# Help with popping abscess!



## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Ronnie has a abscess on his groin, under a cm away from his penis. It has gotton to the size of a large pea. The vet put a needle in it and pus came out so its deffiantly a abscess. He is on Baytril to help, but I wanna pop it  

So I trimmed the hair around it and there is two scabs that I can see. I done some hot compresses but they are very hard to do when he won't keep still. 

So I gave it a squeeze starting from the bottom and a tiny bit of light yellow pus came out from a completly different place from where I was expecting it!
After this he started to sqeak so I have put him back in his cage.

Any tips? How to keep him still so I can compress it


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

So I gave it another squeeze and a yellow substance sat in his willy (He was on his back), I don't know if this was wee but it smelt TERRIBLE, Being so close can it drain though his penis and is that ok? 

Here is a pic


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

You have to wait for it to come to a head just squeezing it is like squeezing a zit or something that isnt ready it hurts A LOT and will do nothing.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

How will I know? And some pus came out ek  it stinks :'(


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

Its going to stink thats normal and I guess its one of those you will just know. Hopefully someone will abscess experience will come on. You can also use a needle and do it yourself but I myself wouldnt try it so I am not going to recommend it. I hope someone else comes on soon


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Yeah, I wouldn't try that either XD It has plenty of escape holes, it has a needle hole from the vets the scab shown in the picture and a hidden one which pus came from earlier. 
I knew it would smell, but you always think "nah" when reading about it but wow it sure is strong XD


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Should I be worried about what was coming out of his willy?


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

You need to soak the scabs in warm water. My trick is to get water soaked cotton wool then sit them on it, one hand scratching them and holding them over it, the other holding the cotton wool against them. One the scab looks soggy and loose you can peel it off, or at least lift a flap with tweezers. You just have to hold them firmly, they will not like it, but the scab needs to be off enough it doesn't trap the infection. Next allow the gunk to come out. It will stink, but catch it on some tissue etc. When the flow stops you can gently compress from behind to get the bulk out. Then flush the hole with some saline solution. Do this twice a day until it looks like a crater that is dry and gunk free. Lancing and squeezing hard can make the gunk go internal, which is very bad as can leaving them too long. I had a lad suffer from sceptic arthritis (infection spread to his feet which swelled up) who nearly died. 

If the infection is coming out of his penis this isn't good, it means that the pressure in the preputial gland is forcing it out that way. It may be worth putting him on some antibiotics, synulux is my fave for abcesses. This will cover if it does go internal.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Thanks for the help  Apperently it is a penis plug forming or wee because it didn't have the "cottage cheese" texture. 

I will probably sound stupid but in the picture the scab is the dark thing right? XD


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Isamurat said:


> You need to soak the scabs in warm water. My trick is to get water soaked cotton wool then sit them on it, one hand scratching them and holding them over it, the other holding the cotton wool against them. One the scab looks soggy and loose you can peel it off, or at least lift a flap with tweezers. You just have to hold them firmly, they will not like it, but the scab needs to be off enough it doesn't trap the infection. Next allow the gunk to come out. It will stink, but catch it on some tissue etc. When the flow stops you can gently compress from behind to get the bulk out. Then flush the hole with some saline solution. Do this twice a day until it looks like a crater that is dry and gunk free. Lancing and squeezing hard can make the gunk go internal, which is very bad as can leaving them too long. I had a lad suffer from sceptic arthritis (infection spread to his feet which swelled up) who nearly died.
> 
> If the infection is coming out of his penis this isn't good, it means that the pressure in the preputial gland is forcing it out that way. It may be worth putting him on some antibiotics, synulux is my fave for abcesses. This will cover if it does go internal.



I have just did this but the scab is really thin and I can't get hold of it. Here is a picture just taken








What can I do, its stressing him out when I try to pin him and do this.

It also really smells around it even though there is no visable pus.
Can I leave it to open by its self? How long does this take?
Does it look "ready" in the picture? 
The scab is bigger than yesterdays picture.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

preputial gland abscesses are not always cottage cheese gunk, actually most aren't. If it's cottage cheese like it's a CK abscess, if not then it's something else causing them, pasturella is a common one but there's loads of infectious agents out there. I had a really nasty run in my rats of something more commonly associated with a stomach bug, it was lime green and stank incredibly badly.

The scab does look at the stage where i can normally get them up, i do have some very thin tweezers though that are great for this. 

Can you lift it at all, with something very thin, if not then i would leave it another half a day and have another soak. You can try gentle pressure to see if it lifts around the edges after it's well soaked.

I find once you get the gunk out you can normally get the hole healthy looking in a few days and healed over in a week or two, it's just a pig getting the scab to lift the first time. Once it is lifted though, even if you can't get it all off the rat will normally remove (and unfortunatly eat it) later on, which leaves you with a nice healthy crater.

How long has he had this lump now? 

By the way your not alone, one of mine is just getting one of these, it's not come to a head yet but i think it will in the next week or so.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Thank you for the advice. 

I found it on the 23rd and he had a vets appointment the next morning for his post op check up and I asked them to have a look and they said its a abscess. So only 3 days.

Its still very hard for me to give it a good soak I've tried everything to try and keep him calm but its not happening so he will just have to sit it though.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

None of mine enjoy it either, its just one of those things. After a few days of getting used to the routine it gets easier. Just think how bad it was when i had 3 out of my 4 lads with them, and they kept reoccuring (one rat had 6 in a row). Thankfully thats over now and a spell on synulux along with changing there bedding cleared it up.

Thats quite a big abcess for such a new one, must be a fairly potent infection. Astreaus has had his for about 2 weeks now and it's about 1cm. It's something you can normally feel quite early as just a slight raised bump where the glands are (one on either side), after a while it starts to feel like a little bubble then you know its not just an inflamed gland. Most seem to come to a head when there around 1-1.5cm big (1/4-1/2" approx) which takes 2-3 weeks then you get the scab forming, it can take a few days to get the scab to the point where it will lift. I have had one take much longer, so slow growing i thought it was a fatty lump, it took 3 months to come to a head and reveal it was infact an abcess and was much closer to 3/4" by then. Thats the one that led to a systemic infection and sceptic arthritis.

If you do notice your boy being quiet, lathargic or unwell looking, or any of his joints/feet swell get him to the vets ASAP. My lad only pulled through as he was put straight on a strong course of antibiotics, at this stage he was so sick he had to ahve them injected as he wasn't eating. He was over 2 at this point though, but i have seen other younger and fitter rats layed down by a nasty infection (sepatcemia effectively) who have only made it through thanks to fast action. Your lad should probably be fine (most of these abcesses cause no problems at all) but just in case.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Yes, defiantly I've been keeping an eye on him, he is quite quiet anyway so I will keep an eye out for the other symptoms.

I just popped it. It had all ready started when I got him out. There was a smaller hole on the outside of the scab which it was coming from. The scab its self still won't come off and I don't want to yank it off. 
It is the grossest thing ever! Yuk. Erh, I cleaned it as best as I could as he got very stressed but made sure I kept syringing the cleaning stuff into the hole until there was no gunk. I will do it again this evening.
He has had a good clean of it his self and hopefully he might take the scab off his self. 
The amount of times I was nearly sick because of the smell ( I got a peg off the washing line in the end) and he can sit there licking it. Good luck to him thats all I can say XD


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Thats great news, i know the relief when that happens 

Rats are quite mad lol, abcesses are very nasty, you do get a little used to them after a while, the first one i popped made me properly gag it was that bad. Oh and when i had a sample taken at the vets to go to the lab (with some many reoccuring) the vet was so impressed she took the sample around for everyone to smell (worst she'd ever smelt lol).

Mine quite often eat the scab or finish removing it, if he doesn't and it sticks down again (which can happen) then you'll need to soak it again but should be easier. When it heals over check around the area for it getting a little squishy again, sometimes they can come back if the gunk is not fully gone. He must feel a lot better now he's lost all that pressure though.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Oh gosh, I dread to imagine any worse than Ronnies but there obviously was XD yuk. 

I can still flush the hole so hopefully me flushing it will dampen the scab from the inside so it should be easier to get off  

He is still nice and wide eyed. I removed his little tent because as soon as thats in the cage all he does is sleep and ignore Reggie, so now he is cuddled up with his brother 

If it does come to the point that I have to really pull the scab off, do you reccomend some capol or should I just quickly do it?


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Done another flush out, the hole is still very small and the "scab" won't come off. If I post a picture can some one tell me if it needs to come off?


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

This is the abscess this morning after a flush out. The pink bit is the only opening to the hole. The black bit is hard on top but I cannot get it off as the skin/tissue is still healthy underneath.








Any ideas?


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

If the hole is big enough to get stuff out then i would be tempted to leave it for now, it's not ideal but it does look a nice big hole. Failing that if the scab is only a scab (no skin or nerves there) you can trim it back with very sharp scissors, however you need to test that it's got no feeling or if worried ask the vet to remove it.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Yeah, I can put a cotton bud in easily so I think I will leave it, I'm sure it will eventually drop off or crisp up enough for me to remove it safely. When I was cleaning it I saw that it was nice and pink underneath so I don't wanna start yanking that aha XD Haven't really had anymore pus come out of it when cleaning so hopefully should be okay. How long do I keep cleaning it for. I have been doing it in the morning and before I go to bed so 11ish


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

i would keep flushing it until it is dry on the inside when you come to it, it does sound really positive and like it's healing well. Once it's dry then just watch it until it heals up, if it gets gunky again you'll need to carry on flushing


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Okay  I think it may just stay like that because I didn't really get to do the compresses for long enough for it to really do anything. So thats the hole the abscess has made its self to escape because it was really smelly in that area that day so I sqeezed it and it came out XD 

So great being on these fourms, any one else I talk to thinks its gross XD


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

So I started to clean Ronnies abscess but it had slightly closed over again due to the small gap. I just sqruit a ml of water over it and open sesame  I open the opening with tweezers and I notice it starts to ease away from the skin! So I carry on until the point that is wasn't so easy then cut a fair bit of the scab off. I managed to clean it properly this time and now I can keep an better eye on it. 

Here is a picture because I bet you are all dying to see this 








As you can see there is about a qauter of scab still there, but I'm sure it should come of easily tomorrow or he (or Reggie) will eat it tonight XD Yum.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

That's perfect, definitly what I aim for. Now I just need Astreauses to do the same lol, its just about getting close now.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

The build up to the abscess popping ;D

I pulled the rest of the scab off this morning, the rest started to stick back down, but a bit of water and it easily came off  

Ronnie defiantly doesn't like me at the moment XD


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

So here is a picture of it after I pulled the rest of the scab off







So I cleaned it ect ect and so did Ronnie XD

I just got him out to do his second clean and its now quite dry so I didn't poke around too much just gave it a small clean for the night. Do I completely leave it now? 

Also I know people say not to put anything on it but I have some savlon (antiseptic cream) should I bother using any? 
The problem people say about is it healing over but I don't see how this will "heal over" here is a pic from 5 mins ago






Really bad picture and has flash on, really its quite a light healthy pink.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

One without flash.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

They don't tend to heal over at this stage, however antisceptic won't have any real effect as its walled off internally. I have flushed mine with hibiscrub in the past.


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

Ahh okay thanks XD I will just leave it, he is still on anti biotics so I will keep an eye on it


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