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Emergency possibly! Stitches looking infected!

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AnonymousPigParent

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Hello, I have been checking my guinea pigs stitches (Post lump removal) and she has chewed them some how. The area looks awful but is completely dry, what should I do should I try to clean it or leave it be as cleaning it could make her chew it more? Please reply as soon as possible, our vet is two hours away and I can't get to one. She is eating enough, drinking, and pooping.
 

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Oh boy, hopefully you can get them on the phone this weekend? What were the post op instructions, any cleaning recommended? Dry is better than oozing. Saline is good for cleaning wounds but I'm no expert. Hopefully one of the more experienced members will have some advice. Hang in there! Eating and pooping is great!
 
I’d call your vets for their advice. Good luck.
 
Hi, I'm not an expert but we are just coming online here in the UK. If the vet was closer I'd want them to check it but for that distance I'd try calling like the above poster suggested to ask for advice. They might even be happy to check pics e-mailed in. Dry is better than seeping. It could just be that she's nibbling the area because it's healing and irritating her but you don't want the wound to open up again. Warm salt-water is good to rinse over the area but I wouldn't dab at it too much as it risks disturbing the clot which is nature's way of protecting the wound... however I only say this because the dentist told me that when I had a tooth out!. Did they give you painkiller? (meloxicam in some form?)
 
Also in the UK. Our local vets will only put to sleep small animals or give them the spot on dose pipetts you can buy in P@h so we can't go to them. It's gotten worse, and I'm going to call our exotics vet and message photos which should tell us something, I'll ask about more painkillers and start using saline on the area to soothe it. Thank you for your help, I do appreciate it a lot
 
AnonymousPigParent said:
Also in the UK. Our local vets will only put to sleep small animals or give them the spot on dose pipetts you can buy in P@h so we can't go to them. It's gotten worse, and I'm going to call our exotics vet and message photos which should tell us something, I'll ask about more painkillers and start using saline on the area to soothe it. Thank you for your help, I do appreciate it a lot
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Hi

Please contact the treating vets as soon as possible by phone and if needed, send a across a picture of the wound for their advice.
I am very sorry. Gnawing open wounds is fairly rare but is always connected with pain of some sort or with a failed healing process (necrotic tissue). This requires professional advice and treatment, which we cannot give you.

All the best!
 
Just checking in on piggy. Any further news? We've got everything crossed x

It took me a while to find a local vet that I was happy with. They are a general vet practice but some of the vets have kept pigs themselves. Previous practices were nice but not quite as pig-interested as I would have hoped and there were one or two issues like vets being rotated around a few premises in the chain which meant that it was pot-luck as to who you got on the day your piggy was ill. This is improving as more people realise that pigs deserve good treatment just as much as cats or dogs. Still many vets don't get the training or experience with small furries to be able to treat effectively but with the sort of policy you are describing there, they never will!
 
Free Ranger said:
Just checking in on piggy. Any further news? We've got everything crossed x

It took me a while to find a local vet that I was happy with. They are a general vet practice but some of the vets have kept pigs themselves. Previous practices were nice but not quite as pig-interested as I would have hoped and there were one or two issues like vets being rotated around a few premises in the chain which meant that it was pot-luck as to who you got on the day your piggy was ill. This is improving as more people realise that pigs deserve good treatment just as much as cats or dogs. Still many vets don't get the training or experience with small furries to be able to treat effectively but with the sort of policy you are describing there, they never will!
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Went to the vet same day as I posted this. Yellow gunk is totally gone, thankfully, and the wound is looking better. We were given a gel to apply which encourages health cell regrowth, it's working wonders. Bathing regularly with saline, but the external scab is very loose so was advised to have bleed stopping powder to hand at all times, piggy is eating on her own and on painkillers twice a day for other issues. So she's doing quite well all things considered. Still worried of course at the new lump development, but our exotic vet insists her full recovery from this before even looking at the other lump, and our regular vet things it's just hard cells underneath the stitches. We're doing all we can to have her on the mend. Sorry for the late reply, have been up most nights worried and keeping her company, didn't get the reply notifications. Thank you all so much for your help
 
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