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Keep your fingers crossed for Harry :(

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Great to hear he's come through surgery well, I'm sure the syringe-feeds and the bits he manages to eat himself will bulk him back up in no time. :)
 
Has anyone got any experience in flushing out an abcess?
I've been given some iodine looking liquid to flush it out 3 times a day but I just tried it without much success, i.e nothing came out.

There is still a smallish hard lump but it could be where the vet packed the hole with an anti-biotic tablet yesterday afternoon.

He's looking happier than he has in over a month and his jaw is starting to move back enough for his teeth to meet (he eating like a wild thing bless him) so I'm not complaining, I just wanna do this last bit right!
x
 
Is the wound still open, so you can actually get the solution "inside" the abscess? When flushing you're basically trying to rinse the cavity well in an attempt to clear it of the bacteria that help it refill when the wound closes over, so as long as the solution is going into the wound and you're able to get enough in to give it a good rinse you're probably doing just fine. :)
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
Is the wound still open, so you can actually get the solution "inside" the abscess? When flushing you're basically trying to rinse the cavity well in an attempt to clear it of the bacteria that help it refill when the wound closes over, so as long as the solution is going into the wound and you're able to get enough in to give it a good rinse you're probably doing just fine. :)
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Thanks for replying Laura :) Yeah the wound is still open but it's quite a small hole. The solution came straight back out without really getting in there but I'm wondering if the hole is blocked by the tablet? Sounds gross I know but I squeezed it to see if the white stuff I can see is pus but it didn't budge so maybe it is the tablet.

I used a needleless syringe of course but - and this is terrifying - I have got a needle I could use to really get it in there, maybe file off the sharp point and with the UPMOST care? x
 
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Unless you know what you are doing I would strongly recommend that you do not even try to introduce a needle into the abscess cavity.
Certainly not a needle that has had the end filed off, there is a risk of metal debris being introduced into the cavity.
However, it is fairly safe for you to use a syringe to put a small amount of fluid into the cavity in order to flush out any pus.
Can you supply more details of where the problem is and any possible cause of the condition?
 
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Pus tends to be more of a creamy colour with a distinctive smell although it can come across as whiteish.

Did the vet say exactly what the antibiotic tablet is?
 
I tried flushing it out again yesterday after I posted on here but nothing came out and it seemed to cause him pain so I won't be doing it again, he's seeing the vet again on Monday anyway.

Can you supply more details of where the problem is and any possible cause of the condition?
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The abcess is in his lower jaw, it took a while to come up so at first we thought it was just problems with his teeth due to age. I kept getting his teeth clipped but his jaw kept moving sideways until his incisors didn't fully meet in the middle, that was a horrible couple of weeks.
He had an infection in his mouth too (from where he wasn't grinding his teeth properly so they were overgrowing) so he was treated with Daktarin and anti-biotics. Then another expert said it was an infected jaw - not an abcess - and put him on even more anti-biotics which gave him diorrhea :(.
His jaw is moving back now the abcess has been lanced, thank goodness.

I'm not sure what caused it, the vet seems to think the jaw movement is secondary to the abcess so hopefully once that's under control that will be the end of it.

This month has been utter hell trying to get it sorted, so much so I'm doing the GBAR course now to try and avoid this kind of thing in future, my nerves can't take it!

Did the vet say exactly what the antibiotic tablet is?
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I didn't think to ask! I'll ask her on Monday though.
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The problem you describe is quite common in guinea pigs.
The chance of a cure is quite low. Most cases are kept under control as opposed to being cured.
Jaw surgery on a guinea pig is almost certain to fail and lead to an earlier death than if the problem is managed conservatively.
 
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