Need a guinea pig expert~ICKY~PICTURES~cyst? abcese?

[rancher hicks]

Hi there sorry to hear about this pet. As for the comment on not being able to care about her pet? I have just started w/ chickens and I have received alot of help on this site. Taking care of the general needs is one thing taking care of a sick animal is another.
I once had and showed guinea pigs so I know a thing or two. The first being vets know little if anything because as the Cornell book on guinea pigs noted they are so easy to replace very little studies have been done regarding illnesses.
As for this pig. Keep the wound clean. I would put it on news papers, seperated from others. maybe even papertowels so you can keep an eye on drainage. A warm pack every hour for a few minutes would help. Always wash your hands or wear gloves just like a doctor would do. You might want to trim the hair around the wound, not shave it just keep it as short as possible. Redness means infection as does if it feels hot.
Ask yourself this if you had a boil what would you do? What do you think the doctor would tell you? Remember keep it clean.
Your a good friend and I'm sure there are many on this site.
Rancher Hicks

 

[CountryMom]

You are getting some great advice here about the little guy. I would say either abscess or some reaction to something as well. Pigs love to chew on things and sometimes they get a hold of a toy and get it stuck up in their mouths. Or any smaller object they can chew on. Even if the owner isn't aware of such incident it could be a cause for an abscess. And you also need to consider teeth issues. Depending on where your neighbor purchased this piggie could mean if it came from decent stock verses pet stock. Most breeders work very hard to breed out teeth problems in their herd. I know I have personally. Abscesses don't always come from a cagemate bite. I currently have a Mama sow battling a mastitis abscess. If your neighbor's was in a better place other than it's face I would suggest soaking in epsons salt bath.

I would continue to rinse it and please don't use any type of peroxide on it or bactine. You can put neosporin on it in between times you rinse. Keep the cage clean clean during this. Remove any problem items like you described. And as said wash those hands!

And I have yet to find evidence that any of my herd of pigs has ever had issues with pine shavings and pine pellet bedding. I always recommend them. I also use a sulfa type antibiotic called Sulfatrim (found in the feed store) that is also used commonly for chickens. More than likely a few days of antibiotics and just plain old time for healing will see great results. Honestly if that is what it looks like now then it is already in that healing process.

Keep up the great work neighbor!

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

I also use kiln dried pine bedding as aspen is outrageously priced and my cage is huge! Do you know the appropriate dosage of the Sulfatrim...I might have to write that one down...I just picked up another rescue pig today! They are very fun...I really hope your neighbor's little guy heals up. Send our condolences about grandpa...my grandma is on her way out and I'm really getting down about it.

 

[dsc6]

I'm a people nurse and I recommend warm compresses as often during the day as possible.

 

[Chickaadee]

How is the little piggy doing? I hope she took her off cedar. fingers crossed that her abcese is better.
Mary

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

here is kind of an update.....
I have went down and cleaned the wound daily for her. But it looks like the piggy has bumble foot on both front paws. Any ideas for this?? I know how to treat it in a chicken, but sont think I could do it to a piggy. What about warm soaks of the feet in epsom salts?

Her husband was whispering to me the other night to "put it down". That is up to her, not me.
The wound looks a little better, no puss, and no redness.

She has the pig just on towels, so no shavings will get into the wound on the face, each time I go down to clean the wound I am cleaning food out of it. I really dont know if he will make it, I dont know how much he is eating since I dont think anyone pays to much attention at the amount of food he is eating.


Thanks
~Tiff~

 

[kelseygirl707]

Are it's upper teeth really long, I know if they are not getting wood, or something hard to chew on, they will not be able to grind their teeth down, and this can result in the teeth pushing through the lower jaw. even if they have not pushed through, it may be enough to have caused some damage that has gotten infected.

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

Quote:
I checked his teeth (had no idea what I was looking for) but his top teeth are short, and his bottom teeth are very long, 2x's longer then the top (is that normal)

 

[kelseygirl707]

It's been a while since I had mine, but as far as I can remember the lower teeth were longer than the top, just make sure he/she has some sort of chewie to keep those teeth down. I know mine would chew on the door to his igloo house to grind his down.

 

[cutiepieacres]

Quote:
You have done a lot for this little guy, if you feel you have reached the end of what you can do to help and he is still not much better you can let her know that and that she can think about taking him to a vet to see if they have an idea what to do or to have him put to sleep if that is what she feels should be done. Its is awesome that he has had someone to come over and pamper him and make things more comfy for him, unfortunately at some point there may be a limit to what we can do and either an expert needs to be called in or as your husband suggested maybe its even beyond that point.....But since its not your pig and you have been more than nice to help them out just let them know and they can make the call for their pet. There are plenty of great guinea pig vets if you look around sometimes ill call in an ask what they know about guinea pigs, kind of a quiz to see if I feel comfortable enough with them to bring my pig in, the big one is if they would give a guinea pig penicillin if they say yes avoid at all costs.