Gilligan
I could think of what it was. Boar glue. It's not very much, and there's no way to know which one it's from or how such a small amount got under his chin. Both Gilligan and Skipper are over 4 years old and I didn't know they still did that at their age. The mineral oil loosened it enough to release his bottom lip. The clump is on his neck and not affecting anything he does. I'm still going to get coconut oil to help loosen it up so we can get it off of him. His breathing sounds better today too, but we've been on this rollercoaster before.
Went to put coconut oil on Gilligan's chin and discovered that it was no longer necessary. The mineral oil did its job. It really softened everything up, including his fur. It's not oily, just really soft. It really didn't take much either. Just a couple of dabs with my finger rubbed directly on the dried out boar glue and overnight to fix him right up. Bet he's happy to be free of that. His wheezing is still coming and going. Seems to be worse at night and when be is more active. He still has his appetite and keeping his weight up,, which is good
Gilligan is still cruising along. The wheezing is intermittent, but not nearly as bad as it was, plus he isn't wheezing as often (knock on wood). It seems to occur mostly when he eats. Even then, it doesn't start until he's almost done and it goes away fairly quickly. Also, it's not as loud as it was. Through all of this, he's never lost his appetite. There's been no lethargy either. He has been as sweet and lovable as ever. I don't have any more antibiotics to give him and I'm inclined to think that he needs a break from them. It's been a week since he finished the Orbax and as long as his wheezing doesn't get worse and continues to improve, I'll hold off on getting more.
Guess I didn't knock on wood hard enough. Gilligan has started the wheezing again and this time he's got some discharge coming from his eyes. It looks white when it gathers in the corner of the eyes, but looks clear when I dab it out. This started up at about 5 o'clock today. I'm putting in a call first thing in the morning to James River Vet in the hopes that I can get his Baytril filled and pick it up tomorrow while I'm in Springfield for my MRI. He ate his treats and night veggies and he's still eating hay. I hope he can hold on until I can get his medicine.
Sadly, Gilligan passed away this morning. I don't know what his wheezing was all about, but I am having doubts about it being an infection. 5 rounds of 2 different antibiotics at different times over the last season months barely helped the wheezing. It sounded like he needed to clear his throat but couldn't. Crackling descibes it better than wheezing. He put up a great fight. He was just over 4 years old. I'll have to watch Skipper closely and I may end up trying to pair him with either Grady or Buddy. I'll post Gilligan's tribute on his chronicle page later.
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