Drained abscess

[momoftwopiggies]

Gonna start from the beginning. I have a female Abby named Charlie. I've had her for a year and four months. Charlie is my most active & most verbal. When i got home on Wednesday i heard her start wheeking well i looked in at her and she was laying on her side wheeking, which i found odd. I picked her up and checked her over & I didn't see anything so i put her back in her cage. A little while later she was still acting strange so i got up out again & noticed a bump under the throat. I called the vet on Thursday to make an appointment & they said the vet wasn't in & that she won't be in til Friday. I made the appointment from Friday at 3:15. At this point she really wasn't drinking much water because she looked like she was having trouble lifting her head so I would have to take the water bottle off the cage and physically give it to her. She was eating fine & eating her veggies like always. Brought her to the vet & they looked her over & said that she did have a bump & that they wanted to poke it to see what came out. I heard her squealing in the back & a little while later the vet tech came back & showed me a napkin with white stuff that looked like cottage cheese. The vet came back and said that i was an abscess & that they drained it. She said everything looked good. Her heart and lungs sounded good. Her belly was soft as it should be. Her temp was normal. Her teeth looked good but then proceeded to tell me worst cast scenario. That they'd start her on antibiotic & pain meds for two weeks then to bring her back in for an X-ray to see if the abscess was gone. If it's not than it could be related to her tooth root? & that she might need it surgically removed. Or worse case scenarie.. euthanasia.. which i don't even want to think about. Which the closest vet that specialized in guinea pigs and surgery to me is either 2+ hrs in Baton Rouge or 3+hrs in New Orleans. They gave me Meloxicam and TMP. I asked if i need to clean it daily & they told me no. She has a scab where the incision was. I've seen online that it should stay open & to drain it and flush it. So what should i do. The vet literally told me to do absolutely nothing. I've been hearing conflicting stories on what to do. So i need advice. Please someone help me. I don't want to lose my girl.

[bpatters]

You really need an exotic vet. I know it's a bummer to have to drive that far, but I'm not at all sure your current vet is treating this correctly. "Small animal" vet means dogs and cats, and they get little to no education/training in the care of pocket pets. Some are downright dangerous.

For one thing, if it's cervical lymphadenitis, it's incredibly contagious, and TMP is not the best choice for it. She needs Baytril, which has its own problems, but is more effective against CL.

If it's an abscess with a sac, the sac has to be removed to keep it from recurring. It's not a horrible surgery as such things go with guinea pig, because there's no abdominal incision, so the recovery is pretty easy.

But it does need to be flushed daily with sterile saline, even better, twice a day. Guinea pig pus is extremely thick and cheesy, and there's no way to squeeze it all out.

If you can get adequate treatment for her quickly, there's no need to even think about euthanasia.

See http://www.guinealynx.info/lumps.html and read about abscesses and CL. Also see this thread: http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=136 There's a picture of the kind of syringe you need to flush the hole.

Good luck to you, and let us know how you get along.

[momoftwopiggies]

You really need an exotic vet. I know it's a bummer to have to drive that far, but I'm not at all sure your current vet is treating this correctly. "Small animal" vet means dogs and cats, and they get little to no education/training in the care of pocket pets. Some are downright dangerous.

For one thing, if it's cervical lymphadenitis, it's incredibly contagious, and TMP is not the best choice for it. She needs Baytril, which has its own problems, but is more effective against CL.

If it's an abscess with a sac, the sac has to be removed to keep it from recurring. It's not a horrible surgery as such things go with guinea pig, because there's no abdominal incision, so the recovery is pretty easy.

But it does need to be flushed daily with sterile saline, even better, twice a day. Guinea pig pus is extremely thick and cheesy, and there's no way to squeeze it all out.

If you can get adequate treatment for her quickly, there's no need to even think about euthanasia.

See http://www.guinealynx.info/lumps.html and read about abscesses and CL. Also see this thread: http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=136 There's a picture of the kind of syringe you need to flush the hole.

Good luck to you, and let us know how you get along.

that's what i'm concerned about. But money is another issue.. I only get paid once a month. She was pretty lethargic before i brought her to the vet & after they drained it she perked up. & she's back to herself right now. I've had people tell me to pick the scab off & try to drain it and then clean it was saline water.

[bpatters]

I'd soak the scab first to make it easier to remove. Do flush it twice a day, and put a bit of neosporin on it after you've flushed it.

But start saving now, because if it comes back, it will eventually require surgery to remove the sac.