This doesn't look good for Mr Pig

[FranksBobot]

Hi all, I'm wondering if any of you have an experience of this. We noticed a lump on Mr Pig a couple of days ago. Woke up this morning and he hasn't been himself. Has spent most of the day hiding and not wanting attention. I've finally coaxed him out and the lump appears to have burst. It hasn't and still isn't putting him off food and drink. He is now running around quite happily as if there is nothing wrong. I'm totally confused. Should I call emergency vet or keep a close eye on him until Monday morning?

The fact that he is eating is a good sign. If he is back to his old self then I would leave it until Monday. Good luck mr pig

Thanks Muskey, he is plodding around happily and probably wondering why I keep following him.

If he is anything like my two GPS he is probably thinking that he is the cutest thing around and you a either want to feed him or b you want to cuddle him either way he's happy

It could be an abcess (possibly the pigs have had a fight and he's been bitten?. Or stung by some random wasp/bee? )

If it's burst then that's a good sign, keep the area clean - bathe in boiled cooled water that's got enough salt dissolved to go cloudy. Gauze or paper towel (cotton wool can be fibre-ey)

Eating, pootling about is a good sign too.
Probably when he was hiding away he was at his worst .

Guineas can make a dramatic change (good or bad) so keep him under observation, and see how he goes.
The wound should dry out and scab over but if it gets worse, he gets worse or he keeps niggling the wound then phone the vet.

Is he with another pig?

He is on his own as Mrs Pig (we are very original with names!!) passed away a few months ago.
Have just sat with him for an hour and cleaned the wound as you suggested, quite a lot of the most disgusting gunk ever came out as it was being cleaned. Once it appeared to stop "leaking" i cleaned with fresh water and have dried him up. He is now sat watching telly and hasn't niggled at it since.

My guess is its an abscess or sebaceous cyst. The latter very common in elderly pigs.

Carry on as you're doing and phone the vet on Monday.

Thanks for all your advice. He isn't a young boy anymore so I suppose it's too be expected that he has issues now and again.

Was it something that came up suddenly or did he have a lump there before?
A cyst would be slower to develop but can re-occur (if it's a cyst that has burst your vet might remove it but at his age, the risk of anaesthestic is high)

(Our older male pigs had various lumps and bumps on them. They were checked, they didn't change over time)

He had a small lump in that area for quite a while but it never bothered him. Suddenly noticed a few days ago that it had grown quite dramatically in size but he still didn't seem fazed by it. I was able to touch it etc with out him squeeling so don't think it was hurting him.

He seems bright and breezy this morning. Has chomped down his breakfast and is now sunning himself. The wound looks dry and doesn't appear to have been bothered by him overnight.