Absess on guinea pigs head

[Vix1]

Hi all, gertrude has not long recovered from an ear infection but then a large hard lump started growing on the top of her head next to her ear and it was not like any lump and of my pigs ever had, it felt like her skull was getting bigger, we feared with all the balance issues she had maybe she did have neurological issues after all, then one morning i found her covered in yellow pus. It was an absess. It drained all day and was pouring out for a good 24 hours, it got flushed 3 times a day everyday with saltwater and diluted hibiscrub. She has been on pain relief and has had co-trimoxazole antibiotics and baytril antibiotics. She is completely herself again and it does not seem to bother her but everytime we think its all cleared up and healed and she can come off pain relief it gets a tiny hole a seeps out pus again. This has been going on for weeks, yesterday it opened up a little bit yet again so we have an appointment with the vet again today. Can anyone advise the best antibiotic for an abscess? Or any other recommendations to try and fight it once and for all. I want to try everything i can before considering any surgery. She is kept immaculately and there are zero chances of flys or bugs getting near her, she is kept indoors with bug screens over doors and windows. Picture of her abscess hole two days after it stopped leaking pus. And also one a while after it was healing.

 

[VickiA]

Oh poor thing. I don’t know much about abscesses. @furryfriends (TEAS) is the Abscess Queen. However, I do know that even if it looks like it’s scabbing over, it needs the scab picking off and flushing out several times each day until it is fully healed from the inside. It sounds like it it isn’t fully healed each time when it closes over. I think they need antibiotics until it’s fully healed, but like I say, I’m not very experienced with abscesses. Good luck at the vets.

 

[weepweeps]

Poor Gertrude. I had a piggy with a tooth root abscess and it was huge. 4cm! He was on 6 weeks of Zithromax. I flushed it out three times a day, picked off any scabs that formed and also used a cotton bud with a clean cotton cloth over it to get right in the hole. He seemed to like it!

One word of warning the antibiotics really knocked his appetite so he was also being syringe fed for the six weeks too. Good luck.

 

[Vix1]

Hi been to vet, he thinks due to her getting a calcium build up in her urine each time she has been taking antibiotics its going to do more harm than good to try another type, he said even operating to remove the abscess sack is very risky and even if you did the likelihood that more will pop up is quite strong. He said that when it shows signs of being active with pus to continue with the cleaning but if its dry and not in a reactivate state then leave it alone, i also thought the scab should be removed so it can be flushed from inside out but he disagreed and said if the wound is closed to leave it alone because you never know when its healed and when its not so you could be doing more harm. She has quite the scab at the moment as her hair has grown back so its not pretty. She has been given another big bottle of pain relief so she has that each time its hurting her until it goes. Hopefully we succeed.

 

[weepweeps]

Hmmm. Isn’t it strange that different vets do things so differently. Good luck. I hope it clears up soon.