Poor Apollo's willy

[daisyd]

One of my guineas Apollo has suffered from impaction for about 2 years - since he was neutered. I pop out the poo's and clean him up a few times a week and it doesn't bother him. In the last few months however he has developed a problem with his willy, with it becoming surrounded by a white crusting under the foreskin (smega?). I also clean this up too when I'm doing his bum but was wondering if anyone has experiences of this being a job that needs doing regularly. This reaccumulates within a day or so of me sorting him out tho and becomes sore for him and he waddles about in some discomfort. I found the very helpful thread about servicing boars parts - and this is what I was already doing for him since I first noticed the problem, but is it now going to be a chronic condition for the rest of his life? He really hates me messing with his bits, and it's very sad when he cries...

I have 3 other boars and thank goodness their bits are all healthy and fine. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Piggyologist]

I don't know anything about it, but this person knows everything that there is to know about pigs:
http://www.britishassociationofrodentologists.co.uk/CCT.html

she is helping us with our boy - all the vets we've been to see before, even the ones that are known to have a lot of experience with guinea pigs didn't help at all.
All she asks for is membership fee (£30 per year) for unlimited text and telephone advise for all the pigs in the household and she's a great specialist. Ask her, please. Not sure how she'll handle people without membership, but she saw us emergency without membership on Christmas Eve! first, then gave us membership for 2011. She's a really kind person. Try sending her a text, see what she says?

 

[Pebble]

Snap...Bandit has a similar "male problem" which has been getting progressively worse despite regular gentle cleaning in salt water. A week of septrin seemed to reduce but not cure the problem.However now the gunk is more foul smelling and I am concerned he has an underlying abcess from his previous netuering that is impacting on his private bits. And he too has started crying when I try and clean him up......and bites his front paw incessantly until I stop.

He will be going to the vets over the next couple of days so I will feed back on here what they say.....

You are right to be concerned......this is not a simple of case of "cleaning a stinky boar's bits"

(NB you must clean with salt water rather than a dry cotton bud, otherwise he really will get sore)

HTH
x

 

[daisyd]

Thanks for the replies,

I actually had CCT membership and spoke to vedra about this boy when he was neutered a couple of years back as he had massive absesses and the vet I was seeing at the time was stumped as to what to do about it. I haven't got 2011 membership yet, but will do when all the forms are online. Thank you for the replies.

I have been washing with salty boiled/cooled water.

It is reassuring to hear of a similar experience pebble. I'll let people know what the outcome is.