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

[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.

[jenluckenbach]

YOWZA!!! That is horrible! Poor Aroara. But, be strong for her. You CAN do what needs to be done. I had a foster cat with a wound in his throat that looked even worse than that, and every day I peeled away the scab and compressed it with Betadine. And every day he screamed like I was killing him. But, in spite of the fact it looked too BIG to ever close up, it healed beautifully! We both survived the ordeal.

[Moesha]

They said that I would be surprised at how quickly this heals. I sure hope so. I had gotten a couple miles down the road and went back to the office. I had them trim all her nails so that she wouldn't be digging at the hole and ripping up the carpet at the door to go back outside. Of course she is already digging at the door. I do have a cone I could use if I notice her bothering it. She hasn't done anything to it yet. They also said that it wouldn't hurt anything if Morgan licked it. I'm not going to let that happen if I can help it!

[Catty1]

Actually, Morgan licking it might not be such a bad thing - he might give it a good cleaning.

Just look that dear baby in the eyes and know you are helping her heal when you apply the ointment. It will get better day by day and be less gross.

What a trooper she is! No, Aroara, you cannot go out yet. Stay inside and snuggle with Morgan and Mom!

Bless you for sticking with her.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Poor Aroara. That hole looks huge. I hope she'll heal quickly and be a good girl and let you medicate her and put ointment in it. She continues to remain in my thoughts and prayers.

[Moesha]

Here are a few more pictures I just took of her with the real camera. I gave her the antibiotics orally, but didn't put on the ointment. They had done that at the vet's office. I'll try doing that in the morning.
I'll post just a couple not too disgusting pictures and then links to the other ones incase anyone wants to look at them. They give a little more detail and depth to how big this hole in her head really is.





First picture

Second picture

[jazzcat]

OMG!!! Poor kitty!!!!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

poor baby

[jennielynn1970]

Holy crap! That is one huge whole in her head!

Have to say that the pictures you posted through the links look better than the one with the phone. That one was just bloody as all get out! Yikes!

I hope that it will clear up quickly for you and Aroara. She sure seems to be taking it all in stride. What a brave and wonderful girl she is!

Gentle hugs and pets for dear Aroara.

[mamaducky]

Poor sweet little Aroara -- and poor Moesha with her long saga of vet trips!

I've often thought that my cats had holes in their heads, but never quite this literally...!

Hope she's feeling much better soon, and that putting on the ointment isn't too "icky".

Hugs,
Diana

[Moesha]

I've been doing ok with the ointment. It is pretty runny, not as stiff as like triple antibiotic, so I can sort of squeeze it in without having to touch it. She wasn't feeling very well this morning. It might have been remnants of the medicine from the surgery yesterday. This evening she is acting like her normal self. I feel bad that she wasn't given any pain medicine. That kind of hole has to hurt at some point. I wasn't able to contact the vet before they closed at noon today, and she doesn't seem to be in pain now.

[Catty1]

I'm glad she seems back to normal. Maybe the ointment also has a topical painkiller in it?

If the wound is mostly on the 'surface' now, an ointment for pain might be better than one that is in her internal system but really can't reach the wound very well.

HUGS to your sweet girl!

[Moesha]

The name of the ointment is Vetrachloracin. It's an ophthalmic ointment. Nothing that I have read about it says anything about pain relief. Of course most of what I've read says you put it in the eyes too. LOL

[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!!