Infection ?Hole? on guinea pig face

[Agrimony]

Hi all, it?s been a long time since I?ve posted but need some advice. Tonight I noticed this circular hole on my guinea pig Pickle?s face. No idea what it is or cane from. He is a 5 years old, lives alone, and is missing this eye which has recurring infections. He has surgery close to this site in September to have a cancerous tumor on his salivary gland and the gland removed. No sign of this yesterday. Any ideas what it could be? I will be trying to get in touch with his vet tomorrow.

 

[bpatters]

If you push on it gently, does stuff come out of it? Does it seem painful at all? Is that a scab on it, or something wet?

 

[Agrimony]

Only blood coming out right now, comes out easily when pressure is applied. Does not seem painful to him except when touching it. I used a warm salt water compress so it is wet, no scab. Seems to be a small bump directly below it

 

[bpatters]

I really have no idea what it is. A sebaceous cyst would have cyst gunk coming out of it, although it might be mixed with blood. A lump and pain could indicate an abscess of some sort, but since he doesn't live with another pig, I'm not sure how he could have gotten that.

Good luck with finding a vet tomorrow. And let us know what you find out.

 

[Agrimony]

Thank you. I’m perfectly stumped as well. I hesitate to blame a hay poke as his bluegrass hay is exceptionally soft and I don’t think hitting a water bottle could cause an injury like that. He is in a split cage but I see no way possible the other guinea pig on the other side could get to him like that. It doesn’t look like any kind of bug bite I’ve ever encountered and they are strictly indoor pets.

 

[Agrimony]

One last picture for tonight, it’s a bit swollen but still no pus. No discernible odor either, though the eye is infected and does have some odor so it’s tough to tell. I gave some metacam to help with swelling and any pain and put some topical ointment on it to help stave off infection ( it’s an antibacterial ophthalmologic ointment used on the eye) By touching it at all it freely bleeds and has no sign of scabbing

 

[Agrimony]

Just posting an update, Pickle saw the vet a few days ago where this was determined to be a burst abscess. It was cleaned and I?m keepibg an eye on it. The bump underneath it seems to be unrelated, and most likely another tumor. That is being monitored for size and an x Ray was done to see if there were any other trouble spots. No surgical intervention at this point as his weight is too low- he hasn?t fully bounced back from the last surgery. No antibiotics given as he cannot take doxy and no longer responds to baytril or TMS (I believe it is called) so I have a topical ointment and am monitoring for further infection