Sebastian's tooth root abscess
The vet just called -- Sebastian's troublesome tooth is out! She said it came out much more easily than she expected, because it was VERY diseased. Lots of thick gunk came out with it -- she said it was much worse than it had looked when she drained the abscess. So she's confident that removing that incisor was the right course of action. He's awake, and they're going to see if he'll eat a little hay, and give him some Critical Care, and we can pick him up in about an hour. They did only have to take the one tooth, so that's good. She thinks he'll heal up just fine. He's lost a little more weight, but we're sure it's from the stress of having the abscess drained, and then having to have the wound flushed multiple times a day. And I'm sure his mouth hurt! Poor little buddy.
Thanks for all the advice and commiseration, I really appreciate it!
Thanks for all the advice and commiseration, I really appreciate it!
He's on gabapentin for pain -- the vet wants to avoid meloxicam if possible because he was diagnosed with an ulcer last month. (He's had a tough time recently!!) He seems to be doing well on it. He's eating fine, snuggly, almost as cheerful as usual. Once he heals up from the tooth extraction she'll evaluate him, for the ulcer.
Sebastian seemed to be healing up from his tooth extraction just fine, and then the other day, we noticed that his chin had a swollen lump on it that was painful to the touch, and... the abscess is back. The vet tried to examine it last night, and it burst as soon as she touched it, so it got an unplanned draining. She's doing a culture, and today she called and said she wants to sew it open, have us flush it out again, and see how he does. I'm just in tears -- flushing it out was so stressful and painful for him before. I hate that he's going through this all over again, and we don't know why the abscess came back.
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Yes, supposedly the walls of the abscess generate the pus.
I am so sorry it has come back. I totally sympathize with you about the stress and worrying about the pain.
I have read about antibiotic beads being used in some difficult situations. An infected oral cavity, for example. The beads are made by hand and can use stronger antibiotics since they are not administered orally or systemically.
I am so sorry it has come back. I totally sympathize with you about the stress and worrying about the pain.
I have read about antibiotic beads being used in some difficult situations. An infected oral cavity, for example. The beads are made by hand and can use stronger antibiotics since they are not administered orally or systemically.
So, we asked the vet about doing the antibiotic beads, and she said that it would actually require a much more involved surgery -- she'd have to make sure she got in there and got every single bit of affected tissue out, and she doesn't want to go that route yet. She did say, after she marsupialized his chin yesterday, that it looks a lot better in there than it did the last time, so she's optimistic, and doesn't think his remaining lower incisor is affected. Fingers crossed that this round actually clears out the abscess, and he doesn't have to go through it again...