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Open wound on our adult guinea

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Stoney70

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Hi all,
I need some advice please , although i think i know the answer. Feb this year our Jerry had an abscess so the vet syringed it & put him in antibiotics for a week & we cleaned it daily.
All was fine for a few weeks but then a small open wound appeared where the needle went in. I bought Aniwell Active manuka honey cream as advised, it appeared to do the trick and it started to dry up. Today, the new scab has obviously irritated Jerry & he has itched it taking the scab completely off. Now we have an open wound again.
What can i do to prevent it happening again or should i take him to the vet & get it stitched?
Please help x
 
Hi, if the vet just emptied the abscess with a syringe and didnt open it up surgically and leave it fully open to be flushed out until the infection cleared, it has probably come back. I will tag in @furryfriends (TEAS) as she has most abscess experience but it sounds like the vet may have tried a quick fix just draining the abscess temporarily... which in the case of an abscess isnt really a fix at all, and can actually cause the infection to spread further, and the skin to heal over leaving the infection inside.
I think this definitely needs prompt vet treatment, to stop it getting worse- and if the abscess hasnt been completely removed intact by surgery, the abscess wound should be left open and discouraged from healing shut while it gets flushed out daily, until all traces of infection are gone!
 
Oh lordy! Thank you.
I could feel the lunp before & Jerry was very sensitive in that area but i cant feel anything since the vets & he wasn't sensitive until he just scratched the scab off.
 
I would definitely advise contacting a good exotics veterinarian asap if there is one in your area - exotic vets tend to have more knowledge on guinea pigs than a standard vet, who is more accustomed to cats and dogs. Our first vet missed health issues in one of my piggies that our (now) exotics vet spotted straight away, so I would always go with an exotics vet when it comes to guinea pigs!
 
Dont worry too much about the open wound aspect, there is probably infection in there needing to get out- you can keep it clean at home with sterile saline until you see the vet- dont be in too much of a hurry to get the vet to close up an abscess wound, often they are deliberately stitched open and flushed out daily or twice a day, but piggy needs some strong antibiotics prescribing as well and a competent vet needs to show you how to flush the abscess out at home, so please do rush to the vet but dont rush to see this stitched up and healed- that may take a couple of weeks!
 
Laaaauren said:
I would definitely advise contacting a good exotics veterinarian asap if there is one in your area - exotic vets tend to have more knowledge on guinea pigs than a standard vet, who is more accustomed to cats and dogs. Our first vet missed health issues in one of my piggies that our (now) exotics vet spotted straight away, so I would always go with an exotics vet when it comes to guinea pigs!
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Ok, good advice thank you
 
PigglePuggle said:
Dont worry too much about the open wound aspect, there is probably infection in there needing to get out- you can keep it clean at home with sterile saline until you see the vet- dont be in too much of a hurry to get the vet to close up an abscess wound, often they are deliberately stitched open and flushed out daily or twice a day, but piggy needs some strong antibiotics prescribing as well and a competent vet needs to show you how to flush the abscess out at home, so please do rush to the vet but dont rush to see this stitched up and healed- that may take a couple of weeks!
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Ok thank you, I'm hoping they will see him in this current climate.
 
You really need to get your guinea pig seen by a guinea pig savvy vet. An abscess should be regarded as an emergency situation, which means a vet should be able to see him, despite the current situation. Is there pus inside the wound?
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
You really need to get your guinea pig seen by a guinea pig savvy vet. An abscess should be regarded as an emergency situation, which means a vet should be able to see him, despite the current situation. Is there pus inside the wound?
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No pus & it doesn't smell, its just an open wound.
 
My dog broke open her sebaceous cyst last week, I phoned the vets & I took photos to send in, the vet triaged her over the phone turned out it was infected :(

If it's an open abscess site, this should help the infection drain out.
My old girl grace had one on her cheek, the vet gave her Zithromax (suitably strong antibiotics) for a week, then operated to removed a lot of pus & marsupialised it(stitched it open) he couldn't remove the whole capsule as it had grown round nerves & veins.

I had to soften & pick off the scab 2x daily & flush it with regular Baytril. Grace was on the Zithromax for 3-4wks altogether. But it healed & she never had a problem afterwards.

Abscesses heal from the inside out, so any infection that's scabbed over will just break open again at a later date :(

Ask your vet for advice & see if you can send in photos for telephone traiging today.

Fingers crossed & speedy recovery xx
 
GPTV said:
My dog broke open her sebaceous cyst last week, I phoned the vets & I took photos to send in, the vet triaged her over the phone turned out it was infected :(

If it's an open abscess site, this should help the infection drain out.
My old girl grace had one on her cheek, the vet gave her Zithromax (suitably strong antibiotics) for a week, then operated to removed a lot of pus & marsupialised it(stitched it open) he couldn't remove the whole capsule as it had grown round nerves & veins.

I had to soften & pick off the scab 2x daily & flush it with regular Baytril. Grace was on the Zithromax for 3-4wks altogether. But it healed & she never had a problem afterwards.

Abscesses heal from the inside out, so any infection that's scabbed over will just break open again at a later date :(

Ask your vet for advice & see if you can send in photos for telephone traiging today.

Fingers crossed & speedy recovery xx
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Ok thank you. I will give them a call.
 
Ive tried ringing but no reply so ive emailed them. I will separate him from his friend & clean it regularly i think. Thank you all so much. This forum is great!
 
Stoney70 said:
Ive tried ringing but no reply so ive emailed them. I will separate him from his friend & clean it regularly i think. Thank you all so much. This forum is great!
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If you do plan on separating Jerry (like putting him in a cage away from the others) be sure that he can still interact and see/smell your other piggies. I hope little Jerry feels better soon!
 
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