Urgent: Infection After A Sebaceous Cyst?

[LauraMaryEllen]

Hi, I adopted two long haired piggies last January and I love them dearly. We took them to the vets straight away to get checked over and sexed (two boys) and they were all fine. Then a few months ago we found a sebaceous cyst on one of them and followed a video online of how to drain it, all seemed fine but for a while we checked it everyday and gave it a little squeeze and pus still came out. There is no more puss in the wound now but it's slighty bloody and crusted over, is this good or bad? We keep treating it by washing it with boiled then cooled water and putting anti-septic and aloe vera on it but it doesn't seem to be healing! Help please, I'm only 18 and even though I've had plenty of pets before I've never had guinea pigs and I've grown so attached to them. Their two brothers and i love them like family and i desperatly don't want anything to happen to them especially since I've only had them for 17 months. I'm not too sure on their age but they have grown since we had them so they can't be more than 2 y/o. They also seem to be fine only bothers my piggie when i touch the wound. Help please...

 

[Freela]

Sebaceous cysts can become infected/abscessed at times. It's also possible that the cyst has simply ruptured and that what looks like pus is simply the cyst contents refilling. Does the wound smell infected? Cysts tend to smell pretty benign, an abscess of abscessed cyst will have a much more distinctive odor.

It's probably wise to get checked by a vet to get recommendations. Abscesses/cysts take a long time to heal from the inside out, and you may need to clean out/irrigate the wound with a syringe and some sterile saline or other cleansing solution to help it heal. Abscesses will also do better treated with oral antibiotics as well as daily cleaning. Depending on where the cyst is, it also might be possible to surgically remove it. One of my guinea pigs had a large cyst on her back which ruptured and failed to heal. It remained an open wound and the skin over the area began to die off, so we had the entire capsule of the cyst surgically removed. She made a full recovery and it never recurred. Other cysts cannot be surgically removed in full, depending on location, and then it's a matter of making sure you are keeping it clean, using proper antibiotics to prevent/clear up infection, and giving it the time to heal from the bottom up.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

Please see a vet because you will need an antibiotic in case of infection. It can be that the cysts keeps refilling, but that is for the vet to decide; if the second is the case, you may want to consider surgical removal. In any case, you need to keep the open wound disinfected, either with saline solution or hibiscrub.

Since we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added yur country, state or (for the UK) your county, so we can tailor any advice and recommendations to what is available or possible for you. Click on your username on the top bar, then got to personal details and scroll down to location.
We have got a piggy savvy UK vets locator on the top bar, but can provide a link for a list of recommended vets in other countries, if wished.

 

[Anya]

HI. My pigs have problems with cysts as well as this have tendency to fill again.
I think you should see vet who specialise in exotic pets. The cyst should be cleaned or if is not too big removed. You should never squeeze the cyst as they always will grow bigger.

 

[Elwickcavies]

I agree that this needs antibiotics to sort it out and a cavy savvy vet to get an accurate diagnosis. Are you sure it was a sebaceous cyst? From our experince, abscesses respond really well to an antibiotic called Zithromax so it would be worth mentioning this to the vet when you see them. Keep it as clean as you can in the meantime.