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My pig has an abscess

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pricey

my guinea pig has a large lump on his rump which he has had for a couple of months- i have been to a vet who treated him with injections of antiobiotics whihch my pig did not like- so for a week i gave him oral treatment from the vet.

this had no affect to the size although since then the hair seemed to grow back. he does not seem affacted you could prod the lump and touch it and he did not show signs of discomfort. he is still eating and drinking.

however on wed night we noticed there was a piece of hay stuck into the lump, when i removed it the lump was opened up and this almight smell came from it- its so bad i actually felt like i was going to be sick and i can still smell it now. the lump also gave out alot of a clay llike substance. my dad came to the house and helped me drain it. the following day it seems to hav filled again. i have kept the opening fresh and there is more stuff coming out -

i wash the area with salt water everyday and have replaced the hay with soft bedding in a cat litter tray so it easy to keep clean and fresh.

i have taken the pig to the vet and he has injected more antiobiotics and suggest we cut the lump out which means the pig needs to go under. it also means it is a very expensive op.

the vet did not give me any information on alternatives or effectiveness. i need to know will this cure the problem, is this the best option and will it re-occur.

any help would be grateful from people who have had ops on the pig or others who have had successful other treatments.
 
I would not recommend an op, if it can be avoided by keeping the abscess open to flush and drain it regularly.

Be aware that an abscess can come back and you might have to repeat the procedure, but it's a lot cheaper and less invasive.
 
Gosh i'm sorry to hear about your piggie :(
Abscesses are nasty and must be treated carefully!
Keeping it clean is essential, you might be told by your vet to drain it.......this means you may have to gently squeeze the puss out, this will help your piggie.......it's not pleasant but with this, the cleaning and antibiotics i have found it's helped my piggies, this is purely from my experience.
We have some great people on here who are so much more knowledgeable than me i'm sure they'll offer you help :)
Do a search on here and you'll find some threads similar that might help you.
All the best for your piggie xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
 
Hello,

This is the thread with my experience of an abscess. There is some wonderful advice in there (some of which I took, some I didn't as I went with what was working for Ben). :)

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=32797&highlight=benjamin+abscess

Ben is now back to his normal self...still winding Dave up (and he got a bit of a nip from him again the other day) so need to keep an eye on him still!rolleyes

Good luck with your piggy!
 
Sorry to hear about your piggies abcess. Jessica, my ginger guinea had a abcess develop after removal of a tumour (I have posted about her earlier on) and vet told me to keep it open, she gave me this stuff and put some cream on it to numb the skin and then made a hole big enough to get a syringe end into it and some stuff (like iodine, it is liquid anyway) and she told me to really squirt it hard into the hole to wash any remaining pus (it looked like cream cheese in colour and texture) small bits did come out and then I had to squirt Manuka honey into the hole which acts as anti-bacterial and is a good healer. It has all worked, Jessica is now lump free and back in hutch with others and running about on the grass. She had her last visit to vets today who prounounced her fit and well:)p:)p. Good luck with your guinea.
 
There is no need at all for a general anaesthetic when draining an abscess.
Where exactly is the lump?
It could be an infected sebaceous cyst.
 
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