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Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: bunglycat on June 13, 2010, 15:10:58 PM

Title: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 13, 2010, 15:10:58 PM
I had just got up and noticed a fresh spot of blood on the floor .
I checked Smartie nose as he has a polyp but it wasn''t him.
I saw Sophie around as well (Winston and Fifi were outside) so picked her up to check her over.
I checked her bottom and right at the side was all this gunge :sick: :sick:  and cloudy blood - a lot of it .
I quickly grabbed the kettle and put some cooled boiled water in a cup with a tiny bit of salt and bathed it -there was loads of stuff coming out (i only groomed her and checked her over on wednesday and it wasn''t there then !)
Anyway, i gave her a nsamox tablet and some drops ( can''t remember what they are -painkiller though ) then rang the vet to check what else i should do .
He said i had done the right thing -2 give 2 more drops today and for the next 3 days and 2 tablets a day for the next 4 days after today -which i had already guessed.
Anyway, i was going to take her in for a general MOT this week anyway , so i will now book her in for tomorrow night and get it checked out .
Please send healing vibes for her -it must be very painful where it is ( i got a scratch right down my lip and chin for my trouble !)
She is 16 years old -poor old girl .
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 13, 2010, 16:09:17 PM
Lots of good wishes for Sophie  :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Shirley on June 13, 2010, 16:25:11 PM
Awwww poor baby! Hope she'll soon be well  :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Mark on June 13, 2010, 16:49:10 PM
Poor Sophie. If the pus & blood is coming out, that can only be a good thing and will help the pain no end. It is before absesses burst they are painful.

I guess the appt is to double check she is OK and that she hasn't got a temperature.  :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Janeyk on June 13, 2010, 18:26:58 PM
Aww poor girl, hopefully she'll be lots better soon xx
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Rosella moggy on June 13, 2010, 20:46:42 PM
Oh Gill.  Poor Sophie  :care: :care:  If you can keep wound open and get rid of as much of the nasty gunge as poss I think that's best you can do for her.  Bathing often is therefore a good thing... for her at least, maybe not for you though  :hug:

Hope it clears up quick.  Could she have been bitten by one of the others perhaps? 
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: purrdy1 on June 13, 2010, 21:32:25 PM
gentle healing wishes and hugs for the darling girl!...Poor baby, it must be sore! :( I can remember the vet having to deal with a similar thing on Tiggers rear end..tigger went BERSERK at the ver who was trying to examne her....it did make me laugh when he told her "now now...FUR DOES NOT HURT!" :rofl:

I m sure she will heal quickly under your expert care! love to you and yours and dearl little Soph xxxx
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 13, 2010, 22:14:34 PM
Its seems a lot better tonight after bathing it again ,she has also had her painkilling medicine and antibiotic tablet and is asleep in the katkabin.

The vet ask if she could have been bitten -but its highly unlikely . She doesn''t go out that much , just a totter into the garden if its sunny and she doesnt bother that much with the others either. She is usually asleep on the window ledge or in a bed somewhere as she is getting an old lady now.

I will be taking her to the vets anyway just for her mot and he can look at it while she is there.
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Sam (Fussy_Furball) on June 13, 2010, 23:01:57 PM
Ahhhh get well soon Sophie xxxxxx
Title: Re: Sophie has an abscess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 14, 2010, 23:06:00 PM
I took her to the vets tonight just to be on the safe side and he says he wants her in to investigate in on Thursday ?! He said he isn''t sure its an abscess  and of where it is !?
I ask about her age and the anasethtic and he said her heart was strong -but she is 16 and its a worry.

Now, tonight when i got back i gave her the second tablet of today and also the pain killer , then i decided i would bathe it again as i had some cool boiled water in the kettle.
I started bathing it and then this white hard stuff all came out  :sick: :sick: - i am assuming this is now definately an abscess and that was the core of it .

Does this mean she doesn''t have to go "under" now - i was thinking of ringing the vet and explaining whats happened tomorrow .
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 14, 2010, 23:31:27 PM
I would definately ring the vet, abcess centres in my experience have never been hard, wonder if it could be a burst cyst?

Kocka had a cyst that burst and she had to have an op to remove it and was 18 yrs old with a thyroid and kidney problem and was fine. It became an emergency cos flies got at it and it needed 10 plus staples to close the would which was on her side.

I was really worried about the staples coming out and how she would react during the process cos she hated vets but it was simple, she didnt even wince and it healed great. The vet thought that stapling it would be best for her.

I hope that its good news whatever he says.............if the right anesthetic is used they are now very safe for older cats  :hug: :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 14, 2010, 23:42:45 PM
My description isn''t that good i suppose -it wasn''t hard as in solid -it came out like a white paste -sorry  :sick:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 14, 2010, 23:47:24 PM
No problem but cysts are usually runny  :sick:

I would definately speak to the vet  :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 14, 2010, 23:48:58 PM
I dont know if its possibly but could even be an ingrowing fur stalk or even a fatty lump?
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Janeyk on June 15, 2010, 07:05:13 AM
It could be a cyst - some cysts have harder matter inside, sending hugs to Sophie and hope it's sorted soon x :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Millys Mum on June 15, 2010, 15:35:31 PM
The few abcesses iv seen havnt had anything pastey in there  :sick: I wouldnt cancel her op, he must be concerned to want her in that quickly so best to sort her sooner rather than later  :hug: as gill said its much safer for oldies now, and if you can have her on fluids it will also help.
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Rosella moggy on June 15, 2010, 16:32:53 PM
I've not heard of pus in an abcess appearing white before Gill.  I have no experience of cysts.  Suggest you ring vet and explain what has happened. 

Whilst it's impossible not to worry about older cats and anaesthetic, the anaesthetic they use nowadays is so much safer.  I think it's because they are able to wake cats up so much more quickly these days.  Sending some more  :hug: :hug: :hug: to Sophie
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: sheryl on June 15, 2010, 20:34:03 PM
An abcess has a core/root and until that comes out the abcess wont normall clear up - when Charlie recently had his the vet explained to me that the reason I needed to keep bathing and squeezing it for a couple of days was to make sure the core was out - sure enough on the second day a hard lump of puss popped out (bit like a giant human blackhead  :sick:) after that the abcess started to heal quite quickly - I think that is maybe what Gill means?
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 15, 2010, 23:15:33 PM
I have rung the vet and he still wants to see her Thursday morning , but he will then examine it and assess whether he is going to investigate further .
It seems cllean enough to me now and i have bathed it twice again today and there is nothing else in it .

Poor Sophie will not be able to eat after 6pm though tomorrow , just in case ! Thats hard enough as it is -will have to put her in the spare room for the night i think !

I am wondering if she may have been bitten by some kind of bug between Wednesday and Saturday for this to have happened -it does look like 2 tiny holes in her skin !?
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 15, 2010, 23:37:45 PM
2 holes sound like another cat or animal not a bug.

Lots of good wishes for Thursday and suspect that he may not think it necessary to opereate now but maybe able to give you a clue what it was and what caused it.  :hug: :hug:

Just a thought, you dont have rats around do you?
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 16, 2010, 00:03:35 AM
Not inside Gill :rofl:
To be honest she really doesn''t go outside that much -its only for an hour or so and i am usually out there too -but i suppose living where there are fields its remotely possible - but i wouldn''t have thought so - hope i know more on Thursday !
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 16, 2010, 02:11:09 AM
Hope not inside lol

But it does sound like an animal bite and where there are fields there are rats often,

Remem ber Tina that I rescued who is with Moira............she was being eaten alive by them and when I picked her up she had a chunk out of her tail.

It was only when Moira took her to the vets that the vet found bites all over her sides and it was discovered that she was bitten by rats.
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Rosella moggy on June 16, 2010, 07:08:21 AM
sure enough on the second day a hard lump of puss popped out (bit like a giant human blackhead  :sick:)

Well you live and learn Sheryl.  That's all I can say....whether you want to or not  :sick:  :evillaugh: 

So glad it's cleared up so much more Gill  :)  I suspect you're right that vet will only need to check it out but sounds like it was nasty so perhaps better safe than sorry.  My money still on cat bite  :shy:  but that's prob coz I can't bear the thought of rats biting cats  :(

Ruby sends a  soothing  :care: to Sophie
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Shirley on June 16, 2010, 07:39:07 AM
My Chuch had a rat bite last year and the only way the vet knew that was because there WASN'T two holes, just one, about 1/4" (?) wide, as they don't have fangs!  He was also very, very quickly!   :(

Hope Sophie is feeling better now and won't need an op!   :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Rosella moggy on June 17, 2010, 13:10:07 PM
Hope all goes well with today's vet visit for Sophie Gill  :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 17, 2010, 18:16:25 PM
Well, the vet decided as all stuff was out of the abscess and it looked clean there was no need for any further investigation .
Still no idea how she got it though !?
 She is fine and eating for England after having no food from 6pm till 10.30 this morning !
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Millys Mum on June 17, 2010, 19:22:49 PM
Glad its cleared up without an investigation, they can get an abcess on the anal glands  :sick:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Mark on June 17, 2010, 19:31:09 PM
Glad it doesn't need any more treatment  :)

I had the same thing with Kylie once. I noticed her behaving oddly and she hid under the bed. As soon as I realised, I took her to the vet. They took her temperature and said that it was healing and there was need for meds. Although it was 8 years ago, the Islington vet charged me £50 for that  :tired:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 17, 2010, 22:59:17 PM
So pleased she is ok and eating well  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 20, 2010, 21:44:59 PM
Sophies abscess is now fine and healing and she is okay in herself - but - she has had the runs now for a good few days (around 5 days ) i mentioned it to the vets and he said it could be the antibiotics and to stop them as she had them for the 5 days anyway .
She finished them on Wednesday evening -should they be out of her system now if it is them.?
The vet gave her a long lasting steroid jab on thursday -would that have any effect ?

I have given her pro kolin the last 2 days but its made no difference .
I am thinking of ringing the vet again tomorrow !
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on June 21, 2010, 01:52:49 AM
lacto b should clear her but can take a while,
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 22, 2010, 16:07:55 PM
Sophie still has the runs and nothing has cleared it, so took her to the vets again today and bloods have been done -which is just as well , so we can see if she has any other problems going on -he will do thyroid, kidneys and one or two other things and ring me tonight with the results.

She wasn''t too bad when he did blood although it took two of us to hold her , then i ask if he could clip  her claws , i said she is a bit frail -so she then tried to bite me and the vet twice , to show she isn''t  :rofl:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Rosella moggy on June 22, 2010, 21:08:50 PM
So pleased abscess cleared up as sounded a nasty one  :scared:

Always like to hear of fighting spirit in poorly puds Gill  :)  Have you heard from vet re Sophie's results yet?  Am I right thinking thyroid test will be sent away?  :shy:

Obviously hope the runs clear up very quickly  :hug: :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Gillian Harvey on June 22, 2010, 23:03:18 PM
Sophie still has the runs and nothing has cleared it,

I expect you tried this already, but if not, could try just plain cooked chicken for a few days to see if that helps? then slowly reintroduce normal food. Hope the blood results come back ok.  :hug:
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 22, 2010, 23:08:03 PM
All tests done and got the results - everything is fine -kidneys ,thyroid, liver etc.

She has a bacterial infection (i think thats what he said) in her intestines - so got to pick up some Baytril tablets for her tomorrow ( neighbour is picking them up for me to save my petrol as its a 30 mile round trip ) .
She has to have them for 5 days -2 per day and then ring him and let him now how she is - so will update him on Monday as they finish Sunday evening.

Not bad results for a 16 year old  ;D

She isn''t that keen on chicken Gillian- she always wants what i have for tea though ! She also doesn''t like fish at all .
She isn''t going a lot its  only once or twice per day but runny (sorry)
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Mark on June 23, 2010, 00:10:23 AM
I would keep her on the pro-kolin while she is on the Baytril - give it to her a couple of hours after the tablets - don't you think?
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Desley (booktigger) on June 23, 2010, 08:05:33 AM
I didn't think you were supposed to do pro-biotics while on anti-biotics, I thought you were supposed to wait till after the course was finished?
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Mark on June 23, 2010, 08:18:41 AM
That's what I thought originally, but it isn't the case. As long as you give the AB enough time to go into the system - ie 2 hours, you can take/give probiotics to rebuild friendly bacteria colonies in the gut - bearing in mind they aren't absorbed; they stay in the gut.

This article doesn't mention when to take but it does mention something else important. "Probiotics have a special role when antibiotics have been prescribed. They reduce the chance of other infections settling in the gut after the antibiotic has upset the patient's usual gut flora. Implanting beneficial bacteria may prevent these antibiotic induced gut changes leading to serious disease including toxic mega colon and colitis."

This one says to take them during and/or after an AB course
http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2008/12/22/if-you-need-to-take-antibiotics-this-winter-consider-probiotics-too/

It wouldn't be a good idea to take them at the same time as the AB would kill off the good bacteria in the probiotics as it does the ones in the gut.

One thing I do keep coming across lately is people saying most of the good bacteria in probiotics are killed off in the stomach. It was just confirming something I assumed happened anyway, so I looked for an enteric coated version for myself. The coating won't dissolve in the acidic environment of the stomach but it does melt in the alkaline environment of the gut. The ones I take are a really high dose. As yet, I haven't seen an animal version.
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Desley (booktigger) on June 23, 2010, 08:23:18 AM
That's very interesting, thanks MArk
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Mark on June 24, 2010, 12:13:38 PM
I was amazed at how many things are affected by probiotics, from cancer to cholesterol http://www.innvista.com/health/nutrition/biotics/proborg.htm

I think this might be my "area of interest" at college.
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: bunglycat on June 24, 2010, 18:06:07 PM
Well , Sophie has done a normal poo today  :yayyy: :yayyy: :yayyy: and seems perfectly okay .

Surely the baytril wouldn''t have worked that fast  :Crazy:- she only had the first one last night and the second this morning !
Title: Re: Sophie has an abcess on her bottom
Post by: Mark on June 24, 2010, 18:27:45 PM
I doubt it would have but I guess it is wise to make sure the bug has definitely gone. Glad she is feeling better  :hug: