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Smudgie has an abcess

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misspiggy64

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I had to take my poor little lad to the vets yesterday as he had a huge swelling near his willy it looked like he had grown another ball (he was neutered last Aug) The vet scared the life out of me telling me all the worst case senarios., as the wouldn't know what the lump was untill they knocked smudgie out & opened him up.Anyway much to my relief it was a huge abcess which they drained.He's got 5 stitches with a gap in the middle of the cut for drainage. He's still got a large swelling & I'm hopeing thats just cos he's been messed around with but if it doesn't start going down by tomorrow I'll be back on the phone cos I'm getting worried that the abcess is fillling up again. He's definately much quieter than usual& not eating as much but i've been giving him grass, parsley & grapes as they are his favourites. He's on 2.5 ml of baytrill twice a day & i've got to clean his wound with salted water....is there anything else I should be doing as I cant bear the thought of him being in pain.
 
Abscesses can be tricky to cure due to the chances of it recurring. Usually they recur if the necrotic tissue is not removed and/or if the abscess is not kept open and flushed routinely. If you have a syringe - ideally a curved-tip syringe - flush the cavity out with saline, draining it beforehand by squeezing the area as thoroughly as possible. Good luck, let us know how the poor fella gets on! Something interesting to note is that "post neuter abscesses" can occur up to a year after the actual castration.
 
been back to the vets today with smudgie cost the swelling hasn't gone down & she squose it & a load of blood & gunk came out YUK. she also gave him a painkilling injection & his skin was so tough she bent the 1st needle & had to get a stronger one...Smudge was sooo good whilst she was sorting him out diddn't struggle at all. I've now got to squeeze the lump after his baytrill twice a day & I'm not looking forward to it one bit as I'm scared of hurting him & I know he'll struggle for me. He's got another appointment on Monday evening unless I'm worried about him.
 
Is the dose of Baytril 2.5ml twice daily, if so it is rather on the high side?
 
the vets put on the bottle 25 units this i presume is 2.5 ml...smudggie does try to dribble it back out but I wipe his mouth on a piece of parsley & feed it back to him.Its only a tiny amount on a small syringe
 
You need to check the dose. 2.5ml is too much. 0.4ml twice daily is average dose.
Are you sure the vet. did not mean 0.25ml? If so, that is too small a dose.
 
Yes 0.4ml is the correct dosage for an adult pig, 2.5ml is way too much. How long is the course for and did you get anything to back flush the abcess aft6er squeezing? Something like hibiscrub? did the vet suggest a pro biotic to give 2 hours after antibiotic and regularly through the day as baytril can cause an upset tummy in GPs.
 
I've double checked the bottle & the total amount of baytrill in it was 10ml.this was to be divided in to 2 doses per day for 7 days it definately says 25 units per dose. I was told to give a good wipe of the area with salted water.A large amount of gunk came out today, He's also managed to pull his stitches out over night but the edges of the wound seem to be sealed ok. No mention of a probiotic by the vet but Smudgie seems to be eating ok maybe a little less than usual but I keep going out to cut him some grass so I know he's definately getting something inside him.I'll put him on the scales later to see if he's lost any weight.
 
I would assume one unit to be 0.01ml - this would be correct if thinking along the lines of units, tens, hundreds etc. 25 units would be 0.25ml.
0.25ml is the average dose I have come across with your usual vets, but 0.3-0.4ml twice daily is the usual according to an average guinea pigs weight and metabolism.

Loss of appetite is fairly common with Baytril, it's not the best tolerated antibiotic but it is the most common drug. Weigh daily while he is ill, if there is any weight loss then supplementary feeding via syringe could be necessary. Probiotics will help balance the gut flora, as antibiotics can kill off the bad and the good bacteria.

If you can get a sterile syringe into the open wound of the abscess to flush it out, it will be far less likely to recur. Wiping over the top after emptying the abscess won't clean it out well enough; when the wound heals over, it locks the bacteria back inside leading to further build up of pus. The tricky part is getting into the wound when it has been incised as it heals over very quickly.
 
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Hes lost about 50g over he week but he's definatey feeling better as he's started jumping on to the top of the yellow house in his Nero 4.I bought some wagg supreme pellets from Tescos yesterday that were on offer & he wolfed them up as if he'd been starved for a week! so it looks like his appetites back again!I'm still cutting fresh grass for a treat for him but Coco his sister has decided that smudge is getting too many treats so she's covering the bowl with her body so she can get the best bits....they are soo funny to watch....she also keeps sniffing the area where ghis lump is.
 
Just to let everyone know that Smudgie has been discharged from the vets & is back in fine fettle...eating everything in sight!
 
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