Our poor girl has had a rough 2+ weeks. I’ll spare everyone the photo Em sent me early this morning; suffice to say it’s the sort of image used in pleas from rescue organizations on behalf of abused and neglected animals. The left side of her face was so swollen and misshapen, it was impossible to see her eye. Unlike the animals featured in rescue commercials, Pandy has been to the vet repeatedly since her symptoms began. Those symptoms have changed rapidly by the day, so it’s not surprising it took time to understand where the source of the problem lies. The fact that her teeth appear healthy, with no decay, was no help in diagnosing the abscess, either. The vet is sure that’s what it is now, so today he drained a lot of the infection (which built up over the weekend—she didn’t look this way at her Friday appointment) and prescribed an extremely strong antibiotic. Last week’s culture hasn’t come back yet, but this should be strong enough to deal with it. If the swelling starts going down by tomorrow, then it’s working. If not, there are still other options. Once the swelling is down, the offending teeth will be removed, and that should be the end of this.
It’s amazing how sweet and appreciative Pandy has been through all of this. She’s rare, in that she asks for help instead of finding a secluded spot and hiding her illness. Not that any of her symptoms could be hidden for long, but she’s made helping and keeping an eye on her easy. She’s very forgiving, too. It’s not pleasant being forced to swallow pills, and she’s not fond of the pain meds either. Despite that, we’re still friends after. I appreciate that so much. I can just imagine what would happen if it was Star! Forget asking for, or accepting assistance. She’d go find a quiet corner and rip the abscess open herself. When I was a kid I had a cat who did that. We lived out in the country, and had a lot of outdoor cats. He was perfectly fine after, horrifying as that sounds (and looked 😳). It wasn’t a tooth abscess though, it was from a cat fight, so that’s different. Still, I wouldn’t put it past Star to try. I’m thankful Pandy doesn’t have an overactive independence gene, like her younger sister!
The swelling hasn’t increased any since this morning’s visit, so I take that as a good sign. Her attitude is so great, and that’s also a good sign. As long as the swelling starts lessening, then tomorrow I’ll get back to finishing “Reclamation”. It’s too distracting when there’s a sick fur-kid, but after today I feel encouraged we’re on the right path and she won’t be, much longer.