Millie's Lump Again

[fortifiedwithtea]

Has got a lot worse. I think its got an ulcerated scab on it. I sent a gross photo of it to Guinea Pig Rescue Lady. Her advice was to stop grass time and keep her on fleece and give her a bath to remove dried on urine. Millie just sits in one place now, even when out in the run. By the end of the day she is sitting on a poo mountain.

This very sad as Millie loves her run. I'm going to partially follow advice. Still put her in the garden but for short periods of time and not give her any tunnels to encourage her to move about.

For the first time ever Millie enjoyed a bath. The water supported her lump and fluid retention which must weigh a fair bit.

The scabby bit seems sore so I give her some Metacam, which she took greedily.

We are about to go away for another skating competition. DD1 will be charge of Millie. We have enough Metacam to last until we return.

Not sure what the vet can do apart from prescribe more Metacam. The opinion was that lump can't be removed last time we spoke. I doubt the scab will ever heal :(

Poor Millie. It must feel uncomfortable sometimes. The Ferniepigs send parsley hugs

Poor Millie -
It does seem a shame to have no grass time but it might irritate her and you can pretty much guarentee that every opportunistic fly will land on her , giving her the risk of infection and fly eggs (like flystrike) .
If she's not mobile and sitting in pooh/wee then she;ll be a magnet for them

Does she sleep in hay? she might find fllece comfier (though mine prefer hay as a bedding) she could have looroll tubes stuffed with hay, it'll keep her busy too.

WRT the scabby bit, its a shame there's no cover that will stay (I don't think she'll relish being SockPig ) bathe it with boiled,cooled salty water on gauze then if she does lick the wound its not harmful.

We moved our pig-runs so that DH could mow, there were three neat little pooh-hills , so even non poorly pigs are lazy little ratbags.

for Millie

Oh poor Millie

Sounds like gentle bathing is the way to go, and maybe fleece bedding could be a good idea...I bought a stack of soft fleeces from Poundland when my boys were neutered, which worked well.

I do think the older they get the happier they are to just sit in rancid little piles of wee and poo. My two young girls are pretty clean even after a few days, probably because they're energetic and run around a lot. I clean them out and their hay and cardboard shavings might be damp-ish and poo strewn but fairly respectable. My older boar-sow pair are minging after a day because they literally lard about in their manky poo. They wee in it and sit in it and then tread it all around and generally make their hutch look revolting. Sigh.

Hugs to Millie. I don't suppose there are any creams or anything that can be prescribed to ease her skin in addition to the metacam? Would Gorgeous Guineas have anything?

Millie went out in the run yesterday but I deprived her of a hidey and that did force her to move a round a bit. She followed the shade. I've blocked off the attached 'summerhouse' as its full of creepy crawlies that have over wintered including a massive spider she's not happy about that, looks at it forlornly.

I've just looked out at the garden and was amused to see a male sparrow in her run with his beak full of Millie's hay. Every year our lawn becomes a B&Q for birds thanks to the guinea pigs.

Plan for today. Wait for sun to burn moisture off the grass. Put Millie out and clean her hutch. Give Millie a bum dip bath and buy her some nice veg for when we are away.

Have a good week all, will be home on Saturday