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Operation To Remove Lump/absess

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piggylover

piggylover

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one of my piggies has developed a lump under his neck that has got bigger in the space of 4 months or so :(. He went to the vets for a health check and claw clipping and teeth check on Saturday and we discussed his options , one of which is to put him under and discover whether its a removable tumour or absess . I did say at the time that I need to think about whether I want him to go through this as he is 5 years old and I'm so attached to him id hate for him to die on the operating table :( . Really I should have asked the vet these questions but while I'm deciding what to do I wondered if anyone could answer this for me ?

1) when he goes for operation do I send him to vets on his own or am I allowed to take his companion with him?

2) will he be allowed home the same day if there has been no complications?

3) when you have a piggy recovering from an op is it ok to keep them with their cage mate whilst they recover? I ask this as they are 2 adult boars who have only been together for approx. 3 mths and I worry that if they are kept apart too long they might not recognise /like each other anymore
 
Is it Simon you are seeing? I would trust all my piggies with Simon, all 3 have had ops there. I took mine on their own, Simon operates at lunch time & you normally pick them up around 4-5 ish. I don't like to keep them separate after but if you have a C & C cage I would keep a part sectioned off so he can still see his friend. One of mine had an op 3 weeks ago & then th eboss pig fell out with her, I think it was the fact the poorly one smelt of the anaesthetic.
 
yes it is simon xx I have got a c and c cage but was hoping to not have to partition it off :( but then if he smells of the anaesthetic it may be a wise thing to do
 
Here is my piggy after an abscess removal by Simon, also under her neck :)
DSCF1461-001-1.jpg
 
I have to make a decision quickly as he did say the longer we leave it the harder it will be to remove it
 
If Simon was a plastic surgeon I would get him to do a face lift for me his stitching is so neat :D He does suggest keeping the patient separate for a day or two afterwards as they need a little rest & not to be bothered by their cage mate.

Ziggy was about 18 months when he did this op, she is 3 now & just had another lump removed under her leg by another vet, as I have a very good one a bit nearer, but if she was unavailable I would go to Simon :)
 
ok I will partition a small section off for him then :) how old were your piggies when they had their ops?
 
I agree with Poppy'sMum that if he is going to see Simon Maddock then he couldn't be in better hands.

1)I would not take a friend with him mainly because he will be disorientated after the op & piggies can react differently to these situations

2)As long as he has come out of the anaesthetic OK & has wee'd & poo'd he'd be allowed home the same day, all mine have.

3)I would keep him separate but in cage or run next to his companion while the operation wound is knitting together. Maybe let them have a little supervised floor time. Piggies are inquisitive creatures & when I first had a piggy operated on for cyst removal, the others decided to remove the stitches which really slowed down the healing time. They nearly did the same again when my next piggy had an abscess removal so she was only given supervised time with them until stitches were removed.
 
Even if it is just an abscess, if it is getting larger eventually it will restrict movement etc & become painful for him, but I understand your worries, I've had 4 piggies needing 6 ops & touch wood all have been ok, but if anyone will get him through this Simon will :)
 
Yes you will need to syringe feed afterwards, I did with all mine, Simon won't let him come home until he has tried to eat & pee'd & pooped anyway :) I syringe feed for around 4-5 days afterwards, weighing at the same time each day. Simon should give you Emeprid, Zantac & Zithromax & Metacam the first 2 keep the gut moving & Zithromax is an excellent antibiotic for skin problems. Metacam is for pain relief. Just check what you need to give & when to start as he may give some of those by injections straight after the op, so some meds you will need to start the next day. My piggies have had ops from 5 months old up to my eldest who is nearly 4 :)
 
This was Daisy's op scar after a couple of weeks, Simon even did it down the part where her colour changed so you could barely see it :) This was removal of a large abscess at the top of her hip.
DSCF1125.jpg
 
Last October my pig George (little guy in my avatar) developed an abcess under one of his toe nails. If I recall correctly, I dropped him off the night before. They gave him a whiff of gas, and the surgery only took about 20 minutes, and I was able to pick him up that evening after they observed him for a few hours. They sent me home with cipro (i think-i know it wasn't baytril) and gave him a painkiller shot. I kept him in the small hospital cage for a few days on towels, but kept it close to the big cage. He was about 2.5 when he had the anesthesia, and had no problem.
 
thanks everyone. I do know that if this lump gets bigger (which it probably will ) then it could restrict breathing etc its just I'm so attached to this pig I cant bear to lose him :( but weighing it up I suppose it will be kinder to him to pass away under anaesthetic rather then in pain or gasping for breath because his breathing is being restricted . its just going to be a very scary time :(. I'm also very worried about breaking the bond between him and his friend
 
hes on metacam at the moment anyway as he has arthritis in his back leg hock
 
If they have a very close bond they will be ok :) Ziggy's abscess came up very quickly & got very large before I felt it & Simon said it was getting big enough to affect the artery/veins in her neck :( So he is very experienced at lump removal & very careful. I would trust his judgement completely :)
 
yes he has said he is fairly confident the op should go without any hiccups :) luckily he did say at the moment it seems to be quite low down in his neck which would hopefully mean that its not connected to any major arteries but like he said each piggy reacts differently to anaesthetic so there will always be a risk involved in operations :(. we have only recently moved to simons practice our old vets when the lump first appeared and was very small said they would not risk operating on it I wish I had been with simon then
 
my 2 pigs are friends but they don't snuggle a lot together although I think they would miss each other if one went away, the previous buddy that my old boar had were so in love and extremely close but I doubt I will ever get 2 boars that close again
 
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