Guest lanielovesgreys Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 We heard a GSOD in the backyard the other day and found Laika submitting to a very angry and very fat cat in the back yard. That thing had to be 30 pounds. We brought her in and the cat had really gotten her good. The inside of her ear had a big tear and she had a nice puncture wound on her front left leg. At first she was walking just fine, but then she stopped putting any weight on it and it really started to swell. We have antibiotics and painkillers (dog drug hoarder here) on hand and we were hoping we could hold out for business hours so she could see our regular vet. But we didn't want to wait, so we took her to the e-vet. He rx'd a beefier antibiotic, rimadyl, and tramadol. She's much better and using her leg again. My only concern is the swelling. It's in the wrong place. There's some around the wound as I'd expect, but there is some on the opposite side of her leg. Here, let me illustrate with some pictures. You can see the puncture pretty clearly in the first pic. I know it's tough to see, but the swelling in the 2nd picture looks like her elbow. But it isn't. It's a little pocket of fluid. It's not exactly on the other side of the leg. It's above her elbow on the back and the wound is below the elbow in the front. I can tell it's reduced since yesterday because her skin seems pretty loose and it swings around when she walks. But it still is a weird place to swell. Do you think it's because the wound was so close to the joint? Maybe it swelled everywhere and as it's reduced it's just left a little pocket on the inside of her leg? It's just so weird and I'm not sure whether or not this warrants bringing her in again. She's doing SO much better than yesterday, but I've got half a mind to not take any chances close to that very important joint. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfish Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I think it looks as if the cat's tooth actually punctured the joint capsule and it's been leaking synovial fluid. But I could be way off base ... Personally, I'd get the vet to take another look. Though if the swelling is reducing it means that the antibiotics are working and that's good. Cat bites are NASTY. At first I thought you were going to say the swelling was above the wound which would fit in with 'cat scratch fever', but that's obviously not the case here. Good luck with her! Quote The plural of anecdote is not dataBrambleberry Greyhounds My Etsy Shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest goofydog Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Poor baby. If the cat bit her hard enough to create that puncture wound the cats bottom teeth probably had decent contact with the site of swelling. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatterseaBrindl Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Keep a very close eye on it. Cat bites can be very serious. Quote Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi. Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie), Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 My guess is the fluid traveled or there may be another smaller puncture that healed over before it was noticed. I would try to ice the area (frozen bag of peas works well) and take her temp to see if it's elevated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lanielovesgreys Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Well, now the weird pocket of swelling is gone. And my AWESOME vet just called. Apparently the e-vet sent the charts to my regular vet and she came across them today and called to follow up and see how she was doing. She said to watch for redness and "angry" swelling. She gave me a couple of home remedies to speed the healing process. I LOVE my vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Greyt news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lanielovesgreys Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 So it's healing well. She's still a bit limpy. I think she may have had an abscess that just burst. It suddenly started really leaking. I've got a call into the vet. I think it startled her more than anything. She wanted to lick it RIGHT NOW but can't lick through her muzzle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Is she still on antibiotics? If not you may want to ask to have the wound cultured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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