Finally, we found the “culprit”!!

After wondering, searching and combing the garden with a fine-tooth comb for a few days, we FINALLY found what could have caused the puncture wound on the bottom of Indy’s paw.

It must be this and it accounts for everything.

Ever since the Blue House was brought into Bunny’s Garden, Indy would stand on top of it and stick his paw out through that gap to “fight” with Ginger.

If you put your hand at the spot where the yellow arrow is, you will feel a very sharp protruding tiny bit of metal. Very tiny, but enough to cause a puncture wound. Indy must have touched this piece of metal and that is why I saw him running back from here after the war cry that evening. Luckily it isn’t rusty.

Husband has already hammered it flat now so that it won’t cause anymore harm to Indy (or Ginger)!

Indy seems to be much better today. He consented to the cold compact for five whole minutes without fighting it off. The inflammation has really gone down now, finally! After 6 days! The paw looks to be at its normal size again.

Hopefully by tomorrow, it won’t swell up again. The trouble with these infection is that it takes time for the pus to build up and for the swell to be visible. Luckily Indy is already on two antibiotics now. Metrogyl takes care of the anaerobic bacteria. So even if the bacteria has gone into somewhere in the body where there is little oxygen, this antibiotic will hopefully take care of that too.

Just one tiny piece of metal could cause so much havoc!!

Ginger’s broken claw is probably unrelated to this. I checked that today – the claw has fallen off and the pad is no longer inflamed. He should be fine.

Boys will be boys!!!  They get into so much trouble, don’t they?

I would still have to press out the pus or whatever fluids there is each time I clean the wound. We do not want it tunneling inwards. We want to get it all out.

From Google:

A tunneling wound is one in which channels have formed beneath the top layer of skin. Several things can contribute to development of a tunneling wound, including infection and slowed healing. The tunnels aren’t always visible, but these deep wounds are a serious concern.

And Indy’s initial wound still tunneled despite already having the wound cleaned and being on a targeted antibiotic for wounds. Scary, isn’t it? Luckily it “decided” to tunnel through the path of least resistance to the top of the paw and not inwards.