Al´s bite wound abcessed--long post.

User avatar
Jill

Post   » Mon Apr 08, 2002 6:15 pm


Ciaytee, that is how my vet treated two of Piggie´s abscesses. They had scabbed over for whatever reason (I´m guessing they were scabs from bites) so he removed the scab and flushed the abscess. Pus did come out of the wounds. Sent me home with Nolvasan to flush at home. Imanut4u suggested just picking off the scab dry rather than soaking it off. The dry method seemed to work better.

My vet must have cleaned them out well, because whenever I squeezed the wound while flushing, no pus came out.

The funny thing is, the vet said she put up more of a fuss when they shaved the areas than when they flushed the wounds.

User avatar
Ciaytee
Almost Inbred

Post   » Mon Apr 08, 2002 8:26 pm


Well, that makes me feel better. I´ve been worried about him all day.

Got in touch with the vet, and he told me that the med contains 200mg of SMZ & 40mg of TMP per 5ml. Al is 2 lbs 4 oz, so should I be giving him the full 3cc´s the vet prescribed, or go with a lesser amount? I read on Squeak´s page that the dosage should be 30ml/kg, but I´m mathmatically challenged and I don´t know if what he gave me is the normal ratio of meds to base.

Nuts, I wasn´t in the room when he drained it. I didn´t know I had the option of being present during something like that. There is still a lump both underneath and on the top side of the hole, but the vet said that it was because the muscle had hardened around the abscess and that it would soften up and go down. His skin does feel a little looser around the lump, but there´s still a definite lump there. Should it still be there 2 days after the abscess was removed?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Apr 08, 2002 9:50 pm


Your vet is wrong about the dose.

The method of figuring out how many mg in a med with two components are in a ml (I learned from people more knowledgeable than I) is to add the two mgs together. There are 240mg/5ml. That means 48mg/ml (48mg/cc -- 1cc=1ml). So your vet is prescribing a 144mg dose for your pig. If the dose should be 30mg/kg and your pig is slightly over one kg (2lbs 4 oz = 1.02kg) your pig should be getting about 30mg, your pig would get about 0.62cc of the suspension.

I have no idea how he came up with such a high dose. You might also call and ask what the dose he is using in mg/kg so you can compare it to Squeek´s 30mg/kg (make sure he tells you mg/kg and not cc´s. You want to be able to figure out if his math is correct or if he´s using some wildly different dose rate).

User avatar
Ciaytee
Almost Inbred

Post   » Mon Apr 08, 2002 10:43 pm


Thanks, Lynx. I´m so glad that Al hasn´t had any problems since the vet gave him a full 3cc´s right after he drained the abscess.

Oh, and he´s not my vet. I haven´t found a vet in Houston yet. This guy was just the emergency vet at the clinic my vet in New Orleans recommended. I won´t be going back to him.

User avatar
Ciaytee
Almost Inbred

Post   » Thu Apr 11, 2002 11:41 pm


One last question. For now. Maybe.

Al´s progress is steady, but slow. His incision is still open, but smaller. And he still has the lump underneat the incision, but it´s about 2/3 the size it was right after he had the abscess removed.

I´ve been giving him 0.6cc of the Bactrim 2x a day. The vet said to give it to him for 5 days, but we already know that the vet really doesn´t know about meds and pigs. Today is the 5th full he´s gotten it. How long do I need to dose him? Until the incision is completely healed, or is there a time-limit? He´s tolerating the meds really well. He´s not had any decrease in his appetite and he´s still pooping up a storm.

pinta

Post   » Thu Apr 11, 2002 11:44 pm


I´d dose him for at least 10 days - preferably until the incision is healed. Any wound that is open runs a risk of contamination.

Antibiotic courses can run for as along as a month. 3 weeks isn´t unusual.

User avatar
Ciaytee
Almost Inbred

Post   » Thu Apr 11, 2002 11:52 pm


Thanks. But Al won´t like it, so I don´t think he´ll be thanking you.

It´s weird, though. I think we´re experiencing that bonding thing some of y´all talk about when you have sick pigs. He struggles when I dose him, and he hates having the wound flushed, but he´s started to actually snuggle on me. He´s also started doing this odd stare thing. He´ll stand with his back legs on my lap and his front paws on my stomach, and he´ll just watch me while I stroke up between his nose and eyes. Very atypical behavior for Al.

kleenmama
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Sat Apr 13, 2002 11:21 am


Glad to hear he is on the mend. I had never read that regarding peroxide, that is very good to know!
Also glad to hear you double-checked that dosage. 3cc just sounded way to high. Ollie is a four pounder and he was getting .6 twice a day.
Keep us posted.

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