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

[GopherBoyFarms]

First off, I know NOTHING about these animals, this isnt mine. It belongs to the neighbor.
Here is what I know, the area below the lip was swollen and crusty, she was giving it some type of oral antibiotic, and the crusted over area split open. She is very upset about this and doesnt know what to do, so I went and looked at the pig.....(why....just to be a good neighbor). To me it looks like a cyct that has split open and now there is a hard flap on it's face. The pig didnt seem to be in pain, and is eating. It's eyes look bright, but there is crust around its nose.
I tried to get a picture of it, does anyone have an idea?
I dont think she has the money to take it to a vet, and if so, I really dont know if we have a vet in the are that will see it.

~Tiff~

 

[abluechipstock]

maybe it's an abscess, clean it and squeeze gently to see if any pus comes out

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

I will go back over there with some saline to rinse it with, maybe some neosporin to put on it?? The flap hanging off seems to be hard and dried up.....I think that flap needs to be removed, and the wound stiched up......I sure cant do that, and the lady that has the pig cant even bring herself to rinse it out.
Anymore ideas???

 

[abluechipstock]

if it's an abscess they would not stitch it, see if you can peel the flap off with your finger nail, i know gross

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You are not a good neighbor. You are a fantastic neighbor!

I think it's probably an abscess, too. Guinea pigs do get them on their chins sometimes. If you catch it before it bursts, it can be lanced and cleaned out. Over the years, we've had a cat and a sheep with an abscess.

To be honest, I don't have very good vision and I'm having a little trouble telling exactly what I'm looking at in the picture, as far as the wound goes, so I'm not sure what to say about the flap of skin. It's always tough when you have do things without a vet as an option.

I think that under the circumstances, flushing the wound is a really great start. For an abscess, you want to keep the wound open and let it heal from the inside out. That's part of what the flushing accomplishes, especially if a drain wasn't installed to keep it open. So, not being able to stitch it up isn't necessarily a bad thing right now. You might have to just see how it looks in a couple of days. For the sheep, I think we were flushing it at least once a day, after the vet lanced it. The cat had a drain installed, after the vet cleaned it out.

Make sure you wash up really well after you work on the little guy. If you've got latex gloves, I'd wear them.

I Googled and Guinea Lynx came up with information. That's a good cavie site. I know you have to be careful with the antibiotics you choose for them. You might want to read through this thread there, to see what others have done. Good luck and thank you for helping this little animal.

http://www.guinealynx.info/lumps.html

http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=136

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

no it cant be peeled off.....it is about the size of a small marble.
I guess I will go back over there with some saline, neosporin, and some polidone iodine and first try holding a warm wet cloth on it, see if I can soften it up, then rinse it with the sline and iodine and pack it with neosporin.

Any other ideas??? Hopefully she will find a way to get it to a vet.


thanks

~Tiff~

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

WoodlandWoman , thanks for your reply........I needed to hear that, my DH just called and was like "why are you doing this, if she cant take care of her animals she souldnt have them" and on and on and on "we have our own pets that need to be taken care of, why are you doing this"?

I told him I felt sorry for her...she called and said no one would help her, not even her husband, and she knows I take really good care of our pets, and do anything and everything I can for them. And I felt for the little piggy....I have never held one till today, and he is sweet....he needs someone to do SOMETHING!

I had to put one of my chicks down the other night cuz it was suffering, thats just what HAD TO BE DONE.

So I am heading back over there, see if I can do something!

I understand how she feels, she loves this little piggy.....and she is so freaked out by his wound that she cant hardly look at it.

On a side note....her daughter and my son are best friends, her and I never have gotten along well (almost fisty cuffs once) but he are passed that and if someone really needs HELP they need help!

thanks for the website....I had already been there reading them!! Great info!!!!!!

keep the ideas coming I will check back when I get home.


~Tiff~

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I agree you are a sweetie for doing that!! Tell Gopherboy to grab a rocket to play with while you go over there to help her!! DD's had 2 guinea pigs but I've never had that happen to either one so I would be in the same boat wondering what to do, I'm glad you're helping her!

 

[ChooksChick]

You get big cheers over here for doing that for the little piggy. Mine have never had any problems like that, so I can't help really specifically, but if there's good blood flow to the flap and it heals open, the piggy may end up with a perma-flap. I think she's going to have to find someone with some surgical skill to help, in that case.

Thanks for being the caring person you are- it's crucial for more people to invest in others.

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

ok, well I went over and rinsed it out, used a Qtip and wiped out any "crud" and it looks bad, but kind of looks better. Looks like the flappy part might dry up and fall off. If not then it needs to be cut off I think. I will go over again tomorrow and rinse it out again. Here is a pic after I rinsed it out, and opened the flap a little, there doesnt seem to be any infection in it, it didnt stink and he seemed to like the cleaning process.