Burst Growth/Abscess in Ear

defairmans

Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:44 am


During veggies at bedtime last night, I noticed a large bloody patch underneath Winnie’s ear. It was absolutely horrific looking. She is white and her whole ear and about an inch of hair underneath was stained bright red. I tried to clean away some of the blood to see what was going on. A connecting part of her cartilage was completely detached from the earlobe and there was a chunky bloody mass. I cleaned as much as I could and we ran to the emergency vet. He gave it a good clean with antiseptic and washed with a needle syringe. He thinks it is a burst cyst or abscess as the chunky tissue in the middle of the ear had some white spots on it. He thinks the little piece of cartilage must have detached when it burst. He gave her a shot of Metacam and told us that it should stop bleeding but to keep an eye on it for infection and to take her to the regular vet after a few days to give it time to crust over.

She seems 98% herself last night and this morning but when I woke up this morning, it looks like there is some fresher red blood on her fur. I’m panicking because the vet said not to touch it too much so that it can heal and scab over, which I agree with but the sight of the blood is making me panic.

Winnie is about 5 yrs and I really don’t want to get overzealous and start performing surgeries and procedures on her, especially as she is eating, drinking and doesn’t seem bothered by it.

I’m worried about her losing blood and going into shock. All her vitals last night were fine. I want to at least give the fur a clean so I can measure the level of blood/seepage but I am wary about disturbing the area and opening up any healing scabs. It looks horribly stained but I am not sure if it is worse because of her white coat.

This is like some freaky stuff. I check them regularly but I have been caring for my sick dog for the last week so it has probably been a week or two since I looked in her ears. I think I agree with the vet but I am questioning what to do. Any advice is very welcome. Thank you.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:18 am


Generally, any wound on a guinea pig is kept open by flushing so it can heal from within. Otherwise, they tend to scab over, fill up with pus, and burst again.

Was this a vet experienced in treating guinea pigs? If not, I'd get her to a good exotic vet ASAP and let him evaluate the situation. One very common problem with guinea pigs is cervical lymphadenitis, which occurs in the lymph nodes in the neck and can cause rupture. But it needs treatment with an antibiotic.

Is there any chance that it's an injury rather than a burst cyst/abscess? Another pig in the cage? Any rough area in the cage where she could have torn it?

defairmans

Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:26 am


Hi bpatters,

Thanks for your reply. Our usual exotic vet was not available so we saw a regular vet. He seemed pretty thorough, though. I might call our exotic vet and see if she is available today. I think the intention to not sluice it was to help the bleeding stop. I don’t know. I’m terrified.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:46 am


I'd want an exotic vet to see her.

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Lynx
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Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:05 am


I am going to guess that guinea pigs have a pretty fair blood supply to the ears - you can see them get red when they are hot and/or trying to dissipate heat. So depending on what happened, excess bleeding (at least initially) might make sense.

I wonder also about an injury. Can you send a clear crisp photo of the ear and the location of the bleeding?
Image

defairmans

Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:26 pm


Hi,

We took her to our exotic vet today and she thinks it is a growth. We have booked Winnie in for an operation tomorrow at 10am. I can’t stop crying. I don’t know how I missed this. I check their ears all the time. It looks so much worse today. I took some photos and I will upload them but I’m ashamed. They look so bad, it looks like she has been neglected. I think the growth must have been connected inside, though, and somehow came loose when it started bleeding because the vet said the tissue at the bottom of it is thick and when they have been cleaning the ear out, they have been pulling this growth outwards to the point of it looking like a finger sticking out.

In 13 years of keeping guinea pigs, I have never seen anything like this. I’ve looked at the other ear threads in Guinea lynx but nothing looks like this. So, hopefully some good can come out of this once we find out what is going on, what exactly the growth is and I can upload the gruesome photos.
I don’t know if she will survive the surgery or the recovery tomorrow. I’m praying she will. She is acting totally normally and seems in good health otherwise. I don’t understand how something can come up out of nowhere like this and start haemorrhaging. If we don’t operate, the chances are she could bleed out at home, according to the vet.
Thank you so much for letting me post here and for replying. I don’t know how many times I have run to this forum for help but I am so grateful. xxxx
Last edited by defairmans on Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

defairmans

Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:31 pm


By the way, Lynx, you may know this, but, the vet said that pigs can lose a ml of blood per 100g. I can’t believe that. I thought it might be an injury at first. Maybe her boar partner, Dandy caught a sensitive part during grooming but, no, there is too much bloody tissue in there to be an injury. Even thought for a minute it might be a burst eardrum.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:42 pm


I'm wishing you and her the best of luck. Please keep us posted on how you both are doing.

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Lynx
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Post   » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:02 pm


We wish you the best of luck on the surgery tomorrow. I wonder if the vet will do an cauterization (I believe this would burn/seal a blood vessel to prevent bleeding).

I am sure your vet will do their utmost to care for your guinea pig.

Here is a link to some pics of polyps in the ear (sounds like this is not what you have but might be related):
https://www.guinealynx.info/records/view ... f=22&t=114

Pictures will be appreciated. It will help us understand what is going on. I would not criticize yourself for not catching it. Growths can grow quickly. We have all missed something.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:06 am


I'm sending as much good luck as I can. Please don't beat yourself up. Something like this can hide in ear wax very easily. Follow the post-op care link and she'll have a good, easy recovery. Do keep us updated.

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Lynx
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Post   » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:38 am



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Lynx
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Post   » Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:17 pm


Here are your photos. They are very crisp. I am thinking a polyp of some sort. What did your vet think, after removing it?









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