Pet Insurance ... yes or no?

[janie]

here is today's drama



i've been really upset and panicky all day because lou was very obviously off colour - moping and depressed and only ate 25g of biscuits yesterday (usually 100 - 125). yesterday evening his right ear was annoying him so i was wondering if i'd have to take him to the vet today. he had no interest in going outside and when i encouraged him, all he did was eat grass and come back in. he was also lip smacking (nausea) so all signs pointed to a relapse.

so this morning i spoke to james who said leave it till 3.30 to see how he is and be prepared for him to be admitted. he didn't think his ear annoying him would be enough to make him so poorly so was planning on taking blood samples to see if his pancreas had flared up and to keep him in if necessary.

anyway, when we got there, he decided to look at his ear first and found a huge abcsess. it was too big to leave so he had to lance it - fortunately he took him away so i didn't have to watch. lou was already upset and angry and hissing like mad when he was examined. his temperature was very high, 40.5, so that would be enough to make him as poorly as he is. i was chatting to the nurse afterwards and she said louis threw a good few choice phrases at them

he's had an antibiotic injection and he's sleeping it off on mama's bed. he did eat a few biccies when we got home. although obviously it's horrible to see him in pain, i was hugely relieved that james thinks this is the reason he's poorly. if he's not better by tomorrow morning he does want to see him again though. i didn't think to ask about the nausea so hoping it was just because he was feeling so ill generally.

i also had to check in with the specialist vet yesterday who wants me to cut down the dose of steroids for 2 weeks and then reduce it more for another 2 weeks then if all goes well doing that, to call him then. this was yesterday lunchtime and when he asked 'how is he?' i replied 'he's doing great'. little did i know. i have to inject him this evening which i'm not looking forward to because he's grouchy but james said to give him the usual dose tonight and start cutting down on thursday.

always something.........

 

[minim]

Poor Lou. That must have been very painful.
He should be feeling much better now the abscess has been drained.

 

[SparklyBarbs]

Oh poor Louis and you janie, that looks so so painful. The nausea would all come with the abcess and the temperature, as i'm sure you know.
Hopefully now it'll all settle, now its lanced. They are so painful things, can;t believe your luck. Good luck with the injection, you'll be grand x

 

[Flying Pigs]

I can't believe it Janie - what rotten luck Louis is having. It's a good job he's got you to look after him. Hope you are both feeling better tonight.

 

[BusyMum]

Ouch..that looks dreadful, I do hope poor Louis will soon be feeling very much better - hugs from auntie C x

 

[Tinkerbelle]

Rotten luck but hopefully the abscess will respond well to the anti bs. Poor Lou.

I think cats are probe to abscesses because they heal really quickly and often get yuck trapped beneath the skin.

Alf is on my lap purring like a small furry motorbike but he keeps bumping my phone with his head which is his way of saying stop fiddling with that thing and start stroking me!

 

[Itchy]

I'm sorry to hear that Louis has been so poorly. That abcess could have been growing for a while, and hopefully he will get relief now. You have really been through the wars lately Janie, I really hope things improve for you both.

 

[janie]

thanks girls - i passed your good wishes on to louis

i just did his injection and although he was wary of me approaching him, he was good as gold. purred all through it :heart:

itchy - i asked the vet about that because the only fight i was aware of was 2 weeks ago but he said no, it would have happened in the last couple days. he could tell by the size and depth of it. we are well used to this routine as he's a real bruiser, so i was worried about it when i let him out but because i didn't know he'd had a fight and because he was showing signs of nausea, the vet and i both feared a relapse. it was such a relief that it was "only" an abscess.

 

[Frazzled]

Just what you need Janie, he should feel a lot better now it's been drained hopefully. I was going to ask at the end of week if he still has to have the tube, but it sounds like he does. Hope he's OK tomorrow.

 

[janie]

Just what you need Janie, he should feel a lot better now it's been drained hopefully. I was going to ask at the end of week if he still has to have the tube, but it sounds like he does. Hope he's OK tomorrow.

frazzled - do you mean the feeding tube in his neck? that was removed 3 weeks ago which is why he can now go out. didn't take the little perisher long to get in trouble though. although it's drained, it's so swollen and angry looking. really hope it looks better tomorrow :sad:

 

[Disenchanted]

Poor boy's really been through it. I was going to ask what causes abscesses but I see Tinks has already provided the answer and, presumably, an infection like that - on top of everything else - would make him nauseous.

Hope he's feeling better and better with each passing day.

Lots of hugs from his virtual aunties. x

 

[Mam]

Poor Janie, you could have done without this extra worry I'm sure. Fighting cats and abscesses bring back lots of memories for me too, unfortunately, with Louis being a bruiser as you say, there's little you can do to prevent this happening. I hope our little scrapper is feeling a bit more perky this morning and enjoying his breakfast.

Hugs from me.
((((((xxxx)))))

 

[janie]

disenchanted - it's to do with the shape of the fangs. because they're long and pointy, bugs get deposited deep down, then as the fangs are withdrawn, the wound closes up over the pocket of bugs further down. it's happened once or twice with other cats i've had but with louis, this is the seventh time in 6 years, he's had an abscess but the first one that's had to be lanced. it's always made me wonder about the efficiency or otherwise of his immune system which is one of the worries of him being on steroids (dampens the immune response) and one of the reasons i was nervous of letting him out.

the vet explained to me years ago that cats like louis with wounds round the front end are real bruisers who get stuck right in and they see them all the time. the more timid cats who run away, get a bite at the back end and they see them rarely.


oops - forgot today's report. he's full of beans and woke me up first thing demanding to go out. he's scoffed his breakfast and is out looking for more trouble. obviously with that horrible wound i'm worried but.......hey, that's louis. constant worry

i've had a word with the nurse because it's still quite swollen but she said she wuld expect that because it had so much pus in it and they would have bruised the surrounding area, squeezing it out. so as he's well in himself, she's not concerned

 

[Frazzled]

Sorry Janie, I must have missed/forgotten the bit about the tube.

Glad he's better today, whenever mine have had an abscess the vet has said to bathe with salt water to try and keep it open for a couple of days in case there's more muck to drain. Jasper has always let me do this, even squeeze a bit!, but it does depends on the cat! Hope it heals quickly.

 

[BusyMum]

that explains Jess than Janie..she had a bite at the base of her tail not long after we had her, we've always called her a wimp! There seems to be a cat mafia around here tho..often I'll hear blood-curdling noises and it will be Jess sitting on the window sill in the back room, and one of the mafia sitting outside looking at her, or actually with paws up on the wall looking in..they don't half torment her! OH said the other night she shot thru the cat flap like the hounds of hell were after her, spun round to face the flap, tail bushed up, so I guess one of them had been chasing her yet again...

I hope Louis is a bit better today?

 

[Disenchanted]

the vet explained to me years ago that cats like louis with wounds round the front end are real bruisers who get stuck right in and they see them all the time. the more timid cats who run away, get a bite at the back end and they see them rarely.

I'm assuming that the cats we had when I was growing up were complete and utter wimps because I can't recall any of them having abscesses - unless, of course, they were the neighbourhood thugs!! I can well believe it of one - most originally named Tiddles - he didn't like humans much and his party trick was to toast spiders on a low level radiator before eating them....

I've assisted friends with the salt water bathing that Frazzled mentioned but His Nibs is an indoor cat so the problem hasn't arisen for us, fortunately.

Glad to hear Louis is perkier today.

 

[Tinkerbelle]

Alfie normally has cuts and scrapes around his face and chest. So he must be more of a bruiser than I thought.

Harvey has only ever had two scrapes. He had an abscess on his ear when he was little. I reckon Alf lamped him one. Then at about 18 months old he ripped his ear. Since then he hasn't had a mark on him. But if you watch him outside all the other cats give him a wide berth. He's a really big cat. He is over a metre long from nose to tail and although Alf is heavier Harvey is much bigger.

 

[janie]

frazzled - good idea. the vet didn't mention it but he did the last abscess he had so i have bathed it. he was very interested in licking the cotton wool - he must like salt? he was a very good boy and let me do it for a minute or two then decided he'd had enough. it looks less angry today but still a big lump. hopefully it will look smaller tomorrow cos i really don't want him to have to go through that again.

 

[janie]

I'm assuming that the cats we had when I was growing up were complete and utter wimps because I can't recall any of them having abscesses - unless, of course, they were the neighbourhood thugs!! I can well believe it of one - most originally named Tiddles - he didn't like humans much and his party trick was to toast spiders on a low level radiator before eating them....

I've assisted friends with the salt water bathing that Frazzled mentioned but His Nibs is an indoor cat so the problem hasn't arisen for us, fortunately.

Glad to hear Louis is perkier today.

eeeeeekkkkkk uke:

 

[Frazzled]

Tinks, I would imagine the lovely thick coats of your two help protect them.

My cat before Millie and Jasper had the most appalling abscess on his back by his tail. By the time it became apparent, it needed surgery which had to be left open, too gruesome for details - but it was amazing how quickly the area healed and closed up. If I hear a spat now that may involved either of mine I keep a close eye on them for a few days!

Millie. who has a thick coat, has never had an abscess but one day she was limping. Turned out to be a claw puncture affecting the muscle of her rear leg, she's a big cat but the biggest coward of them all lol!