Aroara's saga continues...update #77(with graphic picture)

[jenluckenbach]

I am almost positive that the "plug" is a result of the pus hardening. The warm compress will be good, also I would put some antibiotic cream in the hole that is open. She may require another round of antibiotics, maybe another type, to get rid of ALL the infection.

[Medusa]

Jeez, the way you describe it sounds like a warble but there are two holes instead of one and I'm sure your vet would've recognized a warble. You don't see movement of any kind in that hole, do you?

[Moesha]

I would try hot compressing it. Holding a very warm (but not too hot) wet cloth over the wound will help bring infection to the surface. If you have a bowl of warm/hot water nearby you can keep re-warming the cloth to hot compress the two holes. Are the two holes still supposed to be open at this point? I remember reading in an earlier post that they were but not sure for how long. Hot compressing will soften scabs and make it easier to open the area as well. And it will probably feel soothing for her.

I've tried the warm compress a couple times. She tolerates it while complaining under her breath. When I'm done and let her go, she goes and attacks Morgan. LOL

I am almost positive that the "plug" is a result of the pus hardening. The warm compress will be good, also I would put some antibiotic cream in the hole that is open. She may require another round of antibiotics, maybe another type, to get rid of ALL the infection.

That thing in the second hole is stiff. I used the warm compress and then once I thought it would have softened I tried to pull it out. I couldn't do it. The second hole is covered over this morning. I think I'm going to take her back in. Yippee. LOL

Jeez, the way you describe it sounds like a warble but there are two holes instead of one and I'm sure your vet would've recognized a warble. You don't see movement of any kind in that hole, do you?

I don't see any movement at all. I tried taking another picture of her head, but it didn't come out clear enough for anyone to see what it was without having seen her in person.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep ya posted!

[Medusa]

[QUOTE=Moesha;2036809] I don't see any movement at all. I tried taking another picture of her head, but it didn't come out clear enough for anyone to see what it was without having seen her in person. [QUOTE]

I should've said that by movement I meant more like can you see something pulsating? When you said that it's at the surface, that sounds exactly like a warble. Nothing to mess with. Since you say you're going to take her back in, please ask your vet about it.

[Emeraldgreen]

[QUOTE=Medusa;2036820][QUOTE=Moesha;2036809] I don't see any movement at all. I tried taking another picture of her head, but it didn't come out clear enough for anyone to see what it was without having seen her in person.

I should've said that by movement I meant more like can you see something pulsating? When you said that it's at the surface, that sounds exactly like a warble. Nothing to mess with. Since you say you're going to take her back in, please ask your vet about it.

Oh gosh, that is so creepy but I wonder if it is that! I'm not certain how warbles get in but I think it can happen by eating things that are hunted? Can they get in through a wound? Maybe there was originally only one hole and it got in that way and is now causing a second hole? I once found a mouse at our old house in the barn that the cats had killed. There was a hole in it's side and a big warble next to it.
I sure hope it's just the infection that needs to be drawn out and cleaned up though. Poor Aroara.

[Medusa]

[QUOTE=Emeraldgreen;2036919][QUOTE=Medusa;2036820]

I don't see any movement at all. I tried taking another picture of her head, but it didn't come out clear enough for anyone to see what it was without having seen her in person.


Oh gosh, that is so creepy but I wonder if it is that! I'm not certain how warbles get in but I think it can happen by eating things that are hunted? Can they get in through a wound? Maybe there was originally only one hole and it got in that way and is now causing a second hole? I once found a mouse at our old house in the barn that the cats had killed. There was a hole in it's side and a big warble next to it.
I sure hope it's just the infection that needs to be drawn out and cleaned up though. Poor Aroara.

An old vet told me that a warble is caused by a fly laying eggs on the cat and the egg hatches, causing the worm's head to be at the surface of the opening. It's rare for a cat to survive this unless the wound is cut and warble extracted. I had a cat years ago that had a warble but I didn't know what it was and thought it was simply her pulse that was throbbing but it was the head of the warble. I had been treating it because we were newlyweds and living off our fingernails but when I saw that it wasn't getting better, I took her to the vet but it was too late. He couldn't get the warble out. Miraculously, Frisky lived but, as I said, my vet told me that it's rare that they live through. They pass it from their bodies but it usually kills them first.

[Moesha]

I took her back, and it was filled with pus again. He wasn't sure what the thing was in the other hole, but it definitely wasn't something living or pulsating. He knocked her out and said he would drain it and cut out the thing in the other hole. When I got there he told me that when he got in there he decided to cut the whole thing out. Now instead of two small holes, she has one huge hole in her head. He didn't stitch it or bandage it. I have to put ointment in it twice a day. I don't know how I am going to do that because it turns my stomach to look at it. She's back on the Clindamyacin twice a day also. I sure hope this is the end of this story.

Here's a blurry picture of her head. I took it with my cell phone. I thought about taking another one with the real camera, but it grosses me out too much right now. I think you can get the idea though. Ok since Jenn and my friend Jenny both told me that the phone picture is more graphic than the others, I'm making it an attachment so you don't have to view it if you choose not to.

[critters]

Medusa, I like your thinking on this, and I would've bet you were right!! We don't call them warbles down here, although I'm having a brain fart on what we DO call them, and I've seen them several times in ferrets, rabbits, and cats. I think the doc would've seen the varmint had it been there, though. It looks to me like the hole is already improving, poor little girl!!

[Taz_Zoee]

Well, the hole is looking much better, at least in the pictures. Poor Aroara. I hope she is feeling better soon.