Happy New Year

The whole gang of furs at my house wanted to wish everyfur and their purrents a Happy New Year. We wish everyone a year full of noms, treats, playtime, naps, love and good health!

Now, I have some troubling news about my sisfur, Lily. Lily was feeling a bit puny for several days before Christmas. She was sleeping more than usual, and mom didn't notice her eating or drinking quite as much as she usually does. Lily perked up on Christmas night and by Saturday morning, she was back to her usual loving, sweet self.

And that's when mom noticed it. The fur beneath her left ear was soaking wet and had some dark gunk in it. Mom got some cotton swabs to gently wipe out her ear and she didn't like what she saw at all. The gunk looked liked pus with dark stuff and a tiny little specks of blood. Our regular vets were out of the office, so it was off to the emergency vet's office.

The emergency vet checked Lily over. The good news is her temperature was normal and her weight was normal. The bad news is she and mom both noticed that Lily's face and neck were swollen beneath her ear. The vet had to shave her furs over the swelling, and Lily was an angel about it. There were no visible bites or scratches. But the one thing she said was the swelling looked and felt like an abscess and would have to be drained.

Lily was given a mild sedative and something for pain, then taken to another room to have the procedure done. While she was back their Lily was also given sub-q fluids. The vet said she was dehydrated. She was also given an antibiotic injection. Lily was sent home with instructions to keep the incision clean but open (by using a warm compress) so that it would continue to drain.

Lily was fine all week. She ate and drank and was back to normal. The only change in her behavior is wanting to stay close to mom. (She is lay in front of the computer monitor right now). She had a follow-up with our regular vet yesterday. He cleaned her ear again. Some dark gunk was in it, but it wasn't oozing like it did the previous Saturday. Unfortunately there is still some infection there so Lily had to have another antibiotic injection.

The troubling news is neither the emergency vet nor our regular vet can tell us how this happened in the first place. The best case scenario would be to have the infection clear up and Lily not have another problem with it. However, she's had this drainage happen a couple of times before. That means it could be a chronic issue with her. The worse case scenario would be surgery to remove her middle ear. Lily is deaf on that side, so losing her hearing isn't the scary part. The scary part is the vet said part of her skull would have to be removed to get to her middle ear.

Please keep Lily in your purrs and prayers that this surgery won't have to take place. She is such a sweet, gentle girl. None of us want to put her through that.