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Possible abscess - any advice would be appreciated!

KikiKaka

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all,

Looking for some advice! Kiki is roughly 6.5 and has never had pups.

When I went to check on her on Friday afternoon, I found her limping but wanted to keep an eye on it. A few hours later, I found her leg hugely swollen around the back left knee. It definitely wasn’t there earlier in the day, so it came up in about 6 to 7 hours. It was a big area swelling rather than a lump and very hot, although at the time I couldn't find any separate mass apart from the leg itself. On the same side she also had milky discharge from her eye, possibly a wet ear, and her poops were slightly soft. Throughout all of this she’s carried on eating and drinking as normal.

The vet thought it was a probable infection and didn’t think it was mastitis. He did an FNA but nothing came out, and started her on Baytril and pain relief the same day.

The heat has now gone and the swelling has gone down a lot, but where there was originally no lump at all, there’s now a lump smaller than the original inflamed area that feels slightly malleable/squidgy. It’s between her knee and her nipple, closer to the knee though. I’m wondering if an abscess has formed since the aspirate - from what I’ve read this is possible if it was inflamed tissue rather than pus at the time.

Has anyone had something similar, where the aspirate came back dry and an abscess formed afterwards?

I’m planning to get her rechecked ASAP, but just want to know what I should expect!

Many thanks in advance
 
I don’t have any advice I can offer but I would certainly take her back to the vet for a check.
Hope there’s nothing serious and everything will heal quickly
 
Hi all,

Looking for some advice! Kiki is roughly 6.5 and has never had pups.

When I went to check on her on Friday afternoon, I found her limping but wanted to keep an eye on it. A few hours later, I found her leg hugely swollen around the back left knee. It definitely wasn’t there earlier in the day, so it came up in about 6 to 7 hours. It was a big area swelling rather than a lump and very hot, although at the time I couldn't find any separate mass apart from the leg itself. On the same side she also had milky discharge from her eye, possibly a wet ear, and her poops were slightly soft. Throughout all of this she’s carried on eating and drinking as normal.

The vet thought it was a probable infection and didn’t think it was mastitis. He did an FNA but nothing came out, and started her on Baytril and pain relief the same day.

The heat has now gone and the swelling has gone down a lot, but where there was originally no lump at all, there’s now a lump smaller than the original inflamed area that feels slightly malleable/squidgy. It’s between her knee and her nipple, closer to the knee though. I’m wondering if an abscess has formed since the aspirate - from what I’ve read this is possible if it was inflamed tissue rather than pus at the time.

Has anyone had something similar, where the aspirate came back dry and an abscess formed afterwards?

I’m planning to get her rechecked ASAP, but just want to know what I should expect!

Many thanks in advance

Good luck at the vets.
My experience of abscesses is that there has always been pus present. But they haven’t started swollen and hot either.
 
Unfortunately it ended up being some form of incurable cancer - we have the option of removing the leg but that obviously carries its own risks so we're considering whether to do that or just carry on with palliative care.

Considering her age we're thinking the latter would be the more humane option, but we would very much appreciate people weighing in on this!
 
I’m so sorry you’ve had this diagnosis. I agree with your vet, at 6.5 years old an amputation its not in her best interests. Make lots of memories and I hope she has many more happy healthy days with you 🥰
 
I am so sorry the news wasn't better 😢
I would agree with the latter choice too provided you can keep her pain free 🙏
 
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