mammary tumor removal and anesthesia on senior guinea pig

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Wed May 27, 2020 10:55 pm


When my pig reacted to Baytril, I ended up at a different clinic and they recommended Probios paste and I used that with a different antibiotic.

It looks so inflamed, I hope you start seeing improvement in a few days.

platypus

Post   » Sat Jun 06, 2020 7:58 pm


i don't know if you're still checking this thread.
dr nakamura is my go-to vet also, he's beyond amazing. he's seen many of my piggies, bunnies, my sister's rats, my pooch
he is currently helping me care for my piggy. it's a darn shame that he is only doing online exams but at least he's still there!
may i suggest that you consider a televisit with him, you can show him the incision site and he can give you guidance. technology is so advanced, he might even be able to see the wound more clearly than if he was in the room. that's how he helps me with my fur baby, he has me show him various body parts via the smartphone camera, tells me how to feel things so i can report back, stuff like that.
sending loving blessings to you & your boy, hope this reply finds him on the mend

Luna1

Post   » Tue Jun 09, 2020 1:49 pm


Thank you, yes I did have a video chat with him in the beginning, when I first found the tumor, but since he only does online visits from now on, I had to find another doctor that did the surgery, and cleaned his wound etc...I now take him to Dr. Hilary Stern in Santa Cruz (she was recommended by Dr. Nakamura). She is a bit far for us, but is also a very good doctor. His incision is almost healed, but there is some swelling happening, I hope it will go away soon. I just want him to get better as soon as possible...I am attaching a picture to show how it looked couple days ago vs. today.

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User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jun 09, 2020 8:48 pm


It does look much better. I don't know if the possible swelling is a problem or not but if there are no signs of infection (hot to touch), I am guessing not.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Wed Jun 10, 2020 1:31 am


That’s a huge difference from the previous posts. It has healed so much and the inflammation has gone as well.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Jun 10, 2020 11:41 am


Ditto. Looks a heck of a lot better. Still a little red with minor swelling. Are you sending that photo to your vet?

Luna1

Post   » Wed Jun 10, 2020 1:46 pm


I did send the pictures yesterday, waiting for a response from her...The lump doesn't feel hot to the touch, but feels a bit hard.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Jun 10, 2020 8:25 pm


I wonder if it could be a seroma. That sometimes happens at a surgical site; is a build-up of fluid.

Luna1

Post   » Sat Jun 27, 2020 7:33 pm


So I feel like we are back to square one with Gerbil's wound...I found a little scab couple days ago on the incision site, and when we cleaned it, a lot of white thick creamy stuff came out (like puss, but not smelly). I took him to the vet, and she opened and cleaned it, said it is under the skin going up for about 5mm, prescribed bactrim, and to flush with povidone iodine once a a day (with the curvy tip syringe). This was on thursday, today it is already looking like it's getting a bit infected again. She sent the pus for a culture to make sure we are using the right anitbiotic. I am so lost and don't know what I am doing wrong, or what I can do to make it heal...I was reading that you can also flush with sterile saline solution so I started doing that at nights on top of the povidone flush in the morning. It has been 5 weeks since surgery, and I don't know why it's not healed yet. Even the doctor said it should have healed by now, and couldn't give me an answer when I asked how long would this take to heal...On top of that I am due for our son tomorrow, and this is adding so much stress to me :(

This is how it looked after the vet on thursday
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This is how it looked after flushing with saline today
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User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jun 27, 2020 10:41 pm


I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Don't blame yourself!

Long ago we had at least one person who had problems with a particular suture material. I take it there is no suture material visible? Nothing that the vet found? I think culturing was the right move in case this is an unusual bacteria.

You are being observant and getting this taken care of. Only other thing I read about some time ago was using Manuka honey to help it heal.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sun Jun 28, 2020 12:00 am


It does look better after flushing the wound. You've been doing everything right but sure is stubborn. Hang in there and continue with the cleaning and antibiotics. Hopefully the vet will have more info with the culture results.

Luna1

Post   » Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:47 pm


Hi everyone,

Gerbil has been doing much better in terms of his surgery, his wound completely healed. (It did take a long time due to ongoing infections, but they are gone now).

However, recently I noticed he started vocalizing while he is urinating sometimes (not when he is pooping only peeing). I have also been observing a lot more calcium deposits in his fleece the last couple of months. After his surgery, I couldn't exercise him like I used to, and I started giving wheat grass to him every day. I took him to the vet today, and she did an x-ray and said he has bladder sludge (no stones), also beginning of arthritis in his knees and hips. I started exercising him more, and trying to make sure he is drinking more water. I am wondering if giving him wheat grass everyday would have caused this sludge. I was looking online for information, and saw that in 100 grams of wheat grass there is 429 mg of calcium which is so much compared to say parsley. Do you have any information about wheat grass, does this amount sound correct to you?

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