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Sunrise Jaw Abscess

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Critter

Critter

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Please accept my apologies for still not being on here as much as I have intended - the overtime is continuing for the near future....

Right...
Sunrise has been struggling to eat over the past two days, and today I took her to the vet (Alfreton Park Vet Hospital). I suspected dental, and at first when she looked into Sunrise's mouth and explained that her incisors were slightly leaning to the left and her molars were slightly 'off' I thought that perhaps I'd caught the issue nice and early. However she then noticed something else, and took her to her colleague for confirmation, and sadly there is a sizeable abscess, and unfortunately it's in a place that cannot be operated on.
She is on Metacam, Recovery food, Probiotics and Metronidazole (anti-biotic). However, the vet believes that although this antibiotic is the one she feels most likely to do some good, it's still an outside chance.
I'm to take her back in a week for reassessment.

She was as good as gold at the vets, but is now such a wriggle-pig and fights me when I give her the meds, but I'm just hoping she can fight her abscess with the meds!

Has anyone had any success with jaw abscesses without surgery? Thank you x
 
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l think you have to consider the posebiaties of the abssess penatrating the bone and casing osteomilatis
(bone rot) my vet will just give a slight whiff of gas for that type of sugury,you are talking about

Osteomyelitis - NHS Choices
www.nhs.uk › Pages › Introduction
 
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Poor thing! Where is the abscess that they are not able to reach it to operate? My pigs have had incisions made right through the cheek, as there is not enough room to access through the inside of the mouth as they would a person. Is there a lump on her face, or is the abscess literally down in the bone?
 
Thanks @gizzy.
It's the location that she was concerned about, actually getting at the offending beastie without causing too much damage to what ever it is that's in the way. She says it's in a bad pace in terms of operating, it's just not viable. They have a guinea pig expert there and a vet who specialises in small animal surgery, so they'd probably have a good go at it if they thought it was possible, but she deemed it as not being an option because of where it is.
 
Thanks @Freela, it's slightly to one side, causing her to eat on the other, and deep in her jaw, but the exact location I'm not certain about. It can't be felt from the outside.

I was going to ask, but then we got talking about meds and I ended up leaving without asking. I meant to ask partly because I wanted to avoid sticking the syringe into a tender area!
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I feel sure that something can be done. I deal with a lot of jaw abscesses, here at TEAS, and we have had excellent results with all of them, after getting them lanced and drained. Daily flushing, plus the antibiotic Zithromax really has done the trick!
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Thank you. Do you think it's possible for me to send her down to you for assessment/treatment?
 
There is never any harm in getting a 2nd opinion . I have taken my Bess to 3 seperate vets . I have informed each vet I am taking her for a 2nd opinion. Any respectable vet will transfer transfer notes on request.

All you have to bear in mind is - is it fair to keep putting Sunrise under the stress of being transported to different places and examined by different people.

It was well worth it in Bess's case as she had been diagnosed with somethng terminal and now it looks like she has something that can be treated.
 
If you can get her to Simon it would be worth it. Twice now he has treated things that were beyond the expertise of my local vets and we are going to get him to look at Millie too. Would definitely be worth the trip.
 
Thank you very much indeed to everyone on this thread :hug:.
My issue with 2nd opinions are simply about where I live. The principal is sound and very sensible without a doubt. Round my way I've tried several vets over time, and none of them I would trust with regards guinea pigs the way I trust the expertise of the Alfreton Park team, so I wouldn't know of any other piggy-savvy vet to take a 2nd opinion from around here.
Their (Alfreton) team includes a small animal surgical procedures specialist and one who specifically specialises in guinea pigs, so when they had their consultation and came back and told me it couldn't be operated on then I took that as the best opinion on the matter that I could get, at least locally (when I say local it's still a fair distance).

However, I'm currently in conversation with TEAS and making plans to sort things out with the necessary information for Simon's vet practice and TEAS themselves, as I believe, good that my vets are, if anyone can help Sunrise they can!

So I'm not ignoring everyone who has replied (and thank you all again), just in the process of sorting things out now xx
 
Critter said:
Thank you very much indeed to everyone on this thread :hug:.
My issue with 2nd opinions are simply about where I live. The principal is sound and very sensible without a doubt. Round my way I've tried several vets over time, and none of them I would trust with regards guinea pigs the way I trust the expertise of the Alfreton Park team, so I wouldn't know of any other piggy-savvy vet to take a 2nd opinion from around here.
Their (Alfreton) team includes a small animal surgical procedures specialist and one who specifically specialises in guinea pigs, so when they had their consultation and came back and told me it couldn't be operated on then I took that as the best opinion on the matter that I could get, at least locally (when I say local it's still a fair distance).

However, I'm currently in conversation with TEAS and making plans to sort things out with the necessary information for Simon's vet practice and TEAS themselves, as I believe, good that my vets are, if anyone can help Sunrise they can!

So I'm not ignoring everyone who has replied (and thank you all again), just in the process of sorting things out now xx
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It's so difficult sometimes - we all want what is best for our Guinea Pigs . You are right to seek advice from every source possible.
 
Thank you @PiggyOwner . Hope Bess continues with good health. May I ask, if you don't mind, what she was suffering from? x
 
I noticed a significant drop in her weight in the autumn of last year . My regular vet had left the practice and I wasn't gettiing anywhere with the locum so took her to an exotic's vet . She had blood tests, and X-ray and and ultrasound . The exotics vet diagnosed a tumour . He was prepared to do a biopsy but my inner instinct said "no". I was told to spoil her ( no change there - I ALWAYS spoil her ). By Jan, I felt it was time to have her re-assessed . She has never gained the weight she lost - but her weight has stabilised. (Another interesting fact is that, she was shaved for her scan , and the hair has never grown back ). So, I have changed vets again . Her current vet feels that her problems are related to ovarian cysyts.
 
Sounds like a roller-coaster ride, and it's ringing a bell too, I'm sure I've read about her losing weight but my memory is rubbish with names so I didn't quite click! It's so frustrating and worrying when you cannot get an accurate diagnosis!
 
She IS still beautiful. what a gorgeous colour she is, and those little lighter patches on her footsies are very cute. How odd that the fur never properly grew back though, it's not as if hair knows it's been cut, so why would that happen? It defies logic, but there you go, sometimes I think piggies do defy logic! :) Glad she's still a happy soul xx
 
Sunrise is off to TEAS tonight, and is seeing Simon tomorrow morning.
Love you my sweet and funny girl, I know you will be in the very best of hands.

I'd like to say a huge and public THANK YOU so very very much indeed to TEAS for helping my girl, and so fast too! xx
 
V quick update as must dash to work - Debbie just phones me to let me know how the appointment went with Sunrise, it's good news - things are looking more simple that first thought, little bit of pus around incisor - no real abscess found, on Zithromax now, wait a while and play by ear. Sorry for short message - must dash, many thanks to TEAS once more and to Kim from Cat and Rabbit x
 
just caught up with this, glad its encouraging news. hopefully the Zithromax can do its stuff.
I'm sure Debbie from TEAS & the Maddock's from The cat & rabbit clinic should receive a sainthood :nod::tu:

speedy recovery. xx
 
Thank you, and I agree, they're amazing people :)
Sorry for the quick garbled message of my last post. Debbie and I had a good conversation over the matter. What ever lump that the vet saw that made her diagnose an abscess simply isn't appearing to be there at all. I'm not doubting that the last vet saw a lump/bulge, but perhaps it's either naturally part of Sunrise's mouth or she did have a none-abscess swelling and tender area that has gone down. The fact that she was eating off to one side could have been due to the slight infection that Kim found around her incisor, as a little bit of pus did come out from there, though it's not an abscess (but perhaps may have been the start of something nasty). I can imagine that this alone could have caused Sunrise quite some pain, I recon it would if it were me!
In theory Sunrise could come back home to me with her antibiotics to finish her course, but she's staying in Debbie's care until her next appointment at the beginning of March to reassess things (hopefully it will all be cleared up). The reasons are because Sunrise did indeed appear to be developing the beginnings of something there with her teeth, and although it's likely that her treatment will nip it in the bud, she's in the right place should anything more 'solid' develop. Debbie would spot this better than I could, with all her experience and knowing the signs and knowing how to look at piggy mouths (I don't), plus should Sunrise have a reaction to the antibiotics she can be taken straight back down to Simon/Kim in a jiffy.
Sunrise is eating well, and is in very good health otherwise, so things are looking very good for her. She's settled well and is interested in the other piggies housed near her. At my end her friend Penny is coping better than I thought she would and is going about her normal piggy-business, but is having extra cuddles too.

Thanks again to Debbie and everyone at TEAS for taking her and looking after her, for the reassurance you've given and for Kim for treating her and hopefully nipping this in the bud.
Thanks to everyone here for your good wishes and support x :hug:
 
Sunrise is in excellent hands. My boy Bubble recently had a four week course of Zithromax prescribed by Simon for a tooth root abcess. He had no side effects from it whatsoever and Simon says there is no sign of the abcess now and his teeth are great. We're down to eight week check ups now just to keep an eye on things. Its a two and a half hour journey each way but so worth it. Its thanks to this wonderful forum that I found such a wonderful vet and I am so grateful.
 
Sunrise had been settled and eating well, and Debbie had been very pleased with her outlook, but yesterday she was not herself at all and refused her food. She's having to be syringe-fed and is being taken back to the vet today. It could be that she's one of the rare piggies who have had a reaction to Zithromax - Debbie's never seen this happen and she's nursed a good many piggies on Zithromax, but has been told it does happen in a few piggies.
 
Thank you. She's been given plenty of fluids and is being syringe fed, she's on gut mobility meds too and seems a bit brighter than she was, so fingers crossed!
 
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