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Please help I don’t know what this is!

ChesterThePig

ChesterThePig

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone
My pig Chester has had a squishy, moveable lump behind his ear for a few weeks now. It didn’t seem to bother him too much (unless I squeezed it or played with it too much) but I took him out of his cage and this is what it looked like. I am really worried and I don’t know what happened. Anyone have any ideas?
 

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Claire W said:
You need to take him to the vet for a proper diagnosis. It could be a cyst that’s burst. He may also need antibiotics to prevent infection
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It’s unfortunate that I always bring him to exotic vets and none of them can solve the problem. He’s seen 5 different vets and the bills are getting too much for me to handle (I’m a broke college kid). I don’t know what it’ll take to have a vet that actually knows how to solve a problem
 
It looks like either a cyst or abscess that has burst. Abscesses usually smell really REALLY bad though so I think you would know if that was the case. Unfortunately not all exotics vets are piggy specialists and not all piggy specialist vets are exotics vets.

Have you had a look at the vets list on guinea lynx Veterinarians: Illinois - Guinea Lynx Records perhaps time to see a new one if you don't feel you are getting the right treatment with your current one
 
Ive been to a few of those vets mentioned in the link you provided. In my experience, they were not very helpful. I go to school in southern IL and all those vets listed are up north. Which would make it a 4+ hour car ride... there is no smell at all, so it’s not likely to be an abscess. Is there anything I can do to save my pig if it’s a burst cyst?
 
Here’s another shot of it
 

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If it's a burst cyst then it's not harmful but you do need to be careful of it becoming infected. Keep it cleaned and be aware that it may just fill up again. Did you see any pus at all? With a cyst usually there's a thick cottage cheese style pus that comes out
 
Lady Kelly said:
If it's a burst cyst then it's not harmful but you do need to be careful of it becoming infected. Keep it cleaned and be aware that it may just fill up again. Did you see any pus at all? With a cyst usually there's a thick cottage cheese style pus that comes out
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No puss as of right now. Just a light scab of blood. He must have itches behind his ear or something & opened it up. He won’t let me touch it and is really sensitive. He wasn’t this sensitive before about it
 
ChesterThePig said:
No puss as of right now. Just a light scab of blood. He must have itches behind his ear or something & opened it up. He won’t let me touch it and is really sensitive. He wasn’t this sensitive before about it
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My only experience of a sebeacous cyst was a very large one so I'm not the most experienced to give advice. It is very open though and looks very sore so I'm not surprised he doesn't want you touching it. Perhaps you could make up some saline to keep it clean with and try and prevent infection. I would be going to the vet still though, even if they aren't that knowledgeable they should be able to prescribe so pain relief for him to keep him comfortable while it starts to heal
 
Lady Kelly said:
My only experience of a sebeacous cyst was a very large one so I'm not the most experienced to give advice. It is very open though and looks very sore so I'm not surprised he doesn't want you touching it. Perhaps you could make up some saline to keep it clean with and try and prevent infection. I would be going to the vet still though, even if they aren't that knowledgeable they should be able to prescribe so pain relief for him to keep him comfortable while it starts to heal
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How exactly do you make a saline solution?
 
Lady Kelly said:
Here we go:
Mix 1 teaspoon of salt mixed into 1/2 pint/250 ml of boiled, cooled water

It makes a mild antiseptic
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This is what I woke up to this morning :( any ideas on what to do next?
 

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It is incredibly hard to tell from a picture what it is, obviously only a vet can help with a hands on inspection. That could be anything from urine to pus.
 
Piggies&buns said:
It is incredibly hard to tell from a picture what it is, obviously only a vet can help with a hands on inspection. That could be anything from urine to pus.
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it’s definitely not urine. It’s a oderless toothpaste like consistency and he is super sensitive.
 
The second picture looks like it is a bit thicker but the first looks quite liquidy!
Other than pus, which you would need a vet for, the only other thing I can think is does he live with another Male - could it be boar glue?
The fact that it is coming from the same size as that wound, I would think it is wound related though.
 
Piggies&buns said:
The second picture looks like it is a bit thicker but the first looks quite liquidy!
Other than pus, which you would need a vet for, the only other thing I can think is does he live with another Male - could it be boar glue?
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He lives by himself. It’s coming from the lump behind his ear, mentioned earlier in this thread. It was scabbed over yesterday and looked like there was a little bit of blood. THis morning it’s draining this white puss looking stuff
 
I can’t add to the advice given.
It must be so frustrating if the vets don’t seem to be able to help.
Holding you in my thoughts
 
Merab's Slave said:
I can’t add to the advice given.
It must be so frustrating if the vets don’t seem to be able to help.
Holding you in my thoughts
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:( he is super sensitive today all over his body. He’s such a good pig and would be heartbroken if anything happened to him. All advice is very much appreciated
 
It really does sound like he needs to see a vet.
With all the information you’ve had from this forum perhaps you and a vet can help him
 
Vet bills can be high.
Mine have cost me a few £100 this year.
You have been unlucky in not finding a good vet.
I think one of the earlier replies gave you a link to find vets in Illinois.
Did they help?
 
Merab's Slave said:
Vet bills can be high.
Mine have cost me a few £100 this year.
You have been unlucky in not finding a good vet.
I think one of the earlier replies gave you a link to find vets in Illinois.
Did they help?
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I’ve been to a few of the ones mentioned in the link and they were useless as well. I’m in southern IL for school right now and all the ones listed in the link were up north. Which would be a 4+ hour car ride for me
 
My US geography is pretty hopeless but what about the state south of Illinois is you are living in the southern part?
 
Unfortunately if there is pus coming out it means it either needs draining or is infected and needs antibiotics. All the advice in the world can't really change that a vet needs to deal with this now
 
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