AnimalCare

Thanks to a well-behaved Google Maps, we found out way to the vet’s and back home safely today!!  For someone as severely directionally dyslexic as me, this is quite an achievement.

So, how are Tiger’s abscesses today?

Thankfully, according to the vet, it is showing signs of healing…quite well too.

I sent a photo to the vet this morning and he already said it looked better.

Upon a physical examination this afternoon, it certainly appears that the two wounds are healing now.

What a relief!

It might look pretty bad to the untrained eye, but it’s healing and that’s good.

The vet flushed the wounds with saline and unlike yesterday where the liquid came out from the other wound through the fistula (tunnel) under the skin, this did not happen today. This probably means that the wounds have started to close up inside.

However, today, the vet noticed two soft masses lower down Tiger’s body. The vet said he did not detect these masses yesterday, but they could have escaped his eye and touch as we were focused on the major wounds.

The two masses are soft but upon closer examination, the vet found puncture wounds on both. But the puncture wounds have already healed. The hypothesis is that these could have been (again) self-inflicted wounds which happened at least 2 weeks ago. Cats heal pretty fast superficially, so the puncture wounds have closed up but inside, there is still some infection and maybe some pus. If this is the case, let’s hope the oral antibiotics will take care of it. Another possible hypothesis is that the fluids in these two masses result from the wounds. Maybe the fluids flowed down and settled into these two masses.

Whatever the cause is (which is unknown), the vet said to wait and see. So, this whole part was shaven as well to enable better monitoring.

After the flushing, povidone iodine was applied.

We came home with a bottle of saline, some syringes and another bottle of povidone iodine as our supply is running low at home. We will be doing the flushing ourselves at home, twice daily. And I’ll keep the vet updated with photos on a daily basis.

We’re home!

Apart from a bit of mewing, Tiger was really very, very well-behaved in the car.

The welcoming committee consists of Daffodil, Ginger, Tabs and Heidi. Tabs is the one who is most concerned. Tiger has been Tabs’ best friend ever since Tabs found her way to our home (in the old neighbourhood).

Two shaven parts, but never mind, the fur will grow back.

Some Cubgrub as a reward for being such a good cat.

Tiger did not throw a fuss at all, throughout the journey as well as at the vet’s during the procedure.

Throughout the last 2-3 weeks when I noticed his hunching, Tiger had been unable to eat from a bowl on the floor. I had to put it up onto a stool or box. It must have been due to the abscesses on his back which escaped our notice. At least, now we know why.

Even now, he eats better when the bowl is lifted up to his mouth.

Our next trip to the vet’s will be in a few days’ time. Again, this depends on Tiger’s healing and progress.

As of today, it’s good.

Thank you very much for everyone’s kind wishes for Tiger’s recovery.

Over the last 2-3 weeks, we’ve noticed Tiger hunching quite a bit, but thought nothing about it. His appetite had been good and he seemed happy enough.

“Leave well enough alone and don’t be paranoid” – I thought this would be a good motto to adopt. Trips to the vet are always very stressful for the animal.

This morning Tiger threw a fit and there were blood stains in the floor. Then I saw blood seeping out from a wound on his back. Just one wound.

It looked rather scary.

I quickly cleaned it with hibiscrub and applied povidone iodine on it. Then, I took a photo of the wound and send it to Tiger’s vet (I have been updating him regularly on Tiger’s seizures).

The vet replied soon enough and said it looked bad.  But today was Sunday and not only that, most vets were at a seminar (including Tiger’s vet).

The vet gave me instructions on what to do – use a syringe and flush the wound with diluted povidone iodine.

I did that and sent another photo to the vet. He said it looked better now and I could bring Tiger to him once he got back to his clinic. I also gave Tiger a capsule of Transfer Factor as an immune booster, just to play safe.

Once the vet got back to his clinic, we brought Tiger there and the vet said the wound actually looks worse than expected. He shaved the area and discovered another wound (which I would never have been able to see at all since it was all covered with fur).

The vet flushed the first wound and the liquid came out from the second wound, indicating that there was a fistula (tunnel connecting both wounds) under the skin.

I thought I was going to faint. In fact, I might have fainted too if I hadn’t quickly sat down and lay across the many chairs.

I guess I was in shock as Tiger had shown absolutely no indication of any pain and I did not notice any wounds at all under his fur. I knew he would bite his back during a seizure but that had been happening for more than a year now. I sometimes check his back, and I did too, but I guess I checked the “wrong place” (higher up, which was where I noticed he would bite). These infected wounds were slightly lower down.

The vet said judging from the extent of the wounds and the discolouration of the skin (some dead tissue around it), the wounds had been there for about 2 weeks. That sounded about right, from the time we noticed Tiger hunching.

The hunching. I should have known the hunching wasn’t normal.

Tiger is now on oral antibiotics (Clavomox) and an ointment for the wounds.

Tomorrow, I will need to take him to the vet’s again to gauge if there is any improvement 24 hours after the flushing. If there is indication of healing, I can then do the twice-daily flushing at home. The vet also explained that povidone iodine works better when it is diluted (1:10) with water. When not diluted, it’s in molecular form, but when diluted, it’s in ionic form (more potent). Never use tincture iodine (it contains alcohol and does not work), always use povidone iodine.

The above is only a sharing. If your pet has any similar ailment, please consult a veterinarian for professional advice.

When first discovered this morning.

I put the e-collar on him so that he won’t be able to bite the wound. As you can see, the wound is lower down. I’ve been checking the area at the back of his neck where he is usually spotted biting. That area, there are usually dry scabs and they all looked fine. Little did I know he had wounds at his lower back and it had already been infected for at least 2 weeks. And he showed no signs; his appetite was as usual, he appeared well enough.

Only the hunching. The hunching was the sign and I didn’t think much of it. He wasn’t hunching all the time also. And I was checking the “wrong place” (higher up). Sigh…

The vet did say nobody could have known there were wounds under the skin and all that fur. If not for today’s bleeding, the wounds would have remained undiscovered. Now, that is very scary….

The vet said I should flush it with 1:10 povidone iodine to get the “gunk” out. So, the picture above is after my own flushing at home.

It looks like three wounds, but it’s two major wounds (the middle one isn’t as bad). When the vet flushed out the first wound, liquid came out of the second one. That was really scary.

The tissue around it had already turned necrotic and would (should) drop off.

The vet said the wound is expected to look worse in the next few days because of the dead tissue surrounding it, but that is okay.

For a normal cat, these kind of wounds might take a week to heal, but for Tiger, bring FIV+, it might take 2-4 weeks.

We came home and after the wound was dry, I applied the ointment (Polybamycin). It forms an oily layer on top of the wound to protect it and it also has some antibiotic properties. I thought a tshirt might help, but the vet said the abscess needs ventilation to heal, so I took that off and put him back on the e-collar.

We thought we would give him some time off the e-collar and Tiger went to hide.

Back on the collar.

Another trip to the vet’s tomorrow.

Hopefully, there will be signs of improvement.

We are really grateful the vet opened his clinic to attend to Tiger. Thank you so much, Doctor!