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Lump Large Nasty Mass

leebaldwin

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My guinea pig has a large growth on his back. It has turned nasty looking as per the photo. Can anybody provide any care info for this?
 

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CavyTV

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What IS that? Take your guinea pig to the vet immediately!
 

bpatters

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That is a BADLY infected grease gland. Ditto @cavylover5. Get your pig to a good EXOTIC vet immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not see a dog and cat vet.
 

Comely Guineas

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That looks horrible. Take him to the vet! Don't be scared!
 

amanda_cake

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Vet. Now. Holy hell that looks terrible.
 

barbaramudge

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I am going to hope that this is a troll intentionally trying to rile up the Guinea pig people. If not, put on a shirt man! And also, OMG why would you even ask this as a question when it's clear that pig needed a vet weeks ago. SMH.
 

lunarminx

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I looked that image up on Tineye reverse image search and it didn't bring any results up so that should have been his pig. I honestly think they were looking for help without going to the vets, some people can not see spending that amount of money on a rodent sadly.
 

leebaldwin

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It was not a troll to get anyone riled up. Yes, I know it is bad. I will get him to the vet tomorrow and see what they can do for him.
 

Kenna18155

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@leebaldwin Is there any way at all you can get the pig to a vet right now? Please, for the love of god. That poor creature might not make it until tomorrow. Jesus.
 

barbaramudge

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Lee, you really shouldn't have something like against your bare skin.
 

Paula

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You know, it's unfortunate that someone can't come along and ask for help without being accused of being a troll or told to put a shirt on or told not to hold him this way or that, the pig won't live another day, etc. If you don't know what to do, that's one thing, say that.
@leebaldwin, you definitely need to get him to the vet asap. If you want to do something at home before getting him to a vet I'd give him a warm water soak with chlorhexidine (diluted) or betadine. Do not try to force anything off or mess with that mass too much. You may end up with bleeding you can't control.

But, DO get him to an exotics vet tomorrow. He will need antibiotics and possibly even surgery to clean it up and drain any abscesses that might be there. If so that will require flushing and packing daily until it heals up.

Do keep us posted on the poor little guy!
 

barbaramudge

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You know, it's unfortunate that someone can't come along and ask for help without being accused of being a troll or told to put a shirt on or told not to hold him this way or that, the pig won't live another day, etc. If you don't know what to do, that's one thing, say that.
@leebaldwin, you definitely need to get him to the vet asap. If you want to do something at home before getting him to a vet I'd give him a warm water soak with chlorhexidine (diluted) or betadine. Do not try to force anything off or mess with that mass too much. You may end up with bleeding you can't control.

But, DO get him to an exotics vet tomorrow. He will need antibiotics and possibly even surgery to clean it up and drain any abscesses that might be there. If so that will require flushing and packing daily until it heals up.

Do keep us posted on the poor little guy!

I did not accuse, I HOPED, big difference and my shirt comment was because an infection like that against bare skin is not a good plan.

It's not a question of knowing what to do. Common sense is clearly not in play. Look at that picture again. There is only one thing to do with that and you know it. Lee should have know it too. Coddling is not always the way to handle things.
 
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amanda_cake

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lunarminx

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Just looking at that photo makes my stomach turn, I hope she makes it.
 
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lunarminx

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Lee if she/he makes it and you have to flush and pack the wound, its fairly easy to do if you have someone to hold the piggy. The quicker you do it, the less pain for the piggy and its not major pain, as i went through it myself with MRSA and having to do it to myself twice a day.
 

Fay

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@leebaldwin it's good that you came here for recommendations but it's very obvious the pig needs to see a vet. Unless it happened over night there isn't really an excuse to let it get that bad and I'm sure you realize that. So please for future reference when it's obvious your pig needs medical attention either see an exotic vet right away or if it's minor feel free to come here and ask us about what could be wrong and we can steer you in the right direction. Some things can be treated at home but this definitely cannot and the pig needed to see a vet yesterday. Please let us know how it goes at the vet, we're all just very worried about the pig which is the reason for some of the more shocked responses. I hope those won't put you off from remaining on these forums and learning more things about your pig, we're here to help and we want to help you do what's best for the pig and provide you with care information. If you feel like you can't give the pig the care it needs please let us know and we'll help you figure out a way to adopt out your pig or find a rescue. There's nothing wrong with not being able to care for the pig as long as you realize that you can't and try to re-home it. Please let us know how we can assist one way or another.
 

leebaldwin

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Hey everybody. I have an update and a few things I would like to say:
1. I realize that this was really bad and needed to go to the vet, that was obvious. Where I live, the only vets in our town are cat/dog vets and the nearest exotic vet is over an hour away, which I why I was looking for something I could do over the weekend. I was not trying to get out of paying money to see the vet.
2. I did not have on a shirt as all I was doing was cleaning their cage when I noticed it and the first thing I thought of was getting a quick photo posted so that hopefully someone would try to help provide some direction.
3. Paula was the first person to recommend something I could do at home to help until I could get my little pig to the vet, so a big THANK YOU to Paula.
4. One little thing to keep in mind for all the others in here making your rude comments. Keep in mind that you dont know me at all. I could have been a 13 year old kid that would have been totally crushed by your remarks and think that my pig is absolutely going to die. Beforee you start blasting people, think. It makes it a lot easier for you sitting behind a keyboard, but before you type, think if you would say it to the person if you was face-to-face with them.
5. Fay, I can very much care for the pig. As to remaining on the foums, I will still be a member, but more than likely will never post again due to the way that I have been talked to in the "more shocking responses". I will search through the forum, but never ask for help again.
6. The most important update, my pig's current status. The vet looked it over and said the overall prognosis is good. Overall the pig is in great health aside from the obvious issue. He gave me oral antibiotic that has to be given 2 times a day and chlorhexidine that has to be applied 2 times a day. He said to do that for 2 weeks and then we will see if it has to be surgically closed or if it will close on its own.
 

barbaramudge

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Just some thoughts: if you knew you would have been taking the pig to vet, you might have mentioned that in your original post. You can't be surprised at the reaction to what has obviously been an issue for some time. Again, the shirt comment was about your safety, not about your "lack of shirt". I would absolutely say what I said in person. I personally would not give "at home" instruction on a mess like that without the poster explicitly saying they would be taking the pig to the vet because often, people waste time trying to fix at home something that shouldn't be. If you'd like to stop asking for help, that's your call, but as my mom would say, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face". Glad your pig is getting the care they need and I wish them a speedy recovery.
 

Fay

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I'm glad to hear your pig is doing well. What antibiotics did the vet give you? The chlorhexidine will probably work very well.

As for what I said, I just pointed out the not being able to take care of the pig thing because the issue looks like it would have been there a long time (albeit not necessarily) which would indicate you didn't check the pigs health for a while and so I figured perhaps you've been busy and overwhelmed with other parts of your life and I was trying to gently encourage you to consider whether to keep the pig or not if that was the case (since it's such a sensitive topic). I wasn't trying to attack or insinuate just going on what I observed and just trying to help, wasn't saying that you categorically can't look after your pig, clearly you've been doing a great job getting your pig fixed up.

I did also point out that that may not be the situation as again I don't know the full details and that regardless of your situation we want to help you with your pigs as we do with a lot of other people that come to these forums and so I hope you will reconsider your stance of not asking for help on these forums in the future when you need it. I'd hate to think you might not ask for advice in the future that might be vital to your pigs because of a couple of things people said.
 
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