Patch of fur missing and red bubble

[feistychins]

You really need to find a vet who knows what they are doing with a chinchilla. A small incision should be made to allow the puss to come out. They make syringes that have a curved pointed tip just for flushing wounds. The vet should give you one of those. Even if you flush the wound, a warm compress should be applied first for a few minutes to bring things to the surface.

Keep in mind that a thin layer of skin or maybe even dried puss will cover the abcess from the time you clean it in the morning until you clean it again at night. The body is trying to heal the open wound, but with the warm compress that should be removed easily which will allow the puss to be cleaned. That is one reason why an abcess can be such trouble to fully heal. It keeps closing itself before all the infection is gone.

When you get to the point that the antibiotics have healed from the inside and you have been able to get the puss to stop forming, then as AZChins said, everything will heal very quickly. No dust baths until you get this fully healed and the wound has closed. Your chin will survive even if he does not look that great. Getting this healed is the most important thing right now.

I'm not sure what you mean by "liquid antibiotics (bandaid brand)".

You had said this was by the mouth. Are you sure this has nothing to do with a bad tooth?

 

[Chinmama]

I have no experience with this, but I would think that the neosporin would seal the bacteria in that you are trying to flush out. Should neosporin be used on an abscess?

 

[Whitephoenixfire]

We're using a liquid form of neosporin instead of the gel. Bandaid brand has a spray that Ive been putting on a cotton pad and wiping it instead of smearing it with Neosporin. He also has a liquid oral antibiotic that we give him once a day. And as for it being about a tooth, I asked if that were possible and the woman didnt even bother looking at his teeth but said that he is young and he isnt drooling or having trouble eating so a tooth abcess is unlikely. I think on that she may be right because the abcess is in a place where fur has been removed by his escape. It is likely he punctured of scraped it and it was just too small for us to see.

 

[Whitephoenixfire]

We went back to the vet today. The exotic vet made an incision and flushed the wound. I cant imagine why the other doctor would have done anything different because the exotic vet said that is the standard for all abcesses for all animals. But they gave us a solution to flush it twice a day with the curved syringe and solution.

When he flushed it there was an amazing amount of blood. He just kept squirting it with solution, and saying "some blood is normal". This was not "some blood", this was a lot of blood. It was all over the exam table and his hands. Is this normal? Should I expect to see a lot of blood when I flush the wound myself? He was very rough with Scoot too. I have seen the no nonsense approach to chin treatment before and sometimes you do have to restrain them, but Scoot was obviously scared of the strange guy and he seemed to have very little time, patience and gentleness. It was almost to the point where I was afraid he would break Scoot's bones from how he was fighting and how the vet applied pressure. Scoot didn't make any loud noises, but he whimpered a little when he was making the incision, when he irrigated it, and again when Scoot would fight and try to wiggle free. I am sure he is an expert, but is this normal? I was afraid to the point that I cried in the office from the amount of blood shed and the fear that he would squish my chin.

He also said that because it is on the ventral side, it will "ventral drain". He said compresses wouldnt be necessary. And when he says "drain" should I look for drainage in my chins fur or cage? Should I be concerned if it gets in his fur? Should I still use compresses? He also said that epsom salt was a crazy idea. He said under no circumstances am I to put any salt near the incision, diluted or not, because it is painful and could potentially worsen the infection. He said that sometimes salt is used to dry out other closed wounds and scrapes, but not abcesses. Does this sound normal?

He also didnt seem to have a lot of time for my questions. They had to "squeeze" me in, but that was because they treated him incorrectly the first time. He was pleasant, but talked down to me. I am wondering if I should get another vet or a second opinion on his work. I know there aren't a ton of exotic vets to choose from, but I felt uncomfortable both times I was there. First time with the lack of knowledge and second time the lack of tenderness with my chin and his obvious exasperation/irritation with my questions. I am new to chin ownership, but I have had many animals. I know if a vet had treated my cat or dog like this, I would not be going back. But with an exotic animal and a specialist vet, I don't know if it is normal for them to be so aggressive.

Lastly, he said that Albon and Baytril are basically the same. He said they are all sulfur based antibiotics. He said that they are very gentle and probiotics aren't generally necessary. I was wondering if I should get some yogurt treats for Scoot. We don't normally give any treats but rose hips and miniwheats. Do you think we should start giving them yogurt treats occasionally? And while Scoot is taking antibiotics, should we give him yogurt treats just in case? He is eating fine and jumping around his cage right now but I want to take every precaution. Especially if yogurt treats are something we should be giving him anyway, which is kind what the vet implied. Thank you for all your advice.

 

[Tillygizmo]

If you want to be careful of the sugar in the yogurt treats you can buy acidopholus caplets for people (this contains probiotics) and sprinkle it in the mini wheats

 

[feistychins]

I am so sorry you have had such a horrible experience with vets. NO a vet should not be treating any animal as Scoot was handled. Especially an exotic that is so sensitive.

A small incision would have been all it would have taken to flush the wound. I wonder if he made one that was beyond what was needed. That may have accounted for all the blood. I know when it is flushed there would be some blood, but as long as the bleeding did stop. Whenever I have flushed an abcess, there is no blood, because the wound heals from the inside out.

Usually antibiotics are givien twice a day, but for now I would give what the vet has given you. I personally have never used epsom salts for my chins, but the 10% solution of Betadine as I mentioned eariler. If you find that the wound flushes out all the puss each time you clean it, then you don't need to use a compress. I have used a compress because the two abcesses my chins had was very thick and chucky puss which is very hard to flush. If this abcess is not that severe, you may be ok with just flushing, but only you can judge that when you do it for the first time.

You should give your chin acidophilus since he is on antibiotics in the form of a chewable tablet which you can get at any drugstore or powder form. Yogurt drops are junkie treats and loaded with sugar. They should be avoided.

 

[CerLynn]

I'm sorry to hear you're having so many issues with the vets, especially when it counts. We've never dealt with abscesses, so I can't speak to specific advice you've been given, but if it were me, I would work on finding a new vet. Our exotics vet is wonderful - quite knowledgeable and very willing to answer any and all questions. If my animals and I were treated that coldly, I would start searching for a new one - go with your instincts.

I wouldn't give yogurt treats - as Tillygizmo mentioned, straight probiotics (acidophilus, either capsules with powder or chewable wafers) are a much better/safer method. You should be able to find them anywhere pharmacy-type products are sold (even Walmart, I believe). Best of luck!

 

[Whitephoenixfire]

I just finished flushing it, and the liquid that came out was faintly pink. No significant blood this time. I am taking your advice and seeing a different vet. Also, the incision is small, about the lenth of the "bubble". My only concern now is after I flushed it, it remained firm. It is still very firm and swollen, and when I flush it, the blue fluid comes out mostly as clear as it went in. I wonder if the reason it is still firm is because the pus inside is more solid? I cant examine very closely, as Scoot barely allows me to flush the wound, much less poke around with the syringe to see if I can poke any solid(ish) gunk in there. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to get him to hold still? I am only one person, and he is a fighter, especially when hes on his back.

 

[feistychins]

It really takes two people to properly flush a wound if you can get someone to help it would make it easier. You should gently wrap him in a small towel leaving his head out of course. That should make it easier to flush the wound. Also, I would not lay him on his back. Just by instinct a chin will not like that position. If you can at all try to have him on your lap sitting up when you flush it.

You may not get a large amount of puss coming out every time, especially since the vet flushed it so thoroughly.

When you were at the vets, was there a lot of puss and was it more like toothpaste thickness or like cottage cheese?

Did the vet give you any indication about how bad he thought it was?

 

[addictedtochins]

My only concern now is after I flushed it, it remained firm. It is still very firm and swollen.

I'm not sure but I know when the body is injured it sends blood to the area which causes it to be red and swollen. The blood sends what is needed to help heal, and carries away infection and debris.

 

[feistychins]

Yes, just because the puss was flushed by the vet, it will be very irritated and needs time to heal. This is not going to happen in a day or two.

 

[BenD188]

Just so everyone knows, scoot is doing great. There is no more bubble, and fur is growing back over where it was!

After his once a day meds and twice a day of flushing it out he is doing great. It only cost me $100 total (two vet visits and 2 prescriptions, the thrid visit was free because it was just a minute of the vet saying everything was fine and he can go back to dusting and living normally)

What a relief! I'm glad it wasn't one of those horror stories where you end up spending $700 only to lose him in a week.

 

[addictedtochins]

Yay!

 

[Carol~Anne]

I am so glad that Scoot is on his road to recovery and it didn't cost you a bundle. Very nice.

 

[Rickman]

Glad everything worked out for Scoot! Good job!!

 

[feistychins]

Wonderful! I'm so happy he is making a full recovery.