,

Just wondered if anyone had any experience with long and complex jaw abscesses that have come back after the initial marsupialization.

First post : Not eating after dental surgery

After 4 unsuccessful weeks of post surgery treatment with Zithromax, next option is to start the combo antibiotics next week when we visit Simon at Cat and Rabbit Clinic.

I’m a little worried however, as over the last few days I think his abscess wound has healed internally and we can feel a bubble of swelling / pus in there again. He might have to have surgery for a second time?

His mouth is still misaligned and he hasn’t eaten hay for 5 weeks, so we’re constantly syringe feeding. He hasn’t lost too much weight though thankfully, still 1200g-ish.

Worried for my little guy.
 
Oh no, so sorry to hear you and your little guy are going through this.

Sounds like you and the wonderful vets at C&R at tackling the abscess from both approaches (antibiotics and surgery). They can be a nightmare and take a while to get on top off. One of mine had a large retrobulbar abscess for months and subsequently dental issues as a result. Depending on where the pus is gathering, they may be able to lance it rather than another surgery under GA?

It may be that he will require some dental work once the abscess is under control; just to keep on top of any excess growth/sharp edges as a result of him not eating hay. But C&R will soon get on top of this.

You really are in the best hands at C&R. And well done to you for maintaining his weight, that is not an easy task! Hope your little one improves soon. Hang in there.

Sending lots of love 💕
 
So sorry you are still battling this awful abscess they are a long haul. best to wait and see what Simon has to say next week. Is there still a scab that you can pick off and give a gentle squeeze? I think he is away on holiday this week, but hopefully you already have your appt.
 
piggydobz said:
Hi again,

Just wondered if anyone had any experience with long and complex jaw abscesses that have come back after the initial marsupialization.

First post : Not eating after dental surgery

After 4 unsuccessful weeks of post surgery treatment with Zithromax, next option is to start the combo antibiotics next week when we visit Simon at Cat and Rabbit Clinic.

I’m a little worried however, as over the last few days I think his abscess wound has healed internally and we can feel a bubble of swelling / pus in there again. He might have to have surgery for a second time?

His mouth is still misaligned and he hasn’t eaten hay for 5 weeks, so we’re constantly syringe feeding. He hasn’t lost too much weight though thankfully, still 1200g-ish.

Worried for my little guy.
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Hi

My Hywel needed several rounds of zithromax (azithromycin) and two full-on ops at 6 years of age for a recurring jaw abscess in 2016 (which had a nasty tendency of popping up while Simon was not at the clinic and my local vets unable to deal with it). He did eventually get over it and lived nearly a year longer than he would have otherwise; he passed away shortly before his 7th birthday.

It can be difficult to get on top of jaw abscesses, though. But I hope that my experience helps with your fear of a potential operation, especially in view of Hywel's age? :(
 
Bill & Ted said:
So sorry you are still battling this awful abscess they are a long haul. best to wait and see what Simon has to say next week. Is there still a scab that you can pick off and give a gentle squeeze? I think he is away on holiday this week, but hopefully you already have your appt.
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No scab, just a tiny hole now so I think it’s healed up inside. We were able to get a little out by squeezing very very hard but it’s traumatic for us all and I can’t keep doing it, it’s obviously excruciatingly painful for him and it’s upsetting. He won’t sit still long enough to flush properly either 🙃

Worried about his quality of life if this goes on for much longer he looks so miserable most of the time. I know we’ve got to keep on trying the other options, just the time in between vets visits when we’re caring for him feels like forever 😢
 
Aw, I’m so sorry for you, having had a piggie with dental problems I can understand how upsetting it is for you. Do hang in there til your appointment as you have done so well caring for him.I have never dealt with abscesses myself but I do know they are difficult and emotionally draining x
 
Happy Easter! 💕

Quick update : Oscar saw Simon yesterday and he was able to pull open his wound a little bit and get quite a lot of built up pus out.

Unfortunately he says it’s a really deep one and just isn’t draining like we’d hoped. He’s managed to open a wider channel to hopefully help it drain easier. So far so good, as it’s draining a little when he’s chewing (yummy) where it wasn’t doing that before. A lot easier to flush too.

Also moved to the combo Marbocyl and Metronidazole antibiotic treatment for 3 weeks to see if that helps to clear it up. Fingers crossed.

Any ideas when to expect an improvement from new antibiotics to know if they’re actually working? On Zithromax we didn’t see any difference for the full 4 weeks.. so I’m not sure what to look out for.

Really hope we can reduce the pus before it heals up again! 😫🐹❤️
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I think you should see an improvement in about 4 to 5 days. Just keep getting the pus out, at least twice a day. When do you see Simon again? x
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We see him in 3 weeks, so May 9th I think!

So it drained quite well for the first two days but now hardly anything is coming out. The wound is still open I think, so I’ve no idea if it’s stuck… or if there’s just nothing in there! We’re squeezing like we did before but nothing is really coming out like it had been. There’s a little lump but don’t know if that’s jaw swelling or a bubble!

Hes gone off properly chewing grass and treats, but this happened last time he had the teeth trimmed so I’m hoping that will come back again soon.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
How’s he doing now? x
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He’s doing a bit better, cautiously optimistic!
His abscess has slowed down considerably, only a small bit of pus coming out now and it doesn’t smell too bad. Hardly any lump at all now.
He’s also started to be a bit more excited about treats and we even spotted him attempting to eat a little bit of soft hay.
His teeth are super long though so he does struggle a bit with eating treats, but he doesn’t give up trying entirely like he used to. Definitely need another trim when we see Simon next on Monday.
🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
 
So we saw Kim today, we’ve got good news and bad news.

Good news - his abscess has improved, only a small amount of pus now and it’s a lot further forward more towards the opening, so it seems to finally be healing well. Continuing as we are on the antibiotics and flushing for another 3 weeks :)

Bad news - he’s still quite tender and in pain on his jaw and mouth. Also now has bumblefoot, all four feet are quite sore. Hind feet each have a small ulcer and one started to bleed when she was trimming his feet. She was quite worried about it 😢 So we’ve got a bit of tramadol to give alongside metacam, to hopefully bring the pain down enough for him to relax a little and take the weight off his feet.

I didn’t think he was that bad to be honest, compared to some pics I’ve seen on bumblefoot it doesn’t look that severe. But she said that If his feet don’t start to improve we might have to make some tough decisions, chronic pain and quality of life and all that😭

Any more suggestions on healing bumblefoot? We’ve been soaking in hibiscrub and wrapping in the night so he doesn’t sit in his pee for hours, but not sure there’s much else we can do.

Also any experience on tramadol ?
 
Even though his abscess was perfectly non existent on Sunday, and had been for a fair few days, literally the day after we come back from the vets it’s come back with a vengeance.

I’m not sure if it’s pus or swelling from being fiddled with but the lump is hard and we can’t push on it to get anything out without causing him excruciating pain.

Not only that but he’s bloating up again. And his bumble foot is causing him issues. He is virtually immobile and will not eat anything voluntarily, except for the odd bit of cucumber/grass/blueberry that you waft in front of him.

I think we’re going to have to let him go.
 
Poor little guy. :( I have some limited experience with both jaw abscesses and bumblefoot... honestly, the best thing I have found for bumblefoot is Betadine. You can get it as a soak to dilute with water, or you can get it as a cream or ointment over the counter (in Canada, at least!) It will stain your piggie temporarily orange, but it is good stuff for helping with bumblefoot. I have a tube in my bathroom now all the time just in case. As for jaw abscesses... can you irrigate the wound to soften the pus up at all? I found sometimes that helped. Jaw abscesses are absolutely not fun for you or for him. I remember that well, unfortunately. ((HUGS.)) It sounds like you've both been through a lot.
 
I’m so sorry things aren’t going well for your little man, sending hugs to you, you are having such a tough time and tried so hard
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Ring the practice and ask for Simon or Kim to ring you to discuss, before making any decisions xx
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Waiting on a call from them tonight.

I think if we could open up the wound again to relieve the pressure it might be ok, as Fri/Sat/Sun it was non-existent no lump no pus. I refuse to believe it would come back so badly so quickly when we hadn’t changed anything in the treatment routine.

But cat and rabbit is just so busy at the moment, I doubt we’ll be able to get in. Plus it’s another massive trip for him to Northampton when we went there on Monday.

At a loss of what’s best to do for him.
 
Just spoken to Simon and he thinks it’s probably healed up inside / swollen and the remaining pus is trapped so it’s building up again. It could also be a bit of trauma from teeth trimming. We’re gonna hopefully get in a emergency appointment tomorrow and see if he can pop it open again. He did say he’s seen similar tough cases like this one and they did eventually heal. And I’d feel too guilty if we didn’t try one last time. Another trip to Northampton it is!
 
Fingers firmly crossed for your little one! Abscesses can be a bit of a nightmare to get on top of. :(
 
Fingers crossed. I’m so sorry to read your thread and all the tough times you’ve had. I hope you can get an appointment and give your piggy another chance at getting on top of the abscess. These jaw abscesses sound so tricky ☹️
 
Got in this morning yay! Good job cos it had got so massive, like cherry tomato size! Luckily Simon was able to lance it from the outside and drain it. He seems positive that it’s improving too, so that’s made us feel a bit better. So so so glad we came, just hopefully keep it draining for a bit longer and get rid of the damn thing. 💪🏻
 
piggydobz said:
Got in this morning yay! Good job cos it had got so massive, like cherry tomato size! Luckily Simon was able to lance it from the outside and drain it. He seems positive that it’s improving too, so that’s made us feel a bit better. So so so glad we came, just hopefully keep it draining for a bit longer and get rid of the damn thing. 💪🏻
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Aw, so glad you managed to get in x
 
arghrghrfhhfh so frustrating I'm losing the will to keep going.

Improvements :
*His teeth are great and back aligned straight.
*He will eat the odd scrap of hay if you feed it to him, we manage to get about 6 pieces of it in him a day. Improvement from literally refusing hay anyway lol.
*He will eat all of his shredded treats (in two sittings, he normally has a strop halfway through and gives up for a bit).
*No more bloat cos not feeding grass anymore.
*His bumblefoot is under control and healing ok I think.
*The hole Simon made on Saturday isn’t draining loads of pus, only a little bit behind the scab.

BUT hes now got another hard bubble forming by his eye / temple area 😔

We can’t keep going to Northampton and paying for weekly pus drains, it’s just too expensive. Going to ask my most trusted local vets if they are confident / experienced in abscess draining to maybe ease the pressure off panic driving to C+R every few days.

And we can’t cope with syringe feeding for much longer, we need him to start to eat more for himself. It’s driving us mad, we need our life back. Anyone have experience in weaning pigs off critical care after 2+ months and encourage more independent eating?!
 
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