Abscess Elliott - Abscess?

[melynda]

Hi guys,

Since the boys have been together, I have been inspecting them daily for cuts, scrapes, and bites. Tonight while holding Elliott I felt a hard lump on his side near his back leg. Checked closer and there is a scab there I hadn't found before. I squeezed a bit and foul-smelling puss came out.
I massaged the area and more puss came out, and a small bit of blood. I then got a syringe (unfortunately I don't have one of the thin curved ones) and tried to flush the wound with warm water as best I could.
There is a distinctive hole in the scab. Well, at the top of it. You can see into the wound.
He has been eating and drinking normally, poo'ing, running around and popcorning. Isn't acting like he's in pain, except when I was touching the lump, he obviously didn't care for that. He's currently snuggled in his sack with me on my bed. Needless to say I'm freaking out.

I'll be calling the vet first thing in the morning. Anything else I should do in the meantime? Other than not sleep and feel like a horrible piggie mom that is.

 

[kirt15]

You are definitely not a bad piggie mum at all. Unfortunately these things happen. He definitely needs to see a vet but you are doing the right stuff already. My boy currently has an abscess and what I have to do is flush it out twice a day and make sure the scab doesn't close over it, keep the area clean and then I have to give him some medicine. If you have any chlorhexidine (10% solution) to flush it out with would be good and clean the area around it as well. Otherwise good luck and I hope he gets better soon.

 

[Rywen]

Don't freak out, and you're not a bad piggie mom. It's unlikely to get worse overnight and you've done what you can at home to make him more comfortable.

 

[bpatters]

He'll need antibiotics, and you should ask the vet for one of the curved syringes. You're going in the right direction -- keeping it flushed out is the right thing to do. Abscesses have to heal from the inside out. If the top heals before the infection is all gone, they'll just come back.

I'd use sterile saline (available at any pharmacy) rather than just plain water.

 

[melynda]

Thanks everyone. He's got an appointment with the vet for 2 today.
Of course my standard go-to vet hospital's exotics guy is only in Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays but they recommended me another vet...who isn't in on Mondays...who sent me to another vet who had openings today.
I'll definitely pick up the saline today. Used water last night because it was all i had at 1:30 in the morning.
I appreciate all of the help.

 

[melynda]

Alright so the vet has put him on both topical and oral antibiotics. He actually said *not* to flush daily because the puss has already come out and it's scabbed over. Not sure how I feel about that and I did question/push him on it. He is an exotic vet who sees lots of piggies.
I will follow his advice for now but keep a very close eye on it and my regular vet will be in Wednesday if I see no improvement.

 

[Rywen]

Thanks for the update, I hope his recovery goes smoothly!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

In my experience, unless it's being flushed out, it will just fill up with infection again. Occasionally if it's not a very large hole it might heal with oral antibiotics only.

Not sure what the topical antibiotic can do, since it's scabbed over.

I would gently remove the scab each day (you can use a warm wet cloth) to check to make sure no more pus is forming.

 

[melynda]

The scab opened back up yesterday, on its own or from him messing with it I'm not sure. So I flushed it and put the topical on. I didn't see any puss so I'm taking that to be a good sign. Today there was no swelling.
I'm keeping a very close eye on him. His weight has dropped from last week, but maybe that's from being stressed over the introductions? There was another slight drop Tuesday (about 10 grams) from Monday but today he was a few grams more than yesterday. I'll be weighing him daily for the time being.

Poor guy, he does not like me messing with the wound. But he's taking his antibiotics okay, and he gets to come snuggle with me on my bed and have a treat after which he seems to like just fine.

 

[Rywen]

When I had to check Ferb's lump I gave him lettuce and he ignored everything I was doing while he was eating lettuce. Maybe that will work with Elliott? He's very cute!

 

[melynda]

Yeah I had some lettuce tonight. Second i touched the fur back there he went squirming away.

 

[melynda]

Ok, I'm looking for suggestions on getting him to take his probiotics.
He looks to be healing well, but has been on the antibiotics since Wednesday so predictably his poos are getting funky. Not too bad. I have some powdered Benebac. Yesterday about two hours after his am Baytril I wetted some lettuce, sprinkled the powder on top and rolled them up; he ate them well enough. Last night I tried mixing the powder with some pumpkin purée. Nope. Tried sprinkling it on a slice of apple. Nope. Wet baby carrot. Nope. This morning I went back to the lettuce rolls. Nope. Wouldn't touch them.
Argh. Any ideas?

 

[bpatters]

Is there something he is currently eating? Can you sprinkle it on that?

Most pigs like dill really well. Maybe you could roll the dill up in the lettuce with the Bene-Bac and he'll take it that way.

You may just wind up syringing it to him.

 

[melynda]

Yeah he's eating his salads just fine. I have been giving him those right before I give him the Baytril; vet said to administer it with food. Maybe tonight I'll give him the Baytril with a small snack, and then do the Bene-Bac with his pm salad.

I grow my own dill every year in my herb garden. Haven't planted any yet this season because it was still snowing just last weekend. Maybe I'll pick some up from the store tonight and try that.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Rywen]

Ferb likes the taste of the gel benebac, not sure if they would taste differently. He would lick it off a piece of green pepper. How is the abscess?

 

[melynda]

I got some of the gel today to try. Perhaps I'll have better luck with that.
He's doing well. His injuries look much, much better. His weight has gone back up a bit and has been steady. He's eating and moving around perfectly fine and he and Poe are (mostly) getting along well.
He's definitely getting a bath in the near future though. Some of the fur around his abscess got pus on it and it stinks! I've wiped him down with a washcloth a few times but I don't wanna mess with the area too much until it has healed. Once he's a bit more healed up, bath time for the stinky stinker. Which he is going to LoVE.

Lol

 

[PiggieWigglies]

I have never experienced guinea pig puss or anything like that but Im scared for the day that I might come across it. Glad Elliott is much better!! Keep us posted.

 

[Rywen]

I hope the gel works! And I'm really glad he's healing up well! Good luck with the bath.

 

[melynda]

I have never experienced guinea pig puss or anything like that but Im scared for the day that I might come across it. Glad Elliott is much better!! Keep us posted.

I certainly hope you never do. Between scent marking, anal sac cleaning, and pus flushing...man, they sure do generate a lot of stink for such little things!
I'll take a stinky, healthy pig any day though.