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HELP! fluid filled bump on PD!

3K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  starstella92 
#1 ·
Hi! So, I was playing with my PD tonight and noticed that there was a fluid filled bump near his genitals. (Oh, and I started looking up info and JUST found out that my Buttercup is actually a BOY and not a girl like we asked for at the pet store.. i love him anyway, but the poor little guy is already used to the name Buttercup..=[) anyway, I don't know if the sex of the PD matters.. but thought I'd mention it in case it did. I am going to take him to a vet tomorrow, but I was just wondering if any of you guys have experienced anything similar. It's just this fluid filled bump on the left side of his genitals.

Also, if any of you are in the Austin, TX area, do you know of any good vets here that take PDs? I plan on calling a few places tomorrow morning, but recommendations help! Thanks!!
 
#2 ·
I don't think the pet stores in Austin have a clue when it comes to some animals. I picked up a Richardson's ground squirrel a while back, that the store thought was a prairie dog. So never ever take their word on anything and do your own research. :)

There are several vets in the Austin area that work with exotics. I take most of mine to Research Pet & Bird, in north Austin. Dr.s Skellenger and Lewellen have both been very helpful, and while they haven't seen my prairie dogs, even back during the ban they said they would, any time.

Westgate Pet & Bird is another, if you're south. Dr. Brandt is good. Looking at their website, I guess Dr. Miller from there retired, he was the one that saw my hedgehogs, and while rather condescending, he really knew what he was doing.

Best Vet is another in the northern area. Dr. Hardy (or Doctor Bob as most call him), isn't as experienced as the other vets above, but he's been doing exotics for several years now. I wanted to meet him, so took my genet to him for her to be spayed and he did a great job. I think he's also a little more reasonable, as far as price.

There's also Buttercup Creek Animal Hospital up in Cedar Park. I've taken rabbits and snakes to them - I bet they'd see a prairie dog. They have a nice staff and do a good job, but I don't think I've ever seen the same vet there twice.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the information! We actually got him in Houston at a huge pet store. The owner's brother helped us out with picking him, so I figured he'd know what he was talking about. Apparently not.

Anyway, thanks for the help with the vet information. I live pretty south, so I will try calling those places!! Thanks again!
 
#5 ·
I have many clients in the Austin area that like Dr. Brandy at Westgate.

The ban was officially rescinded September 2008. If they need the documentation to prove it is no longer in effect, they are welcome to contact me.

You are also welcome to call about this because there may be things in his cage which may be contributing to what you are seeing. Click on my name to message me privately for my contact info.

Good luck!
 
#6 ·
The lifting of the federal ban was not well publicized. In fact, quite the opposite. They seemingly purposefully shuffled it to a footnote of a small document and that was all they said on the issue... and if they haven't seen any prairie dogs in their practice recently, they probably have no idea. Though, I'm kind of surprised, their exotic vet tech is usually up on things. The person answering the phones may just not have a clue. :)
 
#8 ·
Sorry for the late reply... I took him to Westgate. When I realized he was a boy and not a girl, we realized, he didn't have a fluid filled bump.. it was part of his boy parts! Haha! I felt so dumb. But I was expecting my Buttercup to be a girl, so I wasn't expecting those extra parts. LOL! Anyway, we took him to Westgate yesterday to get nurtered. During the night, he bit off his stitches and the cut opened, so he is back there today. He didn't seem to be in any pain and was just running around and playing in the carrier when I brought him.. so I think he's good.. just needs to be patched up. Poor little guy. The vet said though that he was one of the best prairie dogs they've had. He was playful and didn't try to bite anyone!! :) So, we'll see what happens today. We'll have to figure out something so he doesn't bite through the stitches again. The fix up procedure might cost MORE than the actual surgery yesterday, so hopefully this will be the last time he has to go back in for a while.
 
#9 ·
Hehe. Pulling stitches out seems to be par for the course for prairie dogs... and their little bodies aren't really well designed to put one of those collars on them to prevent it. :)
 
#10 ·
Yes. He pulled out the stitches. Then he pulled out TWO different sets of staples (small ones and then bigger, stronger ones). The vet techs told me they had never seen a prairie dog do that. It was so sad for me to watch! He even ripped the cone off of his head.. and he got a staple caught in his lip that I had to remove before he ripped it out. Yesterday was a nightmare of a day for me; I can't imagine how horrible it was for Buttercup. My bf and I had to keep a constant eye on him last night, until we found a website that showed us how to do the vet/vest wrap!!! It works!!! Now he can't bend over far enough to bite the stitches.. and with the way the wrap is around his body, he can still run and jump and do whatever he needs to do. I'm so glad we found out about this wrap technique. :) He does seem to be a little down, but it could be because of the meds or because of all the stuff that happened yesterday. He seems to be getting better and better though. :)
 
#11 ·
Sounds like something my Charlie would do. He's so strong. He has literally broken bars off of his cage that had to be reinforced with super strength wire. Silly boy. And he's opened his cage door so many times we now have a lock on it. He needs to get neutered soon, luckily I have a vet for him not far from us (maybe like 20 minutes away). I sure hope our luck is better, but in case it's not, where did you find the info. for that vest wrap. It does sound amazing and I don't want to take any chances with Charlie ripping out stitches and/or staples, ouch. And I was going to comment about that bubble (then I realized this post was older) saying how I thought it was just genitals, but you beat me to it. LOLS. :)
 
#13 ·
vet/vest wrap

Here is the link for the wrap. It's super easy, and it works!! Just make sure to make it thick enough so your little guy isn't able to bend down. It also helps to have someone else there with you to help. Buttercup didn't like the wrap, so my boyfriend would wrap him, and I would sit there and pet him and try to keep him calm or vise versa. :)

Well, it won't let me post the link because I haven't had 20 posts yet. It's on the website "PrairieDogLover". Just add ".com" to that. Then "/medicalinfo.htm". Make sense? Best I can do since it won't let me post the link!!

Also, I read on another site that vets should use GLUE instead of staples and stitches because of PDs tendency to bite them out. So, you may want to talk to your vet and see if they will use glue so you don't have a nightmare situation like I did (I was soooo scared for Buttercup when he started biting out everything!).

Anyway, good luck!!! :)
 
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