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In Which There's Suddenly Pus
May. 14th, 2013 03:59 pmA couple of weeks ago, Loki got into a fight with another cat. We suspect it may have been Jazz, because Loki has a habit of pushing past Jazz' very obvious 'stop fucking with me now' signals until there's screaming and fur. Regardless of which cat he got into a scrap with, he ended up with what at that point just looked like scratches and a case of the insecure grumps (meaning he spent a few days being more affectionate and present than usual).
So far so good. About a week later we find out that actually, he has a suppurating hole on his head where he's obviously been bitten. So we clean it and keep a close eye on the rest of his scabs and scratches as well. All's fine until yesterday, when I notice he has a fresh looking scab on his bald spot and a lump. There's also a lump on his neck, which doesn't just feel like a large scab. He's also grumpy, unhappy and generally unwilling to be touched. When I insist on checking his lumps, he actually hisses and claws at me. Considering that's completely contrary to the easy going idiot I know and (mostly) love, I book an appointment for today.
This morning, his lump has at least doubled in size and he really doesn't want me to touch him at all. Roll on lunchtime today: we get to the vet and in the examination room, we have to extract a very sulky Loki by removing the lid of the carrier and prising him off the towel. All the normal preliminary stuff ensues, I explain the history and how he's Normally Not Like This, Officer, Honestly. Meanwhile, Loki's opting for the 'play dead' strategy and ready to make a run for it as soon as I relax my hold on him by even a fraction. This lasts up until the vet inspects the lump on his head, at which point the following ensues:
"Oh, yes, that looks abscessed. Let me see if I can remo...ah."
*busy silence*
"Well, that's emptied it. I'll go get him an antibiotics shot."
You see...when a head wound like that abscesses, there's a lot of pressure. Especially if it starts to swell at the rate that this one did (from 'hmm' to 'dude, are you smuggling quail eggs in there?'). So when the vet poked the scab, it pretty much went 'ptoing' and suddenly, there was pus. A surprising amount, just..fountaining up. It was fascinating in a nauseating kind of way.
Loki's now a lot happier (if not on speaking terms with me at the moment) but next time he has one of those wounds, he's going to the vet before he turns into a furry pus fountain again.
So far so good. About a week later we find out that actually, he has a suppurating hole on his head where he's obviously been bitten. So we clean it and keep a close eye on the rest of his scabs and scratches as well. All's fine until yesterday, when I notice he has a fresh looking scab on his bald spot and a lump. There's also a lump on his neck, which doesn't just feel like a large scab. He's also grumpy, unhappy and generally unwilling to be touched. When I insist on checking his lumps, he actually hisses and claws at me. Considering that's completely contrary to the easy going idiot I know and (mostly) love, I book an appointment for today.
This morning, his lump has at least doubled in size and he really doesn't want me to touch him at all. Roll on lunchtime today: we get to the vet and in the examination room, we have to extract a very sulky Loki by removing the lid of the carrier and prising him off the towel. All the normal preliminary stuff ensues, I explain the history and how he's Normally Not Like This, Officer, Honestly. Meanwhile, Loki's opting for the 'play dead' strategy and ready to make a run for it as soon as I relax my hold on him by even a fraction. This lasts up until the vet inspects the lump on his head, at which point the following ensues:
"Oh, yes, that looks abscessed. Let me see if I can remo...ah."
*busy silence*
"Well, that's emptied it. I'll go get him an antibiotics shot."
You see...when a head wound like that abscesses, there's a lot of pressure. Especially if it starts to swell at the rate that this one did (from 'hmm' to 'dude, are you smuggling quail eggs in there?'). So when the vet poked the scab, it pretty much went 'ptoing' and suddenly, there was pus. A surprising amount, just..fountaining up. It was fascinating in a nauseating kind of way.
Loki's now a lot happier (if not on speaking terms with me at the moment) but next time he has one of those wounds, he's going to the vet before he turns into a furry pus fountain again.
