Weird thing in my guinea pigs ear, please help?

[lucecitas]

Tuesday morning i picked up one of my two boars and noticed he smelled weird. I tried to clean him up with a little wipe but the smell didn’t go away until I checked his ears and saw a red lump inside of his ear, and there was a little bit of crust in some parts of his ear. I contacted my exotic vet and he said to clean the area morning and night and then apply antiseptic, but to this day saturday, it doesn’t seem to have gotten any better. It still smells weird to the point it leaves me with my stomach weird and everytime i clean it the dirt on it is almost like blood but not really, it’s more brown in color.

I don’t know where else to turn in and i’m getting really worried now, he is acting normal as always and doesn’t seem really that affected. He jerks a lot when i have to clean him and tries to hide his head. He’s also eating normally and everything!

[I don’t know how to use this forum so i don’t know how to send pictures!]

[Lynx]

A picture would help a great deal. If you have a clear, crisp medical pic of what you are seeing, you can send it to:


Off hand I do not know what this is. Guinea pigs can grow "polyps" in the ear but they are not usually red nor odorous. Perhaps some sort of infection. Guinea pig pus is usually gray. Your vet's advice to clean it and apply an antiseptic is reasonable in case this is an infection.

[lucecitas]

Sent!

[Lynx]

I will post your two pics later. Meanwhile, if it is the smooth, roundish thing, perhaps a polyp, as I mentioned earlier.

Read this post:
viewtopic.php?p=1367416

There are links to other guinea pigs with ear issues.

[lucecitas]

Thank you Lynx! after looking at the post, it may seem like it could be what happened to Otis to some degree—i do theorize that maybe he has an infection below his polyp just like him. Still, just to make sure i’ll go to the exotic vet to make sure. My little Moomie has my heart worried. For now, i’m cleaning the ear with a soft, wet cotton and then i apply something that, as i checked, it says it’s hydrogel, from Vetericyn.VF

No head tilting or anything either, i will keep updating if i see anything else! thank you a lot again.

[Lynx]

Yes, important to see the vet! The odor may indicate an infection.

Lucecitas writes that the first picture was taken Tuesday and the second one is from today:

[Talishan]

Ditto Lynx on all counts.

They can, as I understand it, get an ear mite (the brownish debris makes me think of that), but I don't think they're terribly common. Polyp and infection (the sickening smell is a red flag, I know how that feels) are definitely possibilities.

Please do have him seen by your exotics vet. Cleaning and an antimicrobial gel are good treatments, but he may need a little more than that. They hate having their ears messed with, and vets can examine and clean ears out better than we can in my experience.

Good luck and best to him and to you.

[lucecitas]

Hi, little update. I’m waiting for tomorrow to go see my exotic vet since today he isn’t in. I’m a little more worried than yesterday, as it has seen to grow a little bigger (or maybe it’s just me) and as i cleaned his ear, not only brown came out, but now i did see red :(. Impatiently waiting for tomorrow. It’s also more red than before—i’ll have all of what you all said in mind.

I attached a link below since i think i figured out how to use imgur.
https://imgur.com/zwm0rdb

[Lynx]

Let us know what the vet thinks (and how he treats it). Good luck!

[lucecitas]

Hi, i’m back! it was hours ago i went to the vet but after coming back i had to do lots of stuff for Moomie. The vet has said that he doesn’t exactly know what that lump of flesh is, that it could be a polyp but for what he can see Moomie has otitis from it. Though, it’s not spreading anywhere since fortunately in all of this the lump is blocking the pus and the blood from going deeper in his ear. He sent us antibiotics and to keep watch of his hay consumption since the antibiotics may mess up a little with his flora.

He swabbed around the lump and we are waiting for the cytology results, meanwhile, we have to feed him the antibiotic and do some drops of the hydrogel until further notice. It’s not clear what is going to happen next if it gets better, but if it stays the same, the last resort is surgery, which the vet let us know how about the risks, and by the position of the lump, they could only remove the lump partially so it doesn’t get in the way.

It is getting a little hard emotionally for me but i’m staying strong for him and his cagemate croissant (first name banana!) Moomie is a strong boy since we got him. He got sick and he pulled through, so i know he’s going to get through this.

[Lynx]

Sometimes topical antibiotics are used in ears. What oral antibiotic are you giving him? I ask because not all antibiotics are safe for guinea pigs.
https://www.guinealynx.info/antibiotics.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html

[Talishan]

Consider using probiotics with antibiotics (ditto Lynx; what antibiotic did the vet give you?) for GI upset/dysregulation:

https://guinealynx.info/probiotics.html

Here is one from US Amazon. If that's not available to you, something similar in your country should be.

https://www.amazon.com/Equa-Holistics-H ... 231&sr=8-3

There is an antibiotic gel called Baytril Otic that will put a safe antibiotic right into the area it's most needed. It's kind of thick and somewhat of a pain to use, but it might be something for the vet to consider before a surgical attempt.

Continued best wishes and blessings to him and to you.