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Swollen bottom?

Eddie & Elvis

Eddie & Elvis

Adult Guinea Pig
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Today I noticed one of my guinea pigs bottom seems to be swollen. I'm a bit worried because I don't know why this has happened. I managed to get a picture (sorry you have to look at his butt). I gave him and my other pig some cucumber earlier and he took it from me so I'm assuming he ate it. He was eating some hay a minute ago too. Hopefully these are good signs? I know you're not vets but hopefully you can give me some advice especially since I'm a first time owner.
Thank you :)
 

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We’re not vets but the best advise is to take him to the vets to be checked out. Email them a photo and then follow up with a phone call to get him booked in.
 
How old is your boy? It looks like a fully descended testicle to me?

IMG_3271_edited-1.webp
 
Eddie & Elvis said:
Also what does a fully descended testicle mean?
Click to expand...

Please have a look at the pictures in our sexing and in our boar care guide. They will show you how babies and how adult boars look and what is normal for them. The second guide also shows you how you look after the boar bits.
The testicles are the organs where in humans as well as in guinea pigs the semen to create the next generation is being generated. At the onset of puberty, the testicles descend from their original place inside the body and become visible in both mammalian species.
(PS: Guinea pigs differ from humans in that boars can make babies as soon as they are weaned from about 3 weeks onwards, long before you can see their mature sexual organs. In neutered boars, the testicles are removed so they look like adult baby boars).
Illustrated Sexing Guide
Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths
 
A little update: I read the boar bits article you linked and it didn't look like anything on there so I got some picture and my mum sent them to the vets and then called them. Tomorrow we are going to take Elvis to the vets. We cant actually go into the vets with him for obvious reasons so we will wait in the car park. Thank you everyone for your help.
 
Eddie & Elvis said:
A little update: I read the boar bits article you linked and it didn't look like anything on there so I got some picture and my mum sent them to the vets and then called them. Tomorrow we are going to take Elvis to the vets. We cant actually go into the vets with him for obvious reasons so we will wait in the car park. Thank you everyone for your help.
Click to expand...

Here is what you can expect at the vets this year: COVID-19 - Vet visits/emergencies during coronavirus/Covid-19 lockdown

All the best! Any lump or swelling needs a hands-on vet check and treatment according their findings.
We can help you work out whether something is normal or not and can help you with your care at home during recovery but we cannot replace a vet trip if one is necessary.
 
Ok I have an update on Elvis:
We went to the vets today which was a wierd experience in itself- we had to put the carrier down, step back and let the vet pick it up, then sit in the car and have a phonecall with the vet from there. Anyway, they looked at him and they didn't know what it was. They told us it could be an abscess, tumour or hernia so we made the decision for him to have an scan.
We went home while they did the scan and they called us once they'd done it which was sooner than we expected. The vet told us the lump was an abscess so they had drained and flushed it out and Elvis had been a little superstar. They hadn't had to give any anaesthetic during the scan and he was fine when they drained it too. I'm very pleased as he can be quite wriggly when he's held. He's now back home with some antibiotics and painkillers which we will give him for the next 10 days before we see the vet again. We also have to bath the wound with salt daily to stop it scabbing up too soon.
Again, thank you for all your help and advice and I'll update you again in 10 days time. :)
Gosh this is so long 😂
 
Thanks for the update.
Abscesses can be nasty but they are treatable.
Having been through it I can empathise.
Hope the next 10 days go well.
I did find that sticking a bribe under the nose was helpful when flushing the abscess
 
Thank you I hope it goes well too. I've just tried to give him his first dose of antibiotics. Offering the syringe to him didn't work, though I wasn't expecting it too, despite it apparently being sweet tasting so now we're trying to get him to eat some of his favourite food and pellets with the medicine on. He's catching on very quick though so I think we'll need another new plan soon 😂
 
When you had your experience with abscess did you let your guinea pig put for floortime like normal or will he need time to rest and be careful with it while it's still tender?
 
Hi everyone. I don't know if anyone is still watching this thread but if you are I have another update on Elvis. After maybe 5 days on Sulfatrim, the abscess seemed to be getting bigger again so we went back to the vets and they drained and lanced it again and gave us a second antibiotic Baytril and said to continue with bathing the wound which we decided to do twice daily instead of once this time. The vet said she felt a thickening in the lining of the abscess that wasn't there the first time we went which I'm worried about because they said it may mean the abscess might come back of they don't do surgery and because of the position bod the abscess would be risky so that's not great. 😨He's stayed as bright and happy as normal throughout all of this which is a good thing 😄. They said they'd see him again in 3 weeks to see how he was getting on so we will be going back in 1 week tomorrow. During the phonecall to the vets, it became apparent we'd accidentally given him 1.8ml of Sulfatrim instead of 0.18 ml! we had a very big syringe for the dose which is probably how I got confused. Luckily he was not affected at all but I was very worried. The vet said it's a safe antibiotic so thank goodness for that. After the introduction of the Baytril the abscess stayed down. Eveything has gone pretty smoothly since then and me and my mum are getting better at giving him the medicine which makes it better for us and him. If anyone's still watching this thread I'll try and remember to give you another update in a week's time.
Sorry it's long and thank you for taking the time to read this 🙂
 
Thank you xx I'm just hoping the thickening won't be a problem and he will be able to come off the antibiotics 🤞
 
Glad to hear that things seem to be improving for Elvis. Hope his recovery continues.xx
 
Hi everyone,
Today we went back to vets and the good news is Elvis is how infection and abscess free.
However, the thickening the vet felt last time is still there and now there's so abscess she thinks it was caused by a reaction to something when he was castrated as it's in the right place. Because of this thickening, the vet thinks if we were to stop giving he antibiotics it would flare back up again so we've made the decision for him to have an operation. Hopefully by doing this, the vet can remove the affected tissue so it can't come back. She doesn't know how complicated the surgery will be though. It might be simple and easy or it might be complicated. I'm quite worried about it and we have to wait a week ☹️. I'll just have to try not to overthink it.
He's been fine in himself through it all and has never been off his food or even affected by the antibiotics (other than hating being given it) but I'm still all too aware that surgery comes with risks especially with small animals.
The opperation is Monday 1st June so we will be continuing the antibiotics until then to make sure the abscess stays down in the meantime.
If anyone has any advice or experience with operations on piggies I'd love to hear what you have to say 🙂.
 
Hi again, does anyone know what to expect post- operation? I'm new to guinea pigs and now I'm trying to work all this out too. Elvis has been his normal cheeky self through all of this but I'm still worried about the operation going wrong or being difficult as the vet doesn't know exactly what she will find. If anyone has experience with piggy operations and knows what kind of things I will need to do afterwards that's would be very helpful 🙂
Thank you and sorry to nag
 
Wow - I have only just seen this thread, but you have done a fantastic job caring for your boy.
Abscesses can be tricky.
The operation sounds like a good idea and hopefully they can remove the capsule fully, so he doesn't have problems in the future.
You mention that he was castrated - was that before you got him?
If you had him and cared for him after that operation then this will probably be similar.
The guide about that Piggies&Buns has linked to should help too.

Good luck with the operation and thanks for the updates.
Elvis is a very lucky piggy.
 
Swissgreys said:
Wow - I have only just seen this thread, but you have done a fantastic job caring for your boy.
Abscesses can be tricky.
The operation sounds like a good idea and hopefully they can remove the capsule fully, so he doesn't have problems in the future.
You mention that he was castrated - was that before you got him?
If you had him and cared for him after that operation then this will probably be similar.
The guide about that Piggies&Buns has linked to should help too.

Good luck with the operation and thanks for the updates.
Elvis is a very lucky piggy.
Click to expand...
Oh I can't tell you how glad I am to hear I've done a good job, thank you so much!
I really hope the whole capsule can be removed but the vet said she has no idea if it will be possible until she does the operation.
Elvis and his brother Eddie were both castrated by the rescue before I adopted them. My mum contacted the rescue and it seems the timing of the abscess would suggest it could be a reaction to the stitches they used or something like that? Julia at the rescue said they never normally have problems with castrations but on very rare occasions, piggies have had reactions to the stitches so it seems likely that's what happened to poor Elvis.
I think I'll be a nervous wreck on the day but fingers crossed it goes well and he can be on the mend soon. Thank you everyone for your help ❤️
I'll update you again on the day of the operation if I can or maybe the day after.
Thank you again
 
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