Abscesses

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bats

Post   » Fri Jul 19, 2002 6:26 pm


I´m not convinced the top of the head is so inaccessible...
An unlikely bite location, yes.
But impossible?

I´ve seen pigs cower by putting their head down underneath the head of the aggressor. Punky did this with Ginger. Maaa does this with Piglet.

And when Missy was here, Munchkin got bit on top of the peak of her back/spine. My guess is that happened during a fur-flying brawl inside one of the houses.

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Sunny

Post   » Fri Jul 19, 2002 6:50 pm


I guess we´ll never know.

pinta

Post   » Fri Jul 19, 2002 6:58 pm


Backs and shoulders are standard targets. But to bite on top of the head leaves the aggressor´s throat vulnerable.

It could happen but in all my years of pig spats I´ve had war wounds just about everywhere except for the top of the head and the underside(tummy). Split lips, split snouts, ripped skin around the eyes and ripped ears are where the head wounds show up.

I´d expect other wounds on a pig that was bitten on the head indicating there had been a brawl ball of fur.

Pigs usually leave telltale puncture scabs on their victims......I have a pig with a perfect mouth shape cut out from her ear.

I think you would also notice a bite wound on top of a crested pig´s head before it totally healed. An insect wound has a much smaller entry hole and would go unnoticed. There is also the possibility that the infection was already there, deep down, and worked it´s way up in the form of an abscess.

It could have happened but I think it´s more likely something else was the cause.

I hate to see Fido getting a bad rap.

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bats

Post   » Fri Jul 19, 2002 7:14 pm


> It could have happened but I think it´s more likely something else was the cause.
I hate to see Fido getting a bad rap.


Roger that. You´ve seen dozens more pigs than I have, Pinta... in more combinations and scrapes than I´ll ever see.

Have fun picking out Fido´s new cagemate, Sunny. The new pig will be lucky -- you´re giving him a good home.

pinta

Post   » Fri Jul 19, 2002 7:29 pm


Just thinking back on how most spats start.....usually the fight picker nips the butt. The victim than spins around and the fight is on.

Sometimes it´s just an innocent shove as a pig pushes past another pig that results in nips to the flank....usually the pig that shoved past gets out of nipping range.

"bones to pick" involve stalking and lots of open mouthed shuffling from side to side, just before the fur flies.

Lately the thug that Ferd made cry is taking it out on the other thug, who sobs even louder. Just desserts in thugdom.

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Sunny

Post   » Mon Jul 22, 2002 12:43 pm


Spot wasn´t crested pinta. I only said the wound made him look crested. But still, I can´t believe I wouldn´t notice a bite or injury right on top of his head. It certainly could have been an insect bite or an internal infection... that would make more sense.

Fido has been a very sweet boy lately. He is not a people person and doesn´t like to be handled much. But lately, I´ll hold him and he´ll lick, lick, lick my face. And he´ll chatter at me with sweet little eyes. I imagine he´s asking what happened to his brother.

By the way, I´m not going to use this vet anymore. He´s such a nice guy and I really like him, but he´s just not very experienced. I started using him because he lives 4 houses away from me and makes house calls and works with small animals, so it was very convenient. I wish I would have read this thread while all this was happening but I was so sick at the time. When the vet came over, I couldn´t even stand up to talk to him for more than a couple minutes. I just wanted to trust him because I didn´t have energy (emotional or physical) for anything else. If I had... maybe Spot would be with me still.

I know I can´t dwell on what-ifs. But I´m so sad and haunted by thoughts of doubt every night. I wake up in the night reviewing everything in my head. And I´m haunted by the images of that poor boy gasping for air and not being able to help him. He was so sweet and loved so much.

Sorry for the long post but I´ve got a pretty heavy head right now.

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Sunny

Post   » Mon Jul 22, 2002 12:45 pm


By the way, I´m going to print out part of this post and take to my vet. So maybe next time he´ll know that the wound needs to be flushed and not to use peroxide. Maybe the next piggy will be saved.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Jul 22, 2002 1:04 pm


The peroxide is still somewhat controversial -- but it supposedly does kill cells, slow healing. I guess the most important thing in an abscess that was left open was the flushing, as it was not going to drain on its own.

It is hard to know exactly how it started and how serious it was by the time you saw him. You really did the best you could. I hope you can reconcile this and not at all feel guilty. We learn, we try to be more observant owners, we look for the best vets. And we hope for a successful outcome.

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stickyfroggi

Post   » Wed Jul 24, 2002 7:31 pm


Moppy´s abscess story:

In May I noticed a small black bump on Moppy´s left side, close to her back legs (the hip area). Completely freaked out and new to pig ownership I rushed her to the vet the following day to find out that it was an abscess. The vet suspected it was possibly a bug bite as many of the members of this board suspected as well. It was shaved, popped and cleaned. I was told to wipe with a warm wet q-tip, and put neosporin on it everyday for about a week.

In June I had Moppy seen for a runny nose and while I was there I asked the vet to look at the mark left behind from the abscess. He flicked something off of it and told me she has healed nicely. He told me it´d always look like a dark spot and not to worry.

Yesterday Moppy seemed weird when I petted her near that area and I dug around her long hair to find the spot and it looked funny to me. I flicked a small plug off of it and thought "hmm that´s odd," so I proceeded to squeeze. The bump is only the size of a pimple and the plug that came off is slightly smaller than this letter "o." Well out came pus. .. and more pus than I´d like to have found in a "healed" abscess. I have drained it twice. Only pus has come out, no blood. I still don´t think it is all out yet.

I don´t understand why the pus is there unless the vet did not get it all out when I took Moppy in. Is that a possibility? I kept the cage very clean, the abscess very clean, and applied neosporin as directed... so I do not think I made a mistake in the care given to the area.

The area is not raised anymore but if I work at it enough and from several angles, I can still get little bits of pus out. Am I supposed to squeeze until I see a little blood? That sounds awful but I dont know how else to be sure the pus is all the way out. Should I keep this from scabbing like it was advised in posts above this one?

It doesn´t bother her too much when I´m squeezing the pus out, she is more annoyed with the way I pin her hair back with barrettes to get a better gander.

Any help, ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:32 pm


This is from Nuts post above:
*Cleaning the abscess daily requires warm compresses to loosen/soften the scab, flushing with a betadine solution and gently squeezing out pus. My vet gave me a syringe with a long thin tip to insert into the shunt and flush fluid out the other side of the shunt. This is done three times per day for about 4 days. The shunt is then removed. Flushing & cleaning continues until the skin healed from the inside to the outside. * My vet has prescribed Baytril for 10 days with each infection.

Your vet should have had you flushing out the wound several times a day. The cheesy puss that forms does NOT drain on its own. It needs to be kept clean by flushing as Nuts so well described.

Maybe Josephine could suggest some type of shunt you could set up (look at pic above). Perhaps the vet could -- and could give you a syringe with a long, thin tip to do the betadine solution flush.

Your vet was wrong about it being healed.

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stickyfroggi

Post   » Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:48 pm


I guess that vet was an idiot because apparently all she thought was necessary was warm water and neosporin.

I read that post and thats why I have drained it twice today and will continue to do so. I have not ever used betadine nor do I know what it is. Is it sold in pharmacies/grocery stores? Also I don´t know what a shunt is. I´m assuming something that stays there and helps clean/drain the wound but how does it work. It´s hard to tell from that picture what exactly it is or does. I re-read the posts and perhaps I overlooked information concerning what a shunt is.

Thanks Lynx.
Last edited by stickyfroggi on Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Jul 24, 2002 9:05 pm


A shunt is like a straw. I´ll bet a piece of straw (that you drink out of) would work fine. If the syringe tip is long, you could put that in the wound. Maybe someone else will have some hints for you.

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