Violet's medical thread
- GrannyJu1
- Supporter in '21
When I introduced a new pig to my established couple, I built a 2x5 grid cage in my bathroom, lined it with clean fleece over felt, put 3 huge piles of hay down the center and scattered a LOT of leaf lettuce pieces up & down & all around the cage, THEN turned them loose. There was a lot of rear-sniffing between Peek & VeBee. When VeBee (new) got any where near Fuzz (old), Fuzz shrieked & tried to bury herself under hay, or head first in a corner. I sat and watched them for a couple of hours (almost falling out of the chair when dozing off), then moved them into the cleaned permanent cage. I tried to watch (or at least listen closely) for most of the night. All was well, but it took Fuzz days to stop screaming when VeBee got within 10 inches of her. That first night, they may have been too stuffed to really fight. Haha!
This was my 2nd introduction; the first was not good. I re-learned to read and RE-read hints, tips & suggestions on GL and associated links. :o}
This was my 2nd introduction; the first was not good. I re-learned to read and RE-read hints, tips & suggestions on GL and associated links. :o}
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- You can quote me
Ditto.
Actually, it's extremely common for an infection to form under a scab. Guinea pigs in the wild are prey animals. Their skin scabs over very, very quickly -- more so than predators' skin -- to enable them to get away from a close encounter with a predator and not bleed very much.
If I were you I'd take her to your regular vet and have her looked over, just from an abundance of caution. Doing that and having her be fine is vastly easier (and cheaper) than having to deal with an abscess once formed.
Actually, it's extremely common for an infection to form under a scab. Guinea pigs in the wild are prey animals. Their skin scabs over very, very quickly -- more so than predators' skin -- to enable them to get away from a close encounter with a predator and not bleed very much.
If I were you I'd take her to your regular vet and have her looked over, just from an abundance of caution. Doing that and having her be fine is vastly easier (and cheaper) than having to deal with an abscess once formed.
Here's the site of the wound this morning, so just about a week old. Apologies for the blurry photos... pigs are squirmy. You can kinda see where the fur is still ruffled around the top cut, but it has been getting less ruffled bit by bit. She is still eating and drinking fine, poops are normal, and her weight's remained pretty steady around 830g.
No odor, no (visible) discharge thus far. I may still take her to the vet just to be sure though, I just looked up photos of abscesses. They scare me.
No odor, no (visible) discharge thus far. I may still take her to the vet just to be sure though, I just looked up photos of abscesses. They scare me.
Update: I did not end up taking her to the vet, I decided to wait and see if it got any worse, and it's looking pretty darn good so far still! No swelling, the fur's no longer ruffled, she's just got a little scar on the bottom portion. I am still checking it every day and will continue to do so for a while just in case anything's festering and just taking its time, but she's doing very well!
- Delaine
- Supporter in '14
A similar thing happened to my sow Zoe. My friend was going to look after my girls for three weeks while I was away at my daughter's wedding.
She has two sows and so do I and she was hoping they would be able to have floor time together. We tried to introduce them and my girls got so upset Abbey bit Zoe in the face. I was only 5 minutes from our vet and took her in. I didn't see our usual vet but the one I saw was not at all concerned and rinsed the wound with water. He said if it happens again to rinse it well with water and keep an eye on it. Zoe's would healed quickly with no complications. I was very surprised he didn't suggest some sort of soap or cleanser.
She has two sows and so do I and she was hoping they would be able to have floor time together. We tried to introduce them and my girls got so upset Abbey bit Zoe in the face. I was only 5 minutes from our vet and took her in. I didn't see our usual vet but the one I saw was not at all concerned and rinsed the wound with water. He said if it happens again to rinse it well with water and keep an eye on it. Zoe's would healed quickly with no complications. I was very surprised he didn't suggest some sort of soap or cleanser.
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- You can quote me
Actually, about the only things you can use that are safe for guinea pigs are diluted chlorhexidine (Nolvassan or Hibiclens) and diluted Betadine (povidone iodine).
Chlorhex is very drying. The best thing to do for stuff like this, from what my vets and the pros here have told me, is to thoroughly irrigate the area with sterile saline (cheap solution for old-fashioned contact lenses is the easiest way to buy it). Sterile saline has a mild antimicrobial effect. You can also make a very dilute saline solution yourself using warm water and salt, but I've always been scared to try that.
Plain old garden-variety clean water is not a bad suggestion by any means, especially if it's on a fairly "open" area, like the nose or mouth. Irrigating the area thoroughly (use tons of water) is one of the best things you can do.
Chlorhex is very drying. The best thing to do for stuff like this, from what my vets and the pros here have told me, is to thoroughly irrigate the area with sterile saline (cheap solution for old-fashioned contact lenses is the easiest way to buy it). Sterile saline has a mild antimicrobial effect. You can also make a very dilute saline solution yourself using warm water and salt, but I've always been scared to try that.
Plain old garden-variety clean water is not a bad suggestion by any means, especially if it's on a fairly "open" area, like the nose or mouth. Irrigating the area thoroughly (use tons of water) is one of the best things you can do.
This morning I was cuddling with Violet and noticed a hard lump on her throat, pretty much right in the middle of it just under the chin bone. It's probably about 1cm in diameter, pretty smooth and regularly shaped. It moves if you nudge it. I don't see any scar or wound on top of the area, not that it would be easy to with all the fur and it being on the bottom side of her chin and all, so maybe it's just something I can't see. She hasn't lost any weight and has still been acting normally- eating, drinking, pooping, chasing her cagemate around, begging for treats, etc.
Anyway, I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow morning to get it checked out and I admit I'm having some anxiety about it. What might I expect the vet to do during examination? If they think it's a cyst do they lance it right there or do you usually have to make a followup appointment? Is there anything specific I should ask about? I'm guessing that the most likely thing it could be is a cyst/abscess given how round it is (I remember reading that tumors tend to be irregularly shaped), and also given that it seems pretty well detached from any tissue/bone down by the structure of the neck/throat area- it's more just kinda hanging out in her little dewlap. I am worried about it being a tumor though =n=;;
Edit: I've also been reading a lot about there being thyroid tumors in piggies. Is the pig thyroid located pretty much the same relative to the chin/pig clavicle as it is in humans, like way down closer to the chest/body than it is to the point of the chin? And those who've had pigs with thyroid tumors (I realize this is entirely anecdotal but whatever) was it down by the muscles as opposed to kind of floating on top?
Anyway, I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow morning to get it checked out and I admit I'm having some anxiety about it. What might I expect the vet to do during examination? If they think it's a cyst do they lance it right there or do you usually have to make a followup appointment? Is there anything specific I should ask about? I'm guessing that the most likely thing it could be is a cyst/abscess given how round it is (I remember reading that tumors tend to be irregularly shaped), and also given that it seems pretty well detached from any tissue/bone down by the structure of the neck/throat area- it's more just kinda hanging out in her little dewlap. I am worried about it being a tumor though =n=;;
Edit: I've also been reading a lot about there being thyroid tumors in piggies. Is the pig thyroid located pretty much the same relative to the chin/pig clavicle as it is in humans, like way down closer to the chest/body than it is to the point of the chin? And those who've had pigs with thyroid tumors (I realize this is entirely anecdotal but whatever) was it down by the muscles as opposed to kind of floating on top?