Young Female Guinea pig with abscess! I need help!

[Henry and Cel]

I have two beautiful guinea pigs named Henry and Celestine (both female). Celestine, the younger female piggy, has had struggles with abscesses. She first had an abscess that was lanced and drained and healed but a new one has grown back. The abscess is on her chin/neck area and is quite large. I have no exotic vet close to me so I have been going to my local vet who said they would take her in. They told me she would need surgery because it has a hard capsule that when lanced and drained will continue to fill up over and over. The vet told me that it is a dangerous area to perform surgery. They also said it was quite large and I am currently giving her baytril to try and reduce the size before surgery. I know there are many risks for surgery and anesthesia for guinea pigs and I am very nervous about it. I have never experienced something like this and I am a teenager who is not in control of all the decisions. There is an exotic vet an hour away from me that seems to have experience with guinea pigs but my parents want to use the local vet. What should I do about this situation? Should I go through with the surgery with a vet who doesn't have much experience and hope for the best? Is surgery the best option? I am really lost here and do not want to lose my baby. The vet is acting like they can do it and there is already a date set near the end of july. Although the vet is acting confident in a way I feel they really haven't seen guinea pigs much if at all for this kind of thing.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Unfortunately your hands are tied if you are not in the position to make a decision. Abscesses are every dangerous and can't be left so it needs operating on one way or another. My Donald was booked in with my local vet for a similar operation last November but they phoned me to ask permission to refer to a specialist because it was between two major blood vessels and they weren't confident they would do a good enough job to prevent it coming back. All you can do is hope that your vet is also the type who would refer on if they felt their skills and knowledge weren't up to it.

 

[Henry and Cel]

Unfortunately your hands are tied if you are not in the position to make a decision. Abscesses are every dangerous and can't be left so it needs operating on one way or another. My Donald was booked in with my local vet for a similar operation last November but they phoned me to ask permission to refer to a specialist because it was between two major blood vessels and they weren't confident they would do a good enough job to prevent it coming back. All you can do is hope that your vet is also the type who would refer on if they felt their skills and knowledge weren't up to it.

Thank you for the advice. I am going to call my vet and ask some questions and check if they are confident they can do the surgery.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Thank you for the advice. I am going to call my vet and ask some questions and check if they are confident they can do the surgery.

Have they done any x-rays as well? Sometimes abscesses can be caused by elongated tooth roots pushing into the jaw. I know Donald had x-rays at the same time as surgery to check whether this would be an issue going forward.

It's never easy opting for surgery as we have to predict the future and the outcome. If something happens then we feel immensely guilty. However if you are keeping your piggies best interests at heart and making a decision based on their quality of life then you can't go far wrong. I always think the sooner the decision is made the better as well. Choosing an operation before a piggy becomes too frail can give them the best chance of survival

 

[Henry and Cel]

Have they done any x-rays as well? Sometimes abscesses can be caused by elongated tooth roots pushing into the jaw. I know Donald had x-rays at the same time as surgery to check whether this would be an issue going forward.

It's never easy opting for surgery as we have to predict the future and the outcome. If something happens then we feel immensely guilty. However if you are keeping your piggies best interests at heart and making a decision based on their quality of life then you can't go far wrong. I always think the sooner the decision is made the better as well. Choosing an operation before a piggy becomes too frail can give them the best chance of survival

They haven't done any x-rays. We just had the previous experience with them lancing and draining her first abscess. I will be sure to ask as many important questions so I can to be ready for any circumstance. She is currently healthy and well. The abscess so far doesn't seem to cause any severe issues like lack of eating but it's just very large.