Abscess How to clean an abscess? PLEASE HELP. Vet left me no instruction.

[Lagertha]

Ikarus is finally home, this weekend was NOT fun. They kept him all weekend and removed a golf ball sized abscess. The cost was ridiculous, $416.91, $30 of which I was told I would not be charged so I'm a bit ticked. They want me to bring him back in on Friday to check him over and I am terrified that they are going to charge me again even though I specifically asked if there would be a charge and they said no.

Please you guys, I don't need any critisism or being told I should have expected to pay vet bills, because I know that. What I desperately need right now is help on how to clean this abscess and help him heal the best he can so it never comes back. Please you guys, I'm on the verge of breaking down here

 

[Lagertha]

also, they took the drains out which I am extremely worried about...

 

[bpatters]

Call the vet back and ask for instructions on how to treat it. For that amount of money, they should have given you clear directions AND the materials to do it with.

And there should be some treatment suggestions here: https://www.guinealynx.info/abscess.html

 

[Lagertha]

Call the vet back and ask for instructions on how to treat it. For that amount of money, they should have given you clear directions AND the materials to do it with.

And there should be some treatment suggestions here: https://www.guinealynx.info/abscess.html

I just emailed them as it's the only way they ever give me non vague responses and I can go back to them as reference. My anxiety makes it hard for me to speak on the phone let alone remember everything they say too. That's what I was thinking! All they did was give me his meds and him and that was that. They said to just clean it with warm water which worries me greatly as they've had him since Friday...warm water doesn't seem like enough to clean such a massive and extremely costly wound I got the betadine and the syringes myself as well as gloves, vitamin c tablets, critical care and gauze to clean him...They are the only vet close enough to us and she is very knowledgeable, but they're services just sucks massively. I feel like they are trying to bleed me dry of all my money honestly...I just gave them an entire paycheck for god's sake....

I will check out the suggestions, thank you! I'm just so scared it won't heal correctly and it will come back and I will be in debt because of this

 

[Lagertha]

@bpatters Okay, so draining/flushing it is going well, but my biggest concern is one side keeps scabbing up a bit. Do I just use warm water to loosen it???

 

[bpatters]

Yes. Put a warm compress on it to soft then scab, then carefully pick it off. You want all that infection inside to come out, and for it to heal from the inside out.

 

[Lagertha]

@bpatters okay awesome! that's what I figured It flushed clear last night but he had a bit of white bits flush out this morning so I kept flushing it till it was clear. He has his follow up on Saturday to make sure he is healing right. My husband is going with me this time so he can kind of put his foot down if the vet starts trying to charge for everything again. We are also applying for care credit soon just as a precaution so we don't get blind sided by such a huge bill again.

 

[Axe34]

I have major depressive and anxiety disorders. I know how overwhelming things can seem, especially in a stressful situation.

When I'm anxious and speaking to someone on the phone, I always make notes since I can easily forget what was said after hanging up.

Best of luck -- you're doing great as a piggy mom!

 

[Lagertha]

I have major depressive and anxiety disorders. I know how overwhelming things can seem, especially in a stressful situation.

When I'm anxious and speaking to someone on the phone, I always make notes since I can easily forget what was said after hanging up.

Best of luck -- you're doing great as a piggy mom!

Same! Clinical depression, social and generalized anxiety, and panic disorder. Along with all of those I have dissociative and depersonalization disorder which means I sometimes feel like I am detatched from my body and I blank out a lot. My husband is going with me to his follow up appointment so I feel a lot safer and more confident with getting my questions answered. I do the same thing when on the phone! I HATE speaking on the phone

Thank you so much! it's very stressful but I am trying my best!

 

[Axe34]

Same! Clinical depression, social and generalized anxiety, and panic disorder. Along with all of those I have dissociative and depersonalization disorder which means I sometimes feel like I am detatched from my body and I blank out a lot. My husband is going with me to his follow up appointment so I feel a lot safer and more confident with getting my questions answered. I do the same thing when on the phone! I HATE speaking on the phone

Thank you so much! it's very stressful but I am trying my best!

I HATE disassociation. It happens to me a few times a month. Not much fun.

 

[Lagertha]

I HATE disassociation. It happens to me a few times a month. Not much fun.

Me too! Depersonalization doesn't freak me out at bad as disassociation does I lose as much as 2 hours of memory at a time. My husband has witnessed many disassociative episodes and he tells me what usually happens to me while I was out once I snap out of it that I just stare straight ahead, barely breathing, and my pulse slows "alarmingly" as he puts it. I don't remember any of it though Thankfully I haven't had any really bad episodes in a while, but I agree, still not fun at all!

 

[Lagertha]

@bpatters so, no matter how often I flush the pocket, it keeps resealing and getting more and more difficult to reopen even with the compress. Is it posible to request having the drains reinserted? or is there no point since it's near his genitals and he can reach it? I really don't want it to seal up and reform the abscess

 

[bpatters]

Is it sealing with a scab, or with skin grown across it?

If it's with a scab, keep using the compress and flushing it. If it's with skin, you'll just have to go ahead and let it heal.

Is there any sign of infection? Redness? Swelling? Heat? Odor? Discharge?

He's seeing the vet later this week, right?

 

[Lagertha]

@bpatters Scab as far as I can tell! No redness or swelling, no heat and no odor, he had a little bit of pure white bits flush out this morning but nothing green or yellow. I've been putting one drop of betadine in the warm water for flushing just as an extra precaution. He's still bleeding a bit but the vet said to expect that.

Yes, We are taking him in on Saturday in the afternoon for a follow up exam. I emailed and asked them what it would cost if a drain was an option. The abscess was the size of a golf ball so the pocket is pretty big. I wanted to get him in sooner, but the vet was out of town, that's why it got so big

 

[Lagertha]

@bpatter the way they made the drainage holes is why it makes it so hard reopen the scab. They surgical glued the incision in the middle and have the two hold on the ends of the incision so as the incision heals, the holes keep sealing up too and I can harly tell where the holes are by the time the next flushing is due

 

[Lagertha]

@bpatters it took a bit to figure out, but I figured out how to use the warm water and syringe to coax the holes back open! Ikarus wasn't bothered at all and the flushing went well! a teeny tiny bit of white fluid came out but no more that a drops worth everything else flowed out clear and he's popcorning in his recovery cage and munching on hay

 

[Lagertha]

Update on abscess in Ikarus!

I couldn't locate my original thread, but I wanted to update you guys on Ikarus and his abscess!

He just had his follow up appointment and the vet gave him clean bill of health!
It's been a week since he had a golf ball sized abscess surgically removed from next to his genitals.

After a week of flushing out the abscess pocket, changing bedding, and giving antibiotics and pain medication twice a day for a week he is doing amazing! Full of energy, the pocket is all but gone and the vet gave us the green light to stop opening it and flushing it out (just topical cleaning now!), and she said he should be fully healed with nothing but a scab in one weeks time!

I am beyond relieved and happy!

Removed by bpatters: Contained a recommendation for a product that is not safe for guinea pigs.

But yeah! Just wanted to let you all know that Ikarus is doing awesome and will be back with his ladies in 2-3 weeks once he is 100% healed
Thank you all for your support and help, it really means a lot! You guys have no idea! The support you all gave me and the comforting words and wisdom really helped us pull through this scary event and I am beyond thankful for it it. Thank you all so much <3

 

[bpatters]

@Lagertha, if you click on your name, there's an option to see all your forum posts. Or you can use the search box.

We really mean it when we say don't start a second medical thread on a pig. It makes it far too hard to chase back through to find a pig's history if there's something serious going on.

The only time it is acceptable to start thread is if the first thread is too old to edit. In that case, the FIRST post in the second thread should contain the URL to the first thread, so it's easy to find and we can just click on it and go back to it.

 

[Lagertha]

I'm using an EXTREMELY laggy computer and spent a good hour trying to get it to find the old thread (this one) and I was getting pressed for time which is why I made the new one to just let you guys know that he is doing good and almost 100% healed. Sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring the rule. I really did try to find this one and the computer just wasn't working. Sorry.