Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Tux update: A small set back

As you can guess from the lack of Tux posts, he's been doing pretty darn good. His fur was coming back in nicely, and things were healing up well.... until a couple of days ago
The incision, a large upsidedown T, had been healing nicely. The stitches are inside (disolvable) and the outside was held together with surgical glue. It scabbed up, and fell off just as it should. A few days ago, I noticed some sores along the top of the lower part of the incision. They were small, scabbed up and look mostly like minor skin irritation - I'm guessing from licking. I put some polysporin on them and they seemed to be healing well.

But last night when I got home from work, Tux didn't come down for dinner. That's not completely unusual... he sometimes takes his time. But when a couple of hours passed, and there was still no sign of him, I went upstairs to investigate.

He was curled up in my pajamas, left lying on the the bed and what I saw made my heart skip a little (my apologies if you're squeamish)
Honestly, it looks way worse than it is. It's mostly just bare, irritated skin - like a friction burn. There's no blood, and it's not weeping (it's a little damp, but that's all). He lets me touch it, so it's not too sore.

My best guess is that it's irritation from licking. And being diabetic, all his energy is going into healing the insides, there's not much left to send toward helping his skin heal. (Skin issues are common among diabetics - people and cats - for this reason). I'm putting some polysporin on it, and I think he's going to have to wear the cone of shame when I'm not home to keep any eye on it. If it doesn't start to clear up soon, it will be back to the vet.

10 comments:

Araignee said...

Oh my.....poor, poor baby.
Daughter just called me upset that her kitty has licked an abscess on her back. I spent the day worrying over Herbie Cat who is coughing up a lung again. Not a good day for kitties.
Hope he is on the mend soon.

Anonymous said...

Poor kitty! Hope it heals up soon.

Rachelle said...

Silly kitty; pity it's so hard to explain to kitty's why they shouldn't lick these things.

Unknown said...

Poor Tux.. and poor you.. You must've gotten quite a scare when you first saw it! I hope he won't lick it too much.. otherwise the cone wouldn't be such a bad idea.. Good luck and take care!

Bridget said...

Poor sweetie! I hope it clears up quickly, and he can be back to being his usual Tux self. Give him a kiss from me!

Seajaes said...

I hope it heals soon.

kathy b said...

Will he wear a tshirt????? Poor baby it does t look too too horrid to me . Might need antibiotics to prevent a staph infection...

lexa said...

Slow healing diabetics... that's when Pumba has to wear his little t-shirts. Keep a shirt on him or the cone, they just love to lick the polysporin off. Hopefully he'll heal fast. :)

Delusional Knitter said...

Aw the poor guy, just on the mend and now this. I bet its itchy from healing and that he is licking it quite a bit. I hope he doesn't need the cone of shame, but it'll be for his own good.

Unknown said...

yes go with the cone so it will heal. it has to granulate and needs to be left alone for that.
sweet kitty.