Friday morning, I planned to call the vet as soon as they opened (7am) - but my vet called me at about 6:50am (the emerg vet had faxed their office the report). She couldn't believe all that had happened. She agreed with everything the emerg vet had recommended and told me to bring him on in and they'll do the first cleaning today and he can hang out there today. So I took him on to the vet and picked him up after work. They put him on a new/stronger antibiotic (Clavimox) and cleaned the area. She was really surprised the infected area was so large.
Saturday morning, I took him back for it to be cleaned again. When I picked him up, the tech said the vet said she felt ok with skipping Sunday (I would have had to take him to the emerg vet since my vet is closed). So I'll take him back on Monday morning and then pick him up after work. The tech said hopefully it will continue to do well and he might not need to go every day next week...maybe we can go to every other day.
Poor little guy! He still seems to be feeling pretty good. I think he's a little bothered by all the bandages.
It's so discouraging this infection happened. Tomorrow should have been the day that the staples would come out - that would have been big milestone on the road to recovery. Instead, he has a stupid infection and we're having to deal with an open wound. I just want him to get better and get past this. It's so sad when he looks at me with his sweet little baby face...he seems so confused by what's going on and why all this is happening to him. I feel so awful about the infection - like it's somehow my fault. Bless his little heart, he's been such a trooper through all this. He's so good at the vet's, even after all this. They always comment on how good he is and how sweet he is. Gidget's been wonderful too. She's usually quite hyper and very curious so I was concerned about how she'd do with him while he's recovering but she's been great...I guess she knows that her brother is a little sick so she's got to be careful around him.
Hoping for good news at the vet's this week!! Hopefully we'll get this thing closed up again this week and be back on the road to recovery!!
Showing posts with label infection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label infection. Show all posts
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Back from the emergency vet
I got to pick up Buster and got home a little after midnight. The doctor said they had to pretty much open the entire incision. They cleaned it out and cut away the bad tissue and then "laced it up". I need to call my vet when they open and then take him in daily until they can close it. After it's closed, he'll need a drain to help it heal properly.
He was still coming out of anesthetia when I picked him up but he seems to be feeling ok this morning.
Gidget is not quite sure what to think of all this...
He was still coming out of anesthetia when I picked him up but he seems to be feeling ok this morning.
Gidget is not quite sure what to think of all this...Thursday, July 24, 2008
Nasty infection :(
This morning, I noticed a tiny wet spot on Buster's his shirt (he's been wearing shirts per the vet's suggestion)...it was about the size of a pencil eraser or maybe smaller. I peeked under his shirt and saw a little wet place next to his incision. I called the vet and she said it sounded fine, that some drainage is normal and to keep an eye on it and let her know if it changed.
I got home after work and when I walked in the door, he got up out of his bed to go potty (they use pee pads) and I noticed that half of his shirt was wet. So I freaked out and picked him up to see what was going on. I was having a hard time lifting his shirt up because it was wet and I was worried about the staples (the incision is LONG) but what I could see did not look good....so I just wrapped him up and we jumped in the car and headed to the emergency vet (regular vet's office was closed). I got to the vet and they took him back, cut the shirt off to examine him and finally I got to go back and talk to the vet. Bottom line is that he has a bad infection - apparently it's common for infections to appear suddenly like this (it had been there for a few days "brewing" but just suddenly became visible). She said in these cases, the infection grows underneath and then comes through very quickly where it finds a weak place (in his case, beside his incision where the staples were going into his skin). Of course I had no idea the names of all the meds he's on so I had to go home, get them, and go back. He's there right now and I should be able to get him about 11:00 tonight. They're going to sedate him, open the area, clean it as best they can, and remove the tissue that's bad/dead/dying. They can't really close the area because of the infection and they need to be sure the infection is gone before they close it back up so I'll have to take him in daily to have it assessed and re-bandaged. Hopefully after a few days, they'll be able to close it. The other concern is that there's not a lot of skin there and what is there is already pulled tight so if they have to cut away much because of the infection, that may lead to other problems.
Poor little guy! He's been through so much. He seemed to be feeling ok though which made me feel a little better. He was very alert and sat up in the car (propping himself up with his one front leg).
I got home after work and when I walked in the door, he got up out of his bed to go potty (they use pee pads) and I noticed that half of his shirt was wet. So I freaked out and picked him up to see what was going on. I was having a hard time lifting his shirt up because it was wet and I was worried about the staples (the incision is LONG) but what I could see did not look good....so I just wrapped him up and we jumped in the car and headed to the emergency vet (regular vet's office was closed). I got to the vet and they took him back, cut the shirt off to examine him and finally I got to go back and talk to the vet. Bottom line is that he has a bad infection - apparently it's common for infections to appear suddenly like this (it had been there for a few days "brewing" but just suddenly became visible). She said in these cases, the infection grows underneath and then comes through very quickly where it finds a weak place (in his case, beside his incision where the staples were going into his skin). Of course I had no idea the names of all the meds he's on so I had to go home, get them, and go back. He's there right now and I should be able to get him about 11:00 tonight. They're going to sedate him, open the area, clean it as best they can, and remove the tissue that's bad/dead/dying. They can't really close the area because of the infection and they need to be sure the infection is gone before they close it back up so I'll have to take him in daily to have it assessed and re-bandaged. Hopefully after a few days, they'll be able to close it. The other concern is that there's not a lot of skin there and what is there is already pulled tight so if they have to cut away much because of the infection, that may lead to other problems.
Poor little guy! He's been through so much. He seemed to be feeling ok though which made me feel a little better. He was very alert and sat up in the car (propping himself up with his one front leg).
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