My older kitty, Spot, had an abscess on his head. We (meaning my vet and me) tried a series of antibiotics, cultures (came back with no growth), warm compresses, and saline flushes to treat it. After two months, we finally did surgery to clean out the area and get a biopsy. That was back in January. The vet said she thought it might be a cyst that had ruptured. After the surgery, he head healed and his hair grew back. We figured it was finally cured.
On Monday, it started to swell in the same area. He went back to the vet, who wanted to wait and see what happened. On Wednesday, his poor head was so sore that he grumbled the entire time I did the compress. On Friday, we did surgery again. The vet cleaned out as much material as possible and stitched him back up. We also did a dental and removed two bad teeth (the teeth are not in the same area as the abscess, so they aren't part of the problem). We put him back on the one antibiotic he tolerates, Baytril, to prevent infection as it heals.
My question is whether anyone else has had problems with recurring abscesses? If this thing comes back again, what should we do? Spot is an older kitty (probably 12) with hyperthyroidism and a heart murmur, so I hate putting him under anesthesia. Is there something else that could be causing this problem over and over again? The vet has no idea what to do if this lump comes back.
On Monday, it started to swell in the same area. He went back to the vet, who wanted to wait and see what happened. On Wednesday, his poor head was so sore that he grumbled the entire time I did the compress. On Friday, we did surgery again. The vet cleaned out as much material as possible and stitched him back up. We also did a dental and removed two bad teeth (the teeth are not in the same area as the abscess, so they aren't part of the problem). We put him back on the one antibiotic he tolerates, Baytril, to prevent infection as it heals.
My question is whether anyone else has had problems with recurring abscesses? If this thing comes back again, what should we do? Spot is an older kitty (probably 12) with hyperthyroidism and a heart murmur, so I hate putting him under anesthesia. Is there something else that could be causing this problem over and over again? The vet has no idea what to do if this lump comes back.