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Post neuter abscess

LucyB1234

LucyB1234

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Location
Devon UK
Post neuter help needed.

My one year old (accidental) homebred GP went in for a neuter at our local exotic vets 15/08.
He was discharged with a week of antibiotics and pain meds. He was very swollen post op and continued to swell/show signs of infection very shortly after. I took him in the following week and they prescribed a further ten days of baytril. I questioned this and asked for zithromax having read on here it's good but was dismissed. He remained very swollen following this course so I took him back. At this point he was also weeing blood. They did a needle aspiration and found pus so put him on a further week of baytril. After a week they decided to re-operate. They found lots of absesses in his scrotal area bilaterally with one leading into his abdomen. They x-rayed him too whilst under to check for bladder stones due to the wee in his blood. He is now 5 days postop on antibiotics (marbocyl). He is still very swollen down there and I'm not convinced the infection has gone because it still feels warm to touch and there is redness at the surgical site.

He is eating, drinking, wheeking for veggies, pooing and weeing fine since. He is being kept indoors, on puppy pads that I change twice daily with plenty of hay. He has lost 200g so far.

We are due to see the vet again in two days time.

Please someone give me hope. This has cost me nearly £1000 so far and I'm not sure how much further I can spend but I cannot let him down as I feel so responsible for putting him through the operation in the first place.
 

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Oh poor you and your little piggie, what a terrible experience. I don’t know where you live but if you are in the Uk we do have a recommended vet list in the green bar. Sending loads of healing vibes to your little piggie, hope he recovers very soon 🤞
 
Thank you. He's under Livia Benato of City Vets Exeter who is on the recommendation list already.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

Please urgently step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed (if you haven’t already). As he has lost so much weight, he is not eating enough hay. His lost hay intake needs to be replaced with the syringe feeding to stop him losing any more weight.

You are well within your rights to get a second vet to look at him.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
Oh my, poor little boy 😞 Please don’t feel bad. You have had good intentions and the vast majority of neutering operations are successful. You’ve just been incredibly unlucky.

Please do follow the advise given above about syringe feeding him and I hope he feels better soon x
 
She is a good vet, a friend of mine takes her piggies to her. I think you have been very unlucky :hug: Sending loads of healing vibes, I do hope your little boy recovers soon x
 
Poor piggy. I hope he’s soon on the mend. Have they left the abscesses open to drain? Do you have to flush them out daily?
 
BIG HUGS

I am so sorry that you have been so very unlucky and that your vet has ruled out zithromax; it is the best antibiotic for abscesses although even zithromax won't always work.

He may need an operation to remove the abscess if it cannot be medically got on top of. A couple of my rescue adoptees have needed that but they have all then had a full and happy boar life - even though they were in the hands of experienced vets. It can happen.
Be open about your financial possibilities. Most vets are understanding and willing to work something out with you.

I would also recommend to contact the vet clinic promptly whenever a piggy loses their appetite because of an infection/abscess. For that reason I second the need for you to step in with syringe feeding asap.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
I will update you all tomorrow after we have been to the vets. It looks no different sadly, still very swollen and tender. He's still acting okay in himself. I will ask again for zithromax as well as syringe feed and probiotics. Thank you for your replies. I am just not sure how much further is humanely possible to take it. 😢
 
Update
Saw Livia today and amazingly one of his abscesses has gone so just the left side now. She aspirated it but couldn't get anything out. So he's on zithromax for five days with some critical care too. Fingers crossed this does the trick. I'm feeling somewhat more hopeful!
 
That’s great they’ve given you 5 days of Zithromax. My piggy was on it for 6 weeks with a tooth root abscess. So I hope it works 🤞🏻 but be prepared for a longer course. Also it completely stopped my piggy from eating so I had to syringe feed for the whole course too. He’s fine now though is was worth it. Good luck
 
that’s a step forward, hang in there 🤞and if you need a longer course ask for it x
 
That sounds like a step in the right direction. Your poor little man has been through the wars.

I’ve added your location as Devon Uk to your profile. Hope that’s ok.
 
Hope the new antibiotics do their magic. When Bert had a non operable abscess in his boar bits we had to try a couple to shift it as the bacteria changed from aerobic to anaerobic. It took a while but we got there. Thinking of you and your little chap x
 
I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed that the zithromax will do the trick!

4 weeks of Zithromax (i.e. two full rounds) have saved the lives of at least three piggies of mine.

Please brace yourself that while zithromax is well tolerated by the majority of piggies, when it does affect the gut microbiome the loss of appetite is pretty much total and they will need round the clock syringe feeding while they fight every syringe. It is however worth the struggle.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
Thank you everyone. The swabs came back today as positive for clostridium. Zithromax and marbocyl both work against this so our plan b is to go back to marbocyl if he stops eating with zithromax. Currently he's definitely quieter and not as interested in hay/food but will happily take veggies. I have a camera on him whilst at work so have been keeping a close eye on his eating. I have given him some emeraid today already and will do some more this evening. Thank you for the syringe feeding guidance, it is very helpful!
 
Wiebke said:
I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed that the zithromax will do the trick!

4 weeks of Zithromax (i.e. two full rounds) have saved the lives of at least three piggies of mine.

Please brace yourself that while zithromax is well tolerated by the majority of piggies, when it does affect the gut microbiome the loss of appetite is pretty much total and they will need round the clock syringe feeding while they fight every syringe. It is however worth the struggle.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Click to expand...
Should I be feeding a probiotic as well as emeraid?
 
I wish I could bring positive news but sadly there is no change. His absess remains the same despite nearly three weeks of zithromax. I just don't know what to do and financially, this has broken me. My sister, a vet, looked at him this week, she didn't like his respiratory effort and has offered to pts. Sadly I feel this is now my only option as I cannot afford to keep going with the treatment. I now have to sell my car to recoup what I've spent on him alone. His companion has also rapidly declined and has lost weight / showing signs of diarrhea. I think it's time to say goodbye to my boys.
 
LucyB1234 said:
I wish I could bring positive news but sadly there is no change. His absess remains the same despite nearly three weeks of zithromax. I just don't know what to do and financially, this has broken me. My sister, a vet, looked at him this week, she didn't like his respiratory effort and has offered to pts. Sadly I feel this is now my only option as I cannot afford to keep going with the treatment. I now have to sell my car to recoup what I've spent on him alone. His companion has also rapidly declined and has lost weight / showing signs of diarrhea. I think it's time to say goodbye to my boys.
Click to expand...

BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry for you and your boys. You have done everything you could. It's not your fault that it has gone all so haywire.
 
Oh no I’m so sorry for you. Sending you a hug. Sometimes no matter how hard we try it’s just not enough. You’ve done everything right.
 
I am so very sorry that you are losing both your boys 😞 vet costs have soured and I myself am still paying off my vet fund from having a poorly Ella just before the summer. Thankfully she’s fine now and has recovered but my own purse was getting tight and I had to assess how far I was prepared to go

(((Hugs))) you have tried your very best for them both and they know how much they’re loved xx
 
I come bearing good news. Shortly after my last update, my husband was adamant we would not be putting to sleep our guineas and insisted we try marbocyl again. After a further couple of weeks on this, the abscess finally burst, much to both of our disgust. There was a lot of wretching as we drained it. We then proceeded to flush it out daily for several days and returned to the vets who was very impressed with the turn around. A month on and our little boy is all healed and living happily together with his stepdad.

Whoever told me to be patient, thank you, that was the best advice. These piggies are fighters and we just have to give them the time and care to get through it. Cost us a bloody fortune though!
 
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