Cat of the Month - April 2024 - Tiger
CAT OF THE MONTH APRIL 2024
Already one-third of the way through the year and rapidly approaching the Vet2Cat’s 5th anniversary party, the team has been busy fitting in party planning among our house visits this month.
This month’s special kitty patient is…
TIGER
In true cat style, 11-year-old tabby and white Tiger decided to have a run in with another cat while his hoomans were away on holiday. Luckily for Tiger and his mum & dad, he was being well looked after by a lovely couple of friends. They noticed his face had swollen up on one side, so arranged for us to come and see him; the night before we arrived the large abscess ruptured, spilling pus and blood all over the place! Poor Tiger was really looking worse for wear, with multiple painful, infected bite wounds all over the right side of his head, right near the eye, and he was dehydrated. After Face-Timing with his hoomans in the Maldives to explain the situation, we gave Tiger a sedation to allow us to clean up the wounds and give him some fluids. Some antibiotics and pain relief, healing gel and a silly (soft) cone of shame, and he seemed to be healing up nicely. But all was not as good as we initially thought, as the swelling returned and burst two more times, leaving large open wounds where the skin had died off completely. Re-visits to clean and reassess the wounds and take a swab for bacterial culture revealed a nasty infection with bacteria that were not killed off by the first lot of antibiotics, so a change of medications was required. We also recommended the use of magic Manuka honey which has great natural antibacterial properties. With time and TLC Tiger has made a full recovery and I’m sure once his face fluff grows back, he’ll be back to his usual handsome self. He’s certainly become a bit warier of going outside, so hopefully no more run-ins with the perpetrator!
