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Jaw abscess has returned

We think he might have pus in his mouth, as Kim mentioned she saw it by his tooth when trimming and now he’s really making it difficult for us to syringe feed. Wrestling like his life depends on it!

So hard to tell if he’s in pain or just being awkward, as he will happily eat treats and dried forage (leaves/flowers) on his own but no hay / grass / nuggets. His weight is staying at around 1150g but his patience is growing shorter with each feed. He seems to have the most in the morning, but every feed after that he’ll take less and less.

We want to keep going obviously but mentally finding it impossible to stay positive. Just constantly feels like we’re fighting a losing battle with no real improvement, it’s like we’re back at the beginning again 5 months ago when he first had the surgery.

Decided we will book in to see Simon one last time for a second opinion, and if he says there’s no more options then we’ll have to accept we need to call it a day.
 
Aw, so sorry for you. You really have been great with all the syringe feeding and care. I know abcesses can be quite stubborn but he is holding his own and eating and has spirit so hang in if you can x
 
Advice at all? @furryfriends (TEAS)

This is the white sticky stuff I’m talking about. We’re blasting it twice a day with saline flush, we even got some super diluted hibiscrub in there… but it won’t budge? It looks like pus to me :/

Wound isn’t making new pus when we remove the scab, which I guess is a good thing. Just not sure what to do with this, don’t really want to be poking around in there..
 

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Ever feel like something is just not destined to happen? 😢

After our last post, we decided to keep going with the treatment and he had been feeling a lot better. Eating, playing, begging for treats. Almost like our little guy was back.

Last Wednesday we went for a checkup with Simon to show his progress, and he was happy with him. His weight is good at 1200g, no sign of any pus lumps, teeth were ok just needed a little file and we were sent on our way.

First few days back he was alright, just grumpy about having been messed with. But on Sunday it all changed again. Not sure what has happened but it’s not good.

He can’t eat solid food without choking so he’s completely reliant on us again. He wants to eat but just can’t. Luckily he’s still taking syringe food well, and weve been giving him puréed veg baby food in place of his daily treats so he doesn’t feel left out from his brother. His chewing pattern is a bit strange though, the lower jaw is pushing over to the right and he’s clenching his molars on the left.

What makes this whole situation even worse is that Simon / Kim are both on holiday until next week, and our next closest dental savvy vet is also away for a week. Not sure going to a local vets would be that useful really, except to have a look in his mouth.

Feeling very depressed at the moment and completely helpless, he was doing so so well and we almost thought he would recover from this. Just hoping we can keep him going until next week without him completely losing interest in life, or whatever is going on in there getting worse.

Fingers crossed it’s just a sharp tooth that needs sorting or a mouth ulcer and not anything more severe. Wish I could have a look myself 😢
 
I am so sorry this horrible abscess has sprung up again, sending big hugs you’ve done so well x
Hang in there and see if you can get an emergency appt as soon as Simon is back, such a shame I feel for you 😕
 
Hi @piggydobz - thinking of you and your poor piggy and sorry to hear it keeps returning. My girl Macchiato recently had an abcess removed from her jaw, struggled to gain weight whilst on antibiotics and now a new 2nd one has appeared near the surgical wound. It's a tough battle to remain positive but hang in there and hope you're doing okay
 
We’ve made the tough decision to let him go tomorrow.

The abscess has ballooned up again, and he can’t eat even syringe food now without flinching his tooth root must be so painful. Even dosed up on tramadol, it’s so uncomfortable for him. We don’t want to put him through any more long drives or surgery or pain.

After 7 long months trying so desperately hard, our last ditch attempt hasn’t worked… and we have accepted that it will never get any better.

I don’t know how we’re going to do it, we are truly heartbroken, but it needs to be done. We’re having the vet come to our house so he can be with us somewhere comfortable.

Just wanted to say thankyou to you all for your support and advice over the last few months. We really have appreciated it x
 
I’m so sorry you have had to make this really hard decision. You really have tried all you can. Sometimes no matter what some things just can’t be resolved. Take care ❤️
 
Although we lost our beautiful boy in the end, we want to share our experience and all that we learnt along the way. Just incase it can help anyone else save their pig. I know how much this forum helped us in our journey with Oscar.

Our biggest regret is that we didn’t catch it soon enough. He loved to chew apple sticks, and one day we found one with blood on it. We didn’t think anything of it. A couple of months passed, he began to eat slower and would get food stuck in his mouth. So as soon as you notice something like that, please get them to the vets for a dental checkup even if you think you’re being overdramatic.

The Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton gave us so much extra time with our boy. It was worth the long drives every couple of weeks. If you’re able to, get an appointment with Simon. He was so gentle and polite to Oscar, and he did a wonderful job treating him. He really is the best in the business. And Oscar didn’t mind seeing Uncle Simon, he knew he would help him feel a little better.

After the marsupilisation of his abscess, we started on Zithromax antibiotics for about a month, but it didn’t have any effect on the pus. So if you don’t notice any changes, go back to your vet as soon as you can. We then moved to Marbocyl and Metronidazole, and this eventually got the pus under control.

We flushed Oscars wound twice daily with saline solution and kept it open as long as possible. Sometimes we used a very diluted Hibiscrub when we couldn’t get all the pus out, but not too often as it would make it sore.

As for feeding, we syringe fed Oscar regularly throughout the day. We went through a lot of different brands, but he’s favourite was Emeraid Herbivore Sustain. He loved the flavour! He would also have probiotic Biolapis diluted with water that we would syringe him throughout the day as a drink. That stuff smells so good, he loved it too.

Rough schedule started at 6.30am, 9.30am, 12pm, 5pm, 8.30pm, 11.00pm. Each time he had roughly 20-30ml of food. He also had fresh veggies sliced into thin pieces (like coleslaw) twice daily, when he was able to.

Oscar also unfortunately suffered with bumblefoot for a short time, as he wasn’t moving around so much after his surgery. But we got that under control and eventually fully healed by washing his feet daily in diluted Hibiscrub. We also used the Gorgeous Guineas Perfect Paws ointment so that his feet wouldn’t get too dry. We started off wrapping his feet in vet wrap, however it was a faff and wasn’t that effective. Instead we bought a large roll of Vetbed cut into small squares for him to sit on, and swap it out twice daily so that it never got too soggy or dirty.

He was such a good boy and although this life sounds miserable, he was still a happy boy. He would popcorn and play, and beg for treats. He would even eat hay sometimes when his teeth were ok, and he went absolute mad for forage like marigolds, mint and rose petals! We fought a long hard battle to keep it at bay, and we were successful for a time. But it was just too strong and eventually we accepted it wasn’t going to get better. We kept him comfortable and happy for as long as we could.

Thanks to everyone on the forum, and especially @furryfriends (TEAS) for your advice and support. I hope this never happens to another pig again, but if it does, just know that there is a way to help.

We love you angel boy ❤️
 
Sending big hugs, your care for Oscar was exemplary. You took all the advice given on board and I’m really sorry you didn’t get a better outcome. Having struggled with a dental piggie (two actually) I know just how emotionally and physically hard it is. I hope other people who have dental/abscess piggies read your post above and get tips from your experiences.
My Ted suffered from a molar spur but Simon managed to give him another 2.5 years plus of a happy and healthy life. People often think of these poor piggies “what a sad life” but from my experience that couldn’t be more wrong, They are so keen and determined to live life to the full despite their problems. You really did everything you could have done for Osca and he’ll have known just how much you cared and loved him, I’m just so sorry you lost him in the end x
 
Thanks to your amazing care and Simon's brilliant skill, you bought your boy a lot more time. Animals live for the moment and it sounds like he was enjoying life, despite his issues and when it was no longer good, you did right by him and helped him over the rainbow bridge. Looking after a pet, with complex needs, strengthens the bond between you and although it can make it even harder to say goodbye, it also significantly enhances the time you spend together. I've always said, they are all special, but some are that little bit 'extra special'. Oscar was definitely one of the 'extra special' ones x
 
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