Abscess Alternatives to surgery?

[Liliane]

Hi guys,

A bit of background: I have 3 guinea pigs. I am a "new" owner. I got Simone and Frida a month ago from a shelter, and I got Xena from my friend. Xena was mine about 4 years ago. I was a happy guinea pig owner, until I moved and asked my friend, who also had a guinea pig, to keep her while I was getting my things together. When I wanted to get her back, my friend told me that she was not okay with it, because her piggy and Xena had bonded. It broke my heart, but I thought it was better for Xena to be with her friend so I left her. I would take care of them during holidays or whenever my friend needed. A month ago, my friend's piggy died and so she called me and told me I had to take back Xena. I wasn't prepared but I said yes of course. I feel responsible for my little Xena's life as I am the one who adopted her in the first place.
When I got her back, Xena was completely depressed. I read about guinea pig depression after the death of their companion and lots of people advised to get new friends for a mourning piggy. So here came Frida and Simone. I found Simone on an online posting from a shelter. She was advertised as a senior guinea pig. So I thought I'll get her. When I arrived to the shelter, Simone and Frida were in a tiny cage, with no Hay and some weird pellets + grains. Simone was only 2 yo, and Frida 1 1/2. I couldn't bring myself to leave them there, so I adopted both. Simone is VERY dominant, but eventually they all got along. I got them a 2 1/2 by 6 feet long C&C cage. Learned how to sew so that I can make fleece lining, forest and beds. So they are pretty cosy by now.

Here comes the abscess story. With the adoption of Simone and Frida, I got a free visit to the vet for them. Since I had noticed a lump on Xena's neck but wasn't sure about it, I thought I'll bring her along to make sure she was okay. Well, Frida and Simone are doing great but the lump on Xena's neck is a big bad abscess. The vet said the inside is as thick as vaseline. She got her a 3 week antibiotic treatment (Trimeth/Sulfa suspension) to take orally, and if the abscess doesn't shrink down, the vet advised surgery.
I am dead scared of surgery. I mean, Xena is between 4 and 5 years old. She's a pretty small piggy. I am not sure she'll make it. I want her to make it. So my question is, do you have any experience with abscesses and if yes, is there any other alternatives to surgery? Something less scary/less invasive/with more chance of survival?
Please, let me know. I would really appreciate your take on that.

 

[bpatters]

Relax. Abscesses do generally require surgery when antibiotics don't work, and they usually don't. And the surgery is very minor compared to, say, abdominal surgery. The vet will slit the skin open, clean out the abscess and any attached sac it may have, and usually leave it open for you to flush daily. You want the abscess to heal from the inside out, or else any residual infection will just get trapped under the skin and form another abscess.

General health is a much better indication of how well a pig will come through surgery than age, but I wouldn't hesitate to let a 4-5 year-old pig have surgery for an abscess. That is, if the vet is a good exotic vet and has a lot of experience with guinea pig surgery. Dog and cat vets do NOT have the education, training, or expertise to care for guinea pigs, much less operate on them.

So if you've got a good vet, trust him or her and try not to worry. If you don't, find one now so that if you need one at the end of the antibiotic treatment, you'll have one lined up.

 

[Liliane]

Hi Bpatters,

Thank you so much for your message, it makes me feel better. I read so many horrible stories online that I got all freaked out, so again, thanks.
I am not sure how experienced my vet is with guinea pig surgery, but I know she has the training/education as I asked for a guinea pig vet when I took my appointment. She ended up being the same vet that saw my cat once, so I know her a bit. She is amazing with animals and she really cares. So I do trust her with Xena. I have the next appointment in 3 weeks to see if anything changed and decide on surgery.
Also, I forgot to mention that Xena has also a small abscess (or at least the vet think it is probably another one) next to her bladder. I am not sure if that will be taken care of at the same time, or just left alone since it is pretty small for now.

A thousand thank yous for your answer Bpatters!