Post-Op Care.. Tips please!

[CROBELO9]

We just got our girl Minni back from surgery, she had to have an abscess removed. I was just wondering what kind of post-op care should I give her? Before the surgery the vet had started her on some antibiotics but he didn't mention if we were to keep giving them to her. She has some stitches under her chin and I'm concerned she will be scratching them or something.

She does seem pretty fine otherwise. She is eating and drinking as normal and she has already wheeked and popcorn since she came back.

Anyway, thanks in advance!

 

[piggies1331]

My piggie just had an operation about a month ago or so.So far it sounds that your piggie is doing great if she is eating well and wheeked and popcorned. I was suggested to separate the piggie from the other ones.Make sure to check on her that she wouldn't pick at her stiches.And monitor her eating and drinking for awhile. For my piggie it took 2-3 days to eat and drink,to wheek at all.4-5 days to start moving around.So your piggie's healing has a good start

 

[CROBELO9]

I am really surprised at how well she is doing, its as if nothing happened at all! I will definitely keep monitoring her eating and drinking, but so far she is doing great.
I have one other piggie, and so far they seem to be doing ok, but if my other piggie starts to play with Minni's stitches then I guess I will have to separate them. I am still wondering on whether or not I should keep her with the antibiotics, because I'm afraid that the stitches will get infected or something..

 

[piggies1331]

My piggie was on the antibiotics for couple days.I would follow your vet's advice.Actually I forgot to mention to check making sure that there is urine and poops... your piggie is doing well,good for youAnd by the way,my piglet totally recovered and she is doing well.No more big tumor on her tummy.She is healthy as can be

 

[CROBELO9]

I haven't seen her poop yet, but I did notice her peeing as soon as I put her back in the cage haha. Thanks for the input! And I'm happy your piggie has recovered completely, and hopefully mine will have a quick recovery too! Thanks for the input!!

 

[bpatters]

Call the vet back and ask what kind of post-op care he wants her to be on -- you're paying him to do that.

I hope he gave you some pain medication -- it's not at all unusual for pigs to be perky when they first get home from surgery and then crash the next day because the pain meds have worn off.

Here's some information on what to expect: https://www.guinealynx.info/surgery.html

 

[CROBELO9]

I will call the vet tomorrow morning, he did not give me any pain meds but I will definitely ask for them. She has been pretty perky today, I'll be monitoring her tomorrow. Thanks for the link!

 

[4Marmalade]

One of our guys recently had a huge abscess removed from his side (we adopted him and found out a few days later once we got a good look at him - I can't believe the previous owner wasn't aware). Anyways, our vet told us to make sure eating (they did give us a powdered food that we could give via syringe but we didn't need to), drinking, pooping and peeing was all on track. We were given antibiotics for about 10 days (it was a really big abcess) and painkillers for 5 days. Our little guy recovered very well although still has one small spot that is slow to heal.

There were other things we needed to do because of the huge incision site and infection, like warm compresses and washing out any pus - blech, but your vet would probably have mentioned to you any further care to be done at home.

Our vet was very good about us bringing him in at no charge for quick follow up appointments to check on his incision. He did end up having a reaction to the stitches so they did charge us for the 30 minutes they spent cleaning up the wound again. We were also able to go over a few things via phone so that we could keep on track with his care.

 

[CROBELO9]

Thanks for all the replies! She seems to be doing really great! Eating, drinking, peeing and pooping like normal. The vet did not give us any painkillers, but we did continue with the antibiotics. I am still keeping a close eye on her and the wound (which is relatively small), but so far everything seems to be going good!

Anyway, thanks for all your help!!

 

[bpatters]

Good news! I'm glad she's doing so well.