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Lump Post eye removal swelling

Grant98765

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Hello everyone!

This is my first post here, so hello! My little man Herbie had to have an eye removed about three weeks ago, which went well. Since then, the no-eye side of his head and jaw have swollen up a good bit. It doesn’t seem to be hurting him, and it doesn’t hurt him when I touch it, but it still worries me...it’s fairly large amount of swelling, and I don’t want it to get worse or interfere with his eating. I’m still giving him critical care occasionally, and keeping his diet high in vitamin C...lots of kale and parsley! So he seems to be eating ok. He seems to be in a good mood and mostly back to his old self! I was wondering if anyone else has experience with this sort of thing, or could reassure me that the swelling will go down. He’s still on an antibiotic and a daily pain reliever/ antibiotic (metacam). Thanks everyone, let me know!
 

Smileandnod

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Poor Herbie. Have you called the vet?

My cavy vet has always told me to watch for and report any swelling after surgery that increases. Sometimes it could be normal within a certain time frame, but swelling also could indicate infection.

A lot of times a recheck is free and well worth it to catch something or to set your mind at ease.

At the very least it definitely warrants a call and the vet would be able to give you specific info related to Herbie and the removal of his eye.

I hope the best for the little guy.
 

bpatters

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I'd get him back to the vet ASAP. That's not normal.
 

LittleSqueakers

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Is metacam all he's on? Metacam is an anti-inflammatory/pain drug, not an antibiotic. Or is there a separate antibiotic medication that he's taking as well? Ditto taking him back to the vet, quickly.
 

Grant98765

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Thanks for the input everyone! Wow I didn’t think it would be so serious...at his final checkup after eye removal, the vet said not to worry about the swelling, he even aspirated some of the fluid and determined it was alright and shouldn’t pose a problem. But the swelling hasn’t gone down since then...I’ve called a different cavy vet and set up an appointment for 4 days from now...do you think that’s alright? He doesn’t seem uncomfortable and is eating fine and seems happy! He’s on metacam and a separate antibiotic. But I hope it can wait until then, otherwise I’ll get him to an emergency vet tomorrow.
 

Grant98765

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Just an update on Herbie. I took him in to see Dr. Champagne in Carrollton, TX today. She was great! She already removed the contents of the abscess, and will be continuing to flush and empty it for the next day or so, until it’s clear. We’ll be giving him chloramphenicol to prevent further infection. He’s lost a little weight since his last check up, so I’m
hoping we have no more complications and returns to his usual hungry self after he comes home! I really hope this is the last of his tough times, he’s been through so much. I’d love to hear anyone’s advice on aftercare or preventing abscess recurrence. Of course I’ll follow Dr. Champagne’s advice, but anything anyone knows would be helpful too!
 

Smileandnod

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Thank you for the update!

With an abscess you want it to heal from the inside out, so make sure you keep flushing it to remove puss as it heals. You don't want it to close up on the outside before the inside heals, otherwise you trap infection and it will worsen and prolong the process.

It usually takes several days of consistent flushing. Don't give up until it is complete.

Using a curved tip syringe works really well for flushing. It really made a difference when one of mine had an abscess.

Get a kitchen scale to weigh him regularly, that way you can monitor his progress and health.

Good luck to both you and Herbie. I am very glad you were able to help him out.
 

LemonySnickers

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Antibiotics can mess with guinea pigs' guts and make them not want to eat, so getting a probiotic to give Herbie along with his medicine is a good idea if you're concerned about his food in-take. Bene-Bac works really well and is readily available in pet stores or online. A few months ago my guinea pig Snickers had an upper respiratory infection and stopped eating because of the antibiotic he was taking. If I hadn't fed him Bene-Bac I don't know how he would've coped.
 

Smileandnod

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Antibiotics can mess with guinea pigs' guts and make them not want to eat, so getting a probiotic to give Herbie along with his medicine is a good idea if you're concerned about his food in-take. Bene-Bac works really well and is readily available in pet stores or online. A few months ago my guinea pig Snickers had an upper respiratory infection and stopped eating because of the antibiotic he was taking. If I hadn't fed him Bene-Bac I don't know how he would've coped.

Good point about the usefulness of a probiotic.

Also my guinea pigs love the taste of the bene-bac gel. I get the dial-a-dose syringe. Works great when they are on an antibiotic.
 

Grant98765

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Bought the Bene Bac! Thanks so much for the recommendations everyone! The vet will be keeping him another night or two to keep flushing his abscess. Doctor said he’s doing well, is eating well, but is just sick of being manhandled! I hope to bring him home soon, but am happy they’ll be keeping him until everything is resolved. I wish the compounding pharmacy would get me the chloramphenicol quicker, the earliest I’ll get it is two days from now, they’re treating him with something different now, equally strong for abscesses, but can only be used for short amounts of time. I’ll keep y’all updated!
 

Smileandnod

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Me and my piggies will keep thinking good thoughts for Herbie!

Keep us updated!
 

LemonySnickers

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I hope he recovers soon!
 

Grant98765

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Me too! And I’ll keep y’all updated! Here’s some pics of the pigs, Herbie is the black and white one, Lambert is the Peruvian: (broken link removed). I took Herbie from a coworker who didn’t want him anymore and was just going to leave him at a dumpster. I couldn’t believe that and couldn’t let it happen! Then I got his brother Lambert at the Texas Rustlers shelter...he was the only one Herbie liked!
 

bpatters

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I love Texas Rustlers. I got three of my pigs there.
 

Grant98765

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Herbie came home this evening! He looks great and is acting SOOOO much better! He’s still thin...but he’s been eating constantly for about two hours, really going at his hay and some kale. He’s been on his new antibiotic for a day, and the lab culture should be coming in tomorrow to let us know if we have the best antibiotic for him. He’ll be back at the vet in four days, and until then, I’ll be trying to drain the abscess once a day to see if anything further comes out. But the abscessed area is so small, and is mostly swollen lymphs. But he seems so happy and energetic, and I think he’s relieved to be home. I’ll let y’all know how things go draining it for the first time, and if we can get him to gain some weight over the next week or so!
 

Smileandnod

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Wonderful news! Stay strong Herbie!

If you have been directed to flush it, curved tipped syringes work great. They have a small tip to get in small area and make it easy to direct the spray. With an abscess you want it to heal from the inside out, so you want it to heal on the inside before you let it close up on the outside. Otherwise puss gets trapped and the process starts again.

Also, get a kitchen scale if you don't already have one. It'll make it easy to monitor his weight.

Keep us updated! I am so glad to hear Herbie is improving!
 

spy9doc

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Good news! We're all pulling for you, Herbie! Sparky sends wheeks of encouragement.

The quickest and best way to put weight on him is to syringe Critical Care a couple times a day. It is nutrient-dense and calorie-rich and will be a good supplement in addition to his regular food. I mix CC with pedialyte as most cavies absolutely love unflavored pedialyte. Buy the generic as it is much more cost effective. I also often mix a little baby food with the CC using BeechNut's organic line with flavors that appeal to cavies such as carrot/pumpkin, or apple/kale, squash/pumpkin/peas.

Most pet stores carry a 30ml syringe marketed as a "Small Animal Feeding Syringe". This is large enough so that you can mix the CC and pour it into the syringe before it thickens too much. So much easier than trying to draw up the CC with a syringe.......which is so difficult that most people give up trying. When syringing the CC, have a separate small container nearby with straight pedialyte in it. Use a 10 ml syringe to draw this up. I try to mimic the cavy's normal feeding pattern and give him about three mouthfuls of CC and then a little pedialyte to wash it down.

As an aside, should you need to administer any medication that requires you to grind it into a fine powder, mix it with pedialyte. Sparky has to be medicated twice a day, and can hardly wait to get to the syringe with the pedialyte mixture.
 

Grant98765

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Thanks for the input everyone! I bought a kitchen scale to measure his weight gain. I’ve also been feeding him critical care, he loves the new stuff I got him...I think it’s called Emeraid. He ate really really well today again, but he still took the critical care well, in addition to the chloramphenicol and meloxicam. He also happily took a bead sized amount of the benebac probiotic. I was able to push out a little bit of smelly blood out of the abscess today...I also got the curved tip syringes today. I’m going to go by the drugstore tomorrow morning to pick up some chlorhexidene to use to flush it. If there are any tips about flushing the abscess, I’d love to hear them! It’s a really tiny lanced hole that I’ve been using to drain the area, I hope the syringe fits easily.
 

bpatters

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Don't use the chlorhexidine full strength -- it's way too irritating. Dilute it 1:10 with sterile water, or just use the sterile water.
 

Grant98765

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Hey everyone! Update! Herbie is doing GREAT. I’ve been flushing out the abscess with a weak solution of hibiclens and sterile water, and today, almost nothing at all came out of the abscess. He hates the flushing, but I’m going to continue until nothing else comes out. To top it off, he’s gained almost 100 grams, he’s back up to 910 grams! He’s getting lots of his favorite foods lately, romaine, blueberries, and cilantro. I wish he were eating more hay, but he’s eating more and more of it...he seems to really prefer oat hay. I’ll update again after I see the vet. Thanks everyone for your help! And Herbie says thank you too!
 
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