[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Scarecrow's abscess & other piggie lumps (long, again!)

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

Many thanks to all who posted advice regarding Scarecrow's abscess. I am  
very ashamed to dmit that, the day after Screcrow's lump was found, when my  
daughter clipped the rest of the piggies' claws, she found a lump under  
Cannelle's abdomen, between her back legs, and another on Muscade's side, around  her 
hip area.
 
I panicked and rang the nearest vet, thinking I had some kind of epidemic  on 
my hands.The first appointment she could give me was this morning. In the  
meantime, I removed each of the 3 affected piggies from the communal hutch and  
placed each in a separate cage. When our voluntary helper picked up Scarecrow, 
 she noticed she was damp around the neck/shoulder area and the swelling had  
reduced significantly - the abscess had burst. I flushed it as best I could 
with  the iodine wash the vet had given me previously, and squeezed some more, 
fairly  liquid and non-smelly, pus out of it, and repeated this the following 
two days.  I also trimmed the fur off the lumps on the other 2 and bathed them 
in warm  iodine solution, but could not bring myself to pierce the skin.
 
This was the vet I considered the least guinea pig savvy of the two I know,  
but she was 30 minutes closer in travelling time. I feel I have maybe maligned 
 her on here, or maybe, partly due to my frequent visits, she has been doing 
some  research herself. I took in my book with the paragraph on cervical  
lymphadenitis, and a CCT newsletter with a whole section on lumps and bumps, and  
she did read the bits I pointed out to her - her English is quite good. We  
started with Scarecrow, whom I held whilst she squeezed, and loads of pus  
squirted out - so much for my bathing and squeezing. She flushed it out using  
syringe after syrine of iodine solution, until only blood came out. I am to  
repeat this daily for 4 or 5 days, but to go back if it swells up again. I have  a 
syringe to squirt the iodine mix into the hole, plus a needle for it in case I 
 feel brave enough. Scarecrow coped remarkably well, and although she's one 
of  the few piggies I have who has been known to bite she didn't bite; she was  
eating her food by the time we left the surgery.
 
Cannelle's lump got an ultrasound scan. I had felt it wasn't the same as  the 
abscess. Turns out it is a hernia, probably caused by her difficult last  
pregnancy, which resulted in Cannelletto and Zebra, plus 2 stillbirths, one of  
which weighed over 100g and was delivered a day after the other three. As it is 
 not bothering her, it was decided to leave it as is. I'd be interested to 
hear  from others who have had piggies with hernias. I don't feel surgery would 
be an  option with so inexpereinced a vet.
 
Muscade had a needle inserted into her lump and a small amount of fluid  
withdrawn, which turned out to be just fat. So it was diagnosed as a lypoma, or  
fatty lump, and harmless to her. 
 
As I have been so publicly damning about the vets here so often on this  
digest, I do want to give credit where credit is due to my local vet. I was in  
the surgery an hour with the three piggies and she only charged me 40 euros. It  
also transpired, during conversation, that she had bought and sterilised two  
rabbits since I had last seen her, in order to learn how to do it. Both  
survived, although I was absolutely horrified to learn that she had eventually  
had to put both bunnies to sleep because she moved house and had no space for  
them. I scolded her severely and told her she should have known I would have  
taken them, although having reflected since, I can see she could never have 
rung  me out of the blue and asked me to take on 2 rabbits - she didn't know two 
of my  three rabbits had died, as I had not involved her in their illnesses 
because I  didn't trust her.
 
I'm going to keep Scarecrow separated, but keep Cannelle and Muscade in the  
cages next to her so she doesn't feel lonely - she has never been alone in her 
 life. Oh, and I cleaned out the hutch where she was when the abscess burst, 
to  reduce the risk of cross contamination. As I was here alone I did it 
myself, and  managed, albeit slowly. We have no voluntary help just now, so I have 
taken back  on the task of feeding them as well - I am back with my piggies at 
last.
 
I will keep you posted on all three "ladies". Thanks again for all the  
advice, and condolences, as always, to all slaves recently bereaved - my heart  
always goes out to you when I read your moving stories.
 
Debbie and her Dolly Mixtures
 
 
"The animal  shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete 
than ours they  move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the 
senses we have lost or  never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. 
They are not brethren,  they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught 
with ourselves in the  net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour 
and travail of the  earth". 

Henry Beston