Abbey's Medical Thread

Delaine · Post » Tue Jun 10, 2014 11:05 pm

Thanks Lynx. Please add the picture permanently. I will post a picture of the incision once Abbey is more mobile.

Now I have been through this I wish I had done the surgery sooner when the cyst was small.

Delaine · Post » Wed Jun 11, 2014 2:57 pm

At this time Abbey isn't willing to use the back leg where the cyst was removed. She will hop a short distance but really doesn't want to move.

I have decided to keep her in the recovery cage for now so she has access to everything she needs without moving too much.

Also Zoe is very curious and wants to sniff her and Abbey cries when she comes near and tries to shuffle away. For Abbey's sake and mine I am going to keep them separate. I finally got to eat something but that is about all.

I am quite exhausted. Lack of sleep and food and an excess of worry has worn me down.

She gets a dose of Metacam in an hour so hopefully that will help with the pain.

She is eating but hasn't had much to drink so I have been making mini bowls out small pieces of lettuce and filling them with water. It seems to help because I am seeing pee. I have seen some poop but last night they were really weird. She was passing stool that looked like long thin worms so I gave her some probiotic. They are better today but I will be happy when I see more.

Delaine · Post » Wed Jun 11, 2014 4:37 pm

Here is the "after" picture.

Post » Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:31 pm

Looks pretty good! (I added your pic). Is she walking any better?

Delaine · Post » Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:11 am

Thanks Lynx. I don't know what I would do without this sight and all the information available. The post op information was most helpful.

She slept most of the day. I had to wake her up in order to get her to eat. She would drag herself around a bit and lay to eat but mostly I used the cuddle cup as an elevator to place her near the hay, water and pellets. At 6:00pm she woke up and started actually walking and even washed her face.

I called the vet office today to see if I should be encouraging her to move more and they felt it was the injections of Torbugesic that were making her sleepy. She had an injection before and after surgery. She had metacam at 1:00 pm.

Now she is awake I have noticed her chewing at the stitches! If she keeps that up she will be having a lot of lap and chesterfield time with me. I think it will be another sleepless night.

C Cole-Chakotay · Post » Thu Jun 12, 2014 1:46 am

The incision looks nice. I hope she doesn't chew it and you can get some rest.

Post » Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:18 am

Chewing at stitches can be a problem. There is a product called Chew Guard that is like a pepper spray to stop them (not sure how well it works - I got some but?). Also you can use an e-collar or a body bandage. Watch closely and call your vet if you see problems. Some pigs pull out all the stitches :-(
(I think they are itchy)

Delaine · Post » Thu Jun 12, 2014 11:03 am

Thanks C. Cole-Chakotay and Lynx. I appreciate your support. I need some right about now.

Abbey looks so much better this morning. She is out eating and drinking on her own. I gave her some probiotic last night and this morning her stools look quite normal.

The stitches are still there. I was sure I was going to see an open wound this morning. I checked on her about 4:00 am and changed her bedding. I finally fell back to sleep and was awakened by the phone at 7:15.

She watched TV with me until 10:30pm last night. I was afraid to put her back in her cage. I had visions of sleeping with her all night.

I think you are right Lynx. She is itchy and so gives a quick chew. If she keeps at the stitches I will see if the vet has something to put on them.

I was so hoping her vet was going to do the hidden stitches like we had talked about.

Post » Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:41 pm

You might want to look this over:

gl/bandaging.html

Hope it's just a quick scratch and no pulling out stitches!

Delaine · Post » Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:30 pm

Thanks for the link. So far today Abbey has left her stitches alone, at least when I was watching but I am doing a stitch check at least every hour.

I put the girls together in a smaller floor time area this morning and Abbey did very well standing up to her sister. There was a little nose butting and when Zoe tried to sniff Abbey's incision she raised up and threatened to spray her so Zoe backed off very quickly.

Abbey is back in their cage and things have gone very well with only a few shrieks from Abbey. Zoe was bugging her when she was trying to sleep. I redirected Zoe and threatened to put her in the floor time area if she didn't leave her sister alone. She gave me the "Who me?" look and went off to munch hay.

I weighed Abbey today and she has only lost 1/2 ounce since the surgery. I was pleased considering the cyst probably weighed close to that.

GPIG · Post » Thu Jun 12, 2014 11:09 pm

Can you try a pet cone? I think if she had the surgery on Tuesday they will begin to get much more itchy, soon. They do look nice and clean, neat and tight.

Talishan · Post » Fri Jun 13, 2014 11:16 am

Standard cones drive pigs nuts. They can't get their cecotropes and it gives them trouble with water bottles, etc.

You can make a soft cone from interfacing material from a fabric shop. It's soft enough to bend, light enough to not drive them (quite as) nuts, and still keep them from chewing on stitches.

http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1983673#1983673

Delaine · Post » Fri Jun 13, 2014 12:01 pm

Thanks for the link Talishan. I would have never thought of interfacing fabric and I have sewn for many years. What a good idea.

I was lying in bed last night wide awake for most of it thinking of different ways to protect the stitches in case I woke up to an open wound. The wound looks very good this morning and seems to be healing nicely so I don't have to start sewing yet.

She was reaching up on the grids this morning looking for her breakfast which was a welcome sight.

GPIG I have been also thinking they might get itchy once they start healing. The vet said the skin is quite thick in that area. That is the reason for that type of stitch. I am hoping it is thick enough to endure a little tugging. Only time will tell. I have to go back to work on Monday which is a bit of a worry.

Talishan · Post » Fri Jun 13, 2014 2:28 pm

Honestly I don't think I've ever seen a photo of a suture in that area that was hidden. All the photos I can recall having been posted on this site, taken in that area, have been much like yours.

Truthfully, in all likelihood if she doesn't mess with them tonight, tomorrow or Sunday you should be okay on Monday. That's not a guarantee, but I'd think it likely.

Delaine · Post » Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:10 pm

Thanks for the positive thoughts Talishan. I am going to focus on that. I keep telling myself to try and be in the moment and not worry about what MAY happen but it is not always easy to do. Right now at this moment Abbey is doing great. She had her last dose of metacam.

I am only going on the experience my friend had with her guinea pig's surgeries. One of her sows was spayed due to ovarian cysts and the same sow had a fatty tumor removed near her breast. At first they thought it was a mammary tumor until they got the biopsy back. She has the same vet as Abbey and both of those incisions were sewn with hidden stitches that were left to dissolve.

I think you are right about the area the surgery is located. The surgeries on my friend's sow were in the tummy area. I never really thought about that until you mentioned it.

Delaine · Post » Fri Jun 20, 2014 11:58 pm

It has been 10 days since Abbey's surgery. I took her in to have her stitches removed and they are not healed enough. Her vet started to remove them and realized there is still a small area that could come apart. She said Abbey's skin was really tough and hard to stitch. We have to go back next Thursday June 26th so hopefully they can come out then.

I talked to her about the opiate pain killer and that it took Abbey 30 hours after her surgery before she could walk and get around on her own. She made a note of it and if Abbey ever has to have another surgery she will have to come up with a different dose or another drug.

Post » Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:42 am

Not able to comment on if they should have healed (enough time) but slightly concerned that the small area could have infection behind. Is there any swelling, tenderness or sign of infection?

Delaine · Post » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:35 pm

Her vet said the incision looked good with no sign of infection. There is no redness, swelling or tenderness. She said it was a difficult incision to close and it has some puckers. In that particular area the incision didn't have any excess skin so there is a bit of tension which could pull the incision apart if not completely healed.

Talishan · Post » Sat Jun 21, 2014 10:30 pm

That makes sense. I want to say that's come up on here before. It sounds like the vet knows what they're doing.

Delaine · Post » Sun Jun 22, 2014 8:26 pm

Abbey's vet only does exotics, birds, rabbits, lizards, guinea pigs, etc. I went to her in 1990 with my wild starling. With her help he lived 11 years. She has been looking after these little critters for many years.