[Gpdd] (Care) Abscesses/ Incontinence

[Stacy Harvey]

Hi all! Sorry I have been away from the digest...finals were brutal this semester and I have been worn out! Now, however, I will probably flood you all with questions, since there is a lot going on!
   
  First off--I had to take Willie to the vet yesterday as he had a large, hard lump under his chin. The vet did a fine needle aspirate, took some blood, and removed as much of the pus from the abscess as possible (about 4 cc worth, and it's still fairly large). I feel like such a horrible piggy mom for not noticing sooner!
   
  Anyway, we looked at the pus under the microscope and there were lots of Gram + bacteria. She sent a slide off for culture and sensitivity testing and put him on Baytril in the meantime. Here's one of my questions--how do I make this stuff palatable enough for Willie to take it? We normally get it compounded and have a flavoring added, but, being the holidays and all, the coumpounding pharmacy wasn't open. I tried mixing it with some banana baby food, but it still tastes *horrible* (yeah--I'm one of those people that has to taste everything before the pigs get it!). It's the injectable kind, used orally for the piggers, and it has a very bitter taste and an "alcohol" smell to it. Willie hates taking medicine anyway, and this makes it worse. I thought about mixing it with Critical Care, but a) that's how I give him his probiotic, and b) I don't want to turn him against the Critical Care--as it is now, he thinks it is a "treat".
   
  Also, as far as abscesses go, has anyone taken the lance/flush approach as opposed to surgery? My vet is worried that it is in an area of his neck that has a lot of vital structures in it, and the nearest exotics vet to me is almost 2 hours away (and *very* expensive). I know these abscesses have a tendency to come back if they aren't excised, but I have also read that they don't necessarily come back if they are lanced and flushed properly (per Peter Gurney and a couple other references). I've experienced a lot of other health issues before, but never abscesses.
   
  My next topic is my old girl, Maxine. She has become incontinent in her old age (always has been slightly incontinent but it's gotten a little worse now that she's pushing 7) and is developing urine scald. (WHY do piggies lay in the wet spots??!) I try to spot clean the cage frequently, but with 3 females in a pen, this is an uphill battle. I've started cleaning her "area" daily with hypo-allergenic baby wipes and using a very small amount of A&D ointment--is this a good treatment? Should I do it more than once a day? I've also heard of some people using hemorrhoid cream; I've tried this and it seems to be painful for her. I've never had a sow live this long before (somehow I've always ended up with boars...) and this too is a new experience for me.
   
  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
  -Stacy and the Squee Squad, wishing everyone Happy Holidays and Peace in the New Year
   

       
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