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Brief scare today

dandelos

Well-known member
Skippy had been complaining about his butt for the past 2-3 days whenever going potty, but we just though it was his anal glands needing to be expressed (he rarely gives us the scooting sign). However this morning I noticed the left side of his butt had a large (fig-sized), hard bump, and when pressed he would whine.

At the vet the technician took one look at his butt and said "this will need a doctor's examination". The doctor came in and said she thought it was either an abscess (due to his anal gland), but could also be a cancer/tumor/growth. She then took him to another room (I haven't seen him since!) where she shaved his butt area and presumably probed inside of him to determine the nature of the mass. The screaming/yelping told me he was not having a good time at all. It was only a few minutes but waiting there it was hard to even go through the possibilities if the mass was determined to be cancerous. Eventually though, there was good news, as the mass was indeed an abscess. Phew!! I eventually decided to leave him there overnight for the procedure.

The doctor just called to say she finished the procedure and though "there was a lot of pus", everything went well. The next challenge will be helping him through the next few days while the remnants of the abscess drains out. Skippy's not going to be happy to see the 'cone' again, that's for sure. Also glad that we signed him up for PetPlan a while ago, so that should cover most of the surgery costs.

Looking forward to picking him up tomorrow morning and glad that it wasn't anything more serious!
 
Awe, poor Skippy! So glad you got him in asap when you noticed it...my friends cavalier had an abscess that they did not notice and it burst (leading to full glad removal!)...so you caught it just in time. Poor wee thing. Will be thinking of him and his recovery!
 
Thanks for the well-wishes everyone!

Picked him up today and he did look miserable. The wound looks so tender and raw, and he's shaven in some spots and knotted....we have to 'drain' once every 12 hours. Was also given some antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills.

The tech said that even with the cone on Skippy was scooting a little to try to get to the wound, so she suggested that I do something which I never thought I would do in my life -- I bought some baby diapers, cut a hole for his tail, and put them on him. It's actually a fantastic idea, because I think he hates his cone more than the diapers, so with just the diapers on and no cone he's able to sleep in peace. With both on he was just sitting there whimpering.

On Monday we have to bring him back in to get his 'drain' (it's really a short rubber tube sticking out of 2 incisions to keep them open) removed. Hope he starts feeling better by then.



 
So glad to hear it was an abscess, rather than something else. He looks more comfortable in the second picture! Give big hugs from Claire and I.
 
Well we're relieved to report that after 2 weeks his incisions have all but closed up and he's back to his normal self again! Thanks all for the well wishes and hope no one ever has to go through the same thing!

Here are a couple of pictures I took right after brushing him earlier on.


 
I am so glad he is feeling better!! What an uncomfortable thing to have to go through.
Love the photos, he is so handsome!
 
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