Post Op Infection

[dollydaydream]

Hello,
I posted on here a few weeks ago as our boy was sadly killed by a dog he left his brother who was 11months olds.
We decided, after taking advice from the vet and a rescue centre, that we would have our remaining boy castrated and he could move in with his new girlfriends in a few weeks. Hoping he would have a happier life.
Anyway, he had his op on friday, there was a lot of bleeding during surgery, but he seemed to be healing nicely. We went to the vet last night and she agreed. Hovever, I got home from work this afternoon to find his wound was opened and full of pus, I took him to the vets straight away and he has a terrible infection. The vet has prescribed baytril anti-b's and hibi-scrub to clean it, both twice a day. Is there anything else I can do to help him? I'm worried he's going to die too and feel so guilty I put him through the op to begin with, even if my intentions were good.

 

[Teddybear22]

Aw I'm sorry there were complications after the surgery. I'll tag you some people with vast knowledge about health @Wiebke @helen105281 @Adelle @furryfriends (TEAS)

Sending you healing vibes x

And please, don't feel guilty. You did what was best for him, you couldn't know if this would happen.

 

[dollydaydream]

Thank you.

 

[Adelle]

Poor baby!

Firstly, well done on keeping an eye on the wound and seeing a vet promptly when problems occured.

Keep with the meds and cleaning regularly as recommended. Place small absorbent layers of fleece or vetbed where he lays mostly; and change these at least morning and night. This will prevent him laying on dirty bedding without u having to clean the whole cage twice a day.

Keep an eye out for any profusive bleeding or swellings. If things deteriorate, take him back for a change of antibiotics. Septrin and zithromax can also be used for these problems; although septrin isnt particularly strong as an antibiotic. Is he on metacam? If not, id enquire about that as he must be uncomfortable.

Start giving him a probiotic 1-2 hours after each baytril dose, as it can be quite harsh on the guts.

weigh him daily to moniter his food intake. If his weight drops and continues to do so, step in with syringe feeding.

I hope hes on the mend soon x

 

[dollydaydream]

Thanks for you help.
He had a loxicom (or something with a similar name!) injection at the vets today. He's eating really well thankfully. Is there a probiotic that you recommend?
Poor boy, I just can't believe how quickly it happened.

 

[Gem789]

Thanks for you help.
He had a loxicom (or something with a similar name!) injection at the vets today. He's eating really well thankfully. Is there a probiotic that you recommend?
Poor boy, I just can't believe how quickly it happened.

I think a lot of people use the one from pets at home- think it's called pro c if I remember correctly.

 

[RosieMaia]

Loxicom is the same as metacam (active ingredient meloxicam). I would discuss with my vet if it's possible to give meloxicam orally, as with the pigs' fast metabolism, the amount he got today will be soon metabolized. Meloxicam helps not only with pain (and pain relief is very important), but also with the local inflammation.

Good probiotics include Vetark ProC and Fibreplex.

I can't advise about the rest, because here we use a rather different post op/abscess protocol, which includes oral antibiotics and topical antibiotic that's packed inside the abscess wound.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,
I posted on here a few weeks ago as our boy was sadly killed by a dog he left his brother who was 11months olds.
We decided, after taking advice from the vet and a rescue centre, that we would have our remaining boy castrated and he could move in with his new girlfriends in a few weeks. Hoping he would have a happier life.
Anyway, he had his op on friday, there was a lot of bleeding during surgery, but he seemed to be healing nicely. We went to the vet last night and she agreed. Hovever, I got home from work this afternoon to find his wound was opened and full of pus, I took him to the vets straight away and he has a terrible infection. The vet has prescribed baytril anti-b's and hibi-scrub to clean it, both twice a day. Is there anything else I can do to help him? I'm worried he's going to die too and feel so guilty I put him through the op to begin with, even if my intentions were good.

Please ask your vet for marbocyl or even better, zithromax. they are not licensed for guinea pigs, but either zithromax on its own or in combination with marbocyl can do the trick. Baytril is unfortunately not strong enough to cut through a fully developed abscess. Make sure that you also give a pinch of probiotics about an hour or two after you give an antibiotic. Weigh your boy daily at the same time and syringe feed and water him at need.
Please also ask for a painkiller/anti-inflammatory like metacam.
Tips For Post-operative Care
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Any abscess needs to heal from the inside out so there are no infected pouches left that can flare up again. That is the reason why you need to keep the hole open as long as possible and why you need to keep flushing it with about 20ml of a mild disinfectant twice daily. A 5 ml syringe is ideal for this task. Push quite hard for the water solution to really penetrate and to really flush out any new pus. It is a very unpleasant task, but you need to peel the scab off and gently wash and squeeze any pus out, ideally for a minimum of 5 days but better 10 days or even longer. Any little bit of pus that stays inside can cause the absscess to blow up again.

Use cotton pads to wipe off the washed out fluid. I would recommend that you do not wear your best clothing for the task.

My Hywel is currently undergoing the same ordeal with his jawbone abscess. He has got a large crater in his throat, poor boy.

 

[Jeniva]

I'm so sorry to hear about the infection. My g pigs wound split open with a huge amount of pus when he had abscesses removed. The vet thought he might need another operation,but I demanded zithromax and that and cleaning got rid of it pretty promptly.
It can look horrendous but don't lose hope <3

 

[dollydaydream]

Thanks for all your replies. We went back to the vet yesterday and he had the wound flushed out, we're going to carry on with the cleaning twice a day and anti-biotics. We're back at the vet for another check up on monday so I will ask about another type of anti-biotics. We're going on holiday in a week, I don't want to go while he's like this.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for all your replies. We went back to the vet yesterday and he had the wound flushed out, we're going to carry on with the cleaning twice a day and anti-biotics. We're back at the vet for another check up on monday so I will ask about another type of anti-biotics. We're going on holiday in a week, I don't want to go while he's like this.

Fingers firmly crossed! It is such a worry, isn't it?

 

[dollydaydream]

It's awful. I can barely look at the wound, I feel so sorry for him. He's eating and hasn't lost any weight so I'm trying to think positive. I just wish it would heal even a tiny bit!