Ongoing Wound Care for Throat Abscess

reenact12321

Post   » Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:47 am


Okay. I've stuck to the flushing. We're going on day 2 without any pus from the wound, just a little plasma, but gentle palpation does seem to indicate a pistachio or smaller lump persists.

I'm getting the other 2 pigs in today to get them started on antibiotics. Without a culture to go on, baytril will likely be the course. I'm not sure another culture from one of hte guinea pigs with an enclosed abscess would be helpful or not. If not, that's another $200 on an empty gesture.

The university of Wisconsin in Madison is about an hour and 1/2 west of me. It might be time to move up to a more institutional resource. It wasn't very reassuring to have to convince my vet that CL exists and him reading the same article I am.

I've redoubled my cleaning efforts, and once this last batch of timothy hay is gone, I'll never feed the stuff again, The pokes in the mouth have been the cause of amazing problems for me and my pigs. Orchard Grass forever I guess. Now if I can actually find a brand of waterbottle that doesn't leak, it will be a very tidy piggy cage (in this case cages) indeed.

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:39 am


U. of Wisconsin seems like a good choice it you can make the trip. It's possible they could give you referrals for good exotic vets closer to home. They are few and far between.

We have vet recommendations on GL & here is the link for WI:

https://www.guinealynx.info/records/view ... f=83&t=288

I don't know if either of these is closer. We had one pig with CL. We found our very cavy-savvy vet hospital from a GL recommendation. They removed the lump with lining and then found one on the other side & removed it too. The prognosis was uncertain, but the combination of a good vet, a tough pig, and some luck brought her through.

Good luck.

reenact12321

Post   » Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:30 pm


Thanks for the recommendation, Bookfan. One of those is only 20 minutes away! May very well be worth it.

Crazy4me

Post   » Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:59 pm


UW Madison might be a little pricey; I had called for an abdominal ultrasound and they quoted me $800. My pig had an ovarian cyst and surgery at UW would have been at least $700 with an additional charge for post-op medication and visit. I called Brook-Falls and Dr. Follet only charged me $200 for the ultrasound and exam. Surgery was $400 with post-op medication and any visits related to the surgery (no charge).

I loved Dr. Follet and her practice! In fact the lady I take care of takes her cat to Dr.Follet!

reenact12321

Post   » Mon Jan 14, 2019 1:32 pm


crazy4me! This suggestion keeps coming up. I've got my mom taking them to Brook falls tomorrow (I can only miss so much work so I'm having her go with notes from me and records from my vet already sent). It was either that or specialists (UW, or down in Skokie). While BrookFalls are not specialists in the official sense, they seem to be A+ operation from everything I've heard. I'm hoping a visit tomorrow will get us setup for a sanely priced surgery schedule for them. I'm not afraid to spend the money on my piggos, but silly to throw it away and be trapsing across a state when there's competent and properly facilitated people this close.

Crazy4me

Post   » Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:29 pm


Reenact, I can assure you your pig is in very good, compassionate, and competent hands! BrookFalls is the only exotic practice in the area that I have found. Plus they work with the local humane societies, and wildlife in need center. I really can't say anything bad about this practice!

reenact12321

Post   » Tue Jan 15, 2019 2:41 pm


My piggos just got done seeing Dr. Schimek(my mom took them and I called in from work for a consult). Since Eleanor has been on meds, and I've been flushing the wound (I stopped Saturday waiting for further consult) the doctor would like to stay the course for her, possibly adjusting antibiotic when a culture comes back from the other two. Ideally another week of flushing and cleaning with a medicated solution along with antibiotic will get her out of the woods. If it doesn't, we can wait for some healing and reattempt surgery, but since the abscess has remained so small, and their health generally good, she doesn't want to rush into more cutting.

Meanwhile, the other two pigs are definitely surgical candidates and will be going in Next Friday.

I guess I need to buy like... 2 more midwest cages... oh boy. Maybe I can subdivide my big cage for at least one split.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 15, 2019 7:19 pm


Yes, try subdividing a really big cage. If they don't pick on each other, maybe a couple or all can coexist?

reenact12321

Post   » Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:06 am


Lynx, I ended up sub dividing the big cage and put the healthy baby in one section and the two yet to be treated in the other. Fresh and clean water and food sources for each, minor exposure to surfaces they had used but I did clean. (I also figure at this point, they were together for god knows how long with it and didn't catch so a little proximity is probably better than what we had before. )

Eleanor gets her own cage as we're continuing to open the wound and she's undergoing a second round of antibiotic, I want her situation as quiet as possible.

I'm having trouble getting the wound to open up since the vet removed the last suture yesterday and the area is closing more smoothly.

I know in general you're not supposed to lay guinea pigs on their backs, but is it harmful to do for a moment or two while trying to get at this wound? She makes it rather difficult.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:27 am


As long as you can do it for her comfortably, I think it is okay. The biggest danger IMO to being on the back is when you are hand feeding.

reenact12321

Post   » Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:16 am


I'll try putting her on her side more. Also going to wet compress for a bit before to see if that softens the scabbing. I'm just trying not to stress her out too much but she fights the syringe like the devil.

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