Keds Medical Thread - not eating on own

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maggieP

Post   » Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:55 pm


I cleaned off the scab and wiped away the white stuff. There doesn't seem to be any discharge within the abscess wound; the white stuff is mostly on the surface. In fact the hole is almost sealed off and I don't see any discharge in it, so there's not really much to flush. We stopped flushing after her last follow-up (around 4 weeks ago) per vet advice. I sat with her with the warm compress for a bit and she ate some pellet mash, water, and a few pieces of hay. Still eating lots of her favorite veggies, too.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:00 am


If it still smells bad, the infection is likely sealed inside. If you don't feel comfortable trying to get at the source of the pus, your vet should be able to clean it up for you. This unfortunately means you may need to do more flushing until it can heal from the inside out. From what I understand, abscesses can have a kind of wall or membrane that keeps producing pus. I believe this is surgically removed when a vet selects to close and suture a source of infection. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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maggieP

Post   » Tue Nov 24, 2020 4:44 pm


Keds is fairly stable and her weight is good and slightly increasing. We had another tooth trim... not sure it helped much as her incisors are pretty wonky and lopsided again. But she seems to be managing well on her own right now.

Abscess area doesn’t seem fully healed, still scabbing a bit, but there’s no more white stuff at the moment.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Nov 24, 2020 7:54 pm


Is the odor gone? If so, that would be a very good sign.

Thanks for the update.

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maggieP

Post   » Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:51 pm


There’s a bit of a “yeasty” smell if I take the scab off. It ends up growing back in about a day, then no smell. We did chloramphenicol for over a month so it seems unlikely there’s still infection? Vet seems to think it was OK on her last checkup.

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Lynx
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Post   » Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:43 am


So the scab never really heals over so it appears fully healed?

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maggieP

Post   » Wed Nov 25, 2020 12:51 pm


There’s a bit of a crustiness that appears daily, but comes off very easily. Underneath that it looks like healed puckered skin.

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maggieP

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2021 4:03 pm


Keds had another dental procedure in March. Her incisors were severely diseased and at least one was completely dead, so was recommended to remove them all. Abscess area was cleaned up and there is some of the mandible exposed, but it seems to be healing better now. We had a culture and added enroflaxcin in addition to the continued chloramphenicol. It took her a bit to adjust but she is eating very well again and stable at about 800g. Still leaner than we would like but activity level is great and she has started to eat hay again. Veggies have to be cut up or in long thin shapes (carrot peel, cilantro) for her to grab them. So we seem to be making progress right now. It will take time for the abscess area to fully heal but it seems better than before this last procedure. Hopefully since she is eating hay again, she won’t need another molar trim for awhile. We think she’s about 7 this year.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:44 pm


Teeth issues can be a real challenge. Removing all the incisors is radical but it sounds like you didn't have much choice. Have you tried soft moist balls of Critical Care that she might be able to pick up with her lips? How does she manage with no incisors?

I definitely hope the infection can be completely cleared up.

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maggieP

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:42 pm


Yes, she can do small bites of Critical Care and we supplement that periodically. She eats hay and pellets just fine at this point, and her weight is increasing slowly over the last month. It did take a bit but she seems well adjusted and more comfortable than previously.

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maggieP

Post   » Thu May 27, 2021 10:17 pm


So it’s been up and down this year but Keds is having severe weight loss again this month, mostly in the last 10 days. Doing Critical Care and Meloxicam again but vet thinks there’s not too much else we can do at this point. We are off all antibiotics. Tried the wet hay and the pellet mash today and she seemed a little interested. Seems to be straining and her behind looks swollen. Sometimes squeaking painfully and there was some blood in urine on and off. Vet thought maybe UTI so we were doing enroflaxcin again up until yesterday.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri May 28, 2021 9:06 am


I am so sorry to hear she is doing so poorly. She has had so many medical issues. Have you considered an xray? I suspect there may be a stone. They can be painful. I don't know what kind of prognosis she has.

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