Anakin Update, Ani had a rough weekend but is doing better now.

 

After I posted Saturday, Ani continued to lick his incisions so I had to put the cone on him (I tried other options like a bib and that donut that goes around his neck but neither worked so he's in the cone) Saturday night he seemed ok but by Sunday morning you could tell he wasn't feeling as well as he had been. He did eat his breakfast though so that was good and I just let him rest. By Sunday night he was acting like he felt worse and didn't want his dinner. I did go ahead and start him on some probiotics to try and help him if he was having a GI upset. I was warned of a possible reaction to the Convenia injection that he was given. So rather to be safe then sorry, we took Anakin to the Emergency Vet Hospital. I explained my concerns to the doctor there and we decided to do some blood work to make sure all was well on the inside. Anakin was so upset about having the blood work that he pooped all over himself :( He got poop all over his incisions too. They had to put a cat cone on him and wrap his front arms to be able to clean him up :( They did a really good job and he doesn't smell at all. Anakin's blood work showed that he was not having an reaction to the Convenia like I was originally worried about. Instead it showed that his White Blood Cell count was very high. They didn't take his temperature until after all of the above happened and his temp was 105 (normal for a cat is 102) So they were wanting to hospitalize Anakin and give him iv, fluids, antibiotics and monitor him. By this time it was already 1:30 am. Anakin was extremely upset being there and my vet would be open in a little over 6 hours. So we decided not to hospitalize him or start him on any other antibiotics without talking to our vet first. We had them give Anakin Subcutaneous Fluids to help bring down his temp and brought him home. I fixed him up in the hall bathroom and within a half hour was purring in my lap. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep as I was checking on my baby every half hour! This morning I took Ani to the vet as soon as they opened. They already had all the paperwork and blood work from the Emergency Vet. Our vet looked him over and took his temp. It was down to 103 and he was acting like he felt better. She says his temp of 105 last night could be due to the fact that they took it after he was already so worked up and agitated. She thinks his white cell count is showing either a low grade infection or inflammation. A low grade infection is could possibly be this incision that is in a fold of skin on his belly and had been staying a little moist. The inflammation could be either from his surgery or from his mouth ulcers. Over all his mouth looks much better. You can see where his tongue is healing. It's no longer dark red all over the front half and now only has some red patches. It is still bothering him and we are still giving him pain meds til it is all healed. We decided to start Anakin on the antibiotic Clavamox. (Ani has been on this before for UTIs and has done well on it) just to cover all the bases, his mouth & his incisions for infection and possible fecal contamination. She also gave Anakin more fluids just to make sure his fever doesn't come back. We came home and he did eat a little breakfast but not much. Over all he looks much better and seems happier. I started his new antibiotic and I also an antibiotic gel to put on his incision that looks infected. Anakin took a nap and then woke up a little while ago. I tried to feed him again and this time he ate almost all of his food and is now purring in his bed :) So hopefully the worst is behind us and he is really on the mend this time. My poor baby has been through enough. I take him back to the vet first thing tomorrow morning. I will keep you all posted!

Edited to add... I have to give tons of thanks and love to my wonderful hubby & mom! Without them I could not deal with all of this very well. They are a great help to me in deciding what to do with Anakin's care and what would be best for him. I love you both so much!!