Vivi's big day

Yesterday was a big day for Vivi! We noticed Sunday evening that her chin was swollen and enormous. We thought it looked very much like an abscess, based on our experience with rabbits. It looked like an abscess but she didn’t seem to be in pain or discomfort. She was running around normally, begging for food normally, and eating as quickly and heartily as ever. Internet research didn’t get us very far with it, so we checked with our guinea pig expert, who gave us a pretty scary prognosis (fast-growing cancer or thyroid tumor), based on the fact that she didn’t seem to be in discomfort, which ruled out abscess.

M and L were able to take her to the vet in the morning (as it would have been rough for me to take off at that time), where they determined she did indeed have a HUGE abscess. They would need to lance, drain, and clean up the area, stitching the wound closed. More good news was that the abscess was not associated with a bad tooth, which would have more complicated, long-term implications. We still don’t know what caused the original abscess, but apparently guinea pigs are masters at creating them, so it’s not unusual. Surgery is always risky with the pigs, because anesthesia is very touchy for them and they don’t always pull through. They left her there, hoping for the best, and I was so happy when the vet called to tell me she was done and okay!

My mom & L ran out to pick Vivi up as soon as she was able to go, so she didn’t have to stay in a cage frightened until I returned to town a few hours later. The vet was able to get out almost all of the infection. She came home with antibiotics and an order to use warm compresses on the area twice a day.

By the time I got home, she was behaving fairly normally, running around and eating. She did seem to have more discomfort with eating after her surgery than before, but that’s pretty typical. It didn’t stop her from chowing down her greens fairly quickly. She just seemed to mince a while chewing.

We’re glad we have our girl back home, but more important than that, Jolsie (her partner) is happy to have her back. Jolsie is a very old man who’s already lost at least one pair-bonded partner, so I was very nervous about how he would fare losing another! Fortunately, we didn’t have to go through that. They will be having tug-of-war matches over their greens for a long time to come, we hope!