My kitty is back again...sigh...

[Nix]

Well, Mr. Fish has once again had a problem that requires him to visit the vet. I assume all responsibility as I continued to let him frequent the yard...
Yep, AFTER he lost a leg to a car motor, and AFTER he developed FUS....
I still wanted him to be able to go outside and have a good time.
Unfortunately, and against all advise to me about letting him go, he obviously got into more problems whilst being outside.

This time was a fight with another cat, which apparently involved puncture wounds on one of his 3 remaining legs. There were four wounds, which indicated a bite from another cat. I never noticed the wound until he started limping one day, and was brought to the vet posthaste. (Kitty,n ot me!)
It was confirmed that he had an abscess due to the wounds, and wound need to be shaved and lanced, and kept overnight for the procedure.
The next day I visited the vet to bring Mr. Fish home, and was told what kind of wound it was, and given a bottle of antibiotic, (Aerodrops) with instructions to give the antibiotics 2 times a day, (1ml), and to apply a hot compress once or twice a day to facilitate draining.
From the time he got home, Mr. Fish looked FAR worse than he had before I brought him in, which I supposed to be the norm. His front left leg was shaved, scabbed in areas, and obviously very tender. He immediately went to the food dish and water I had brought to my upstairs, sequestered room, and ate with an appetite. I was told to keep him away from our other cats for a while, as they might try to help by licking the wounds, and this might make the problem worse.
He ate and drank, and then proceeded to lay down and fall asleep. I assume this is normal for a cat returning home, with familiar sights and smells, and is due to the stress involved in the visit to the vet.
Yesterday he did not urinate at all, but continued to drink some water, and eat a goodly amount of food. Unfortunately I detected he was running a slight fever, but the antibiotic, coupled with a few more hours sleep, seemed to turn things around. Today I had to work, and was unable to find anyone to monitor him during my absence, I returned home this afternoon to find him sleeping in my closet. He gingerly hopped out to meet me, and proceeded to eat a good helping of food, and with a bit of instruction, use the temporary litter box I have constructed for him. Urine, but no feces. I left him alone for awhile, after trying to get a hot compress on his leg. He will tolerate the compress for a minute or 2, but then get very uncomfortable and angry about the whole business. He is licking the affected area with regularity, which may explain the absence of obvious draining, or so I hope. He is hopping up on my bed from time to time, but still doesn't enjoy using the affected leg. Tonight, he decided to hide under the bed, which I hear is the best place to heal, as well as the best place to not let your owner know if you are NOT healing but worse off.
My questions are these, should I keep the compress on, even though it seems to pain him? How should I go about such an action?
Also, do many current antibiotics make kitties lethargic for a time? I only ask because everytime I give one to this kitty, he gets sleepy and irritable...?
Edit, although I have used the same vet for a few years now, due to Mr. Fish's propensity at laying himself low, I am determined to return to my original vet for both my kitties, who is a feline specialist, and charges far less for follow up work or emergencies. The only reason I changed vets is due to emergencies and hours. The vet I WANT them to go to takes a good 1-2 months a year off, as she is a very popular doctor.

[Traci]

Call the vet IMMEDIATELY, or the other vet who has more experience. Unless you know how to correctly take rectal temperature, you don't know if his fever has reduced, it's crucial his temperature is normal, not high!

Did the vet suture the wounds, place a drain tube or just leave the wounds open? How large are the wounds? Kitty should NOT be allowed to lick the wounds because this only adds to the bacterial infection. An e-collar should have been placed or given you when kitty was released.

Check the bottle of antibiotics, and note the correct name please, post what it is. Notify the vet that kitty seems slightly sedated, and is hiding, withdrawing. This might be a side effect of the antibiotics in which your vet would choose another antibiotic, BUT it might also be due to existing fever and pain, your vet needs to address that!

The compresses are probably not necessary and they should not be hot, but slightly WARM, if you had them hot, no wonder he didn't like it! And, they are only to be applied for a few short moments, gently, so as to help release pus so it can drain. You can't just place a (hot) compress on the area for several minutes and expect him to like this, it has to be slightly WARM, and only for a few seconds at a time, GENTLY.

The problem is the vet probably didn't place a drain tube, so the wounds have to drain somehow. I'm sure that's why he recommended the compresses, but the wounds should have had a drain tube put in place, or sutured enough yet allowing drainage.

See the other vet, but you MUST get kitty re-evaluated TODAY, and tell the vet he might be sensitive to the antibiotics, but to check his temperature!!

No more outdoors, for any of the cats!!

[mamabear]

I'dhaveto say vet asap as well. Please do your kitty the justice of being a good owner and keeping him indoors. he will NOT benefit from being outdoors as most people tend to believe. he will get use to being indoors so dont get suckered into thinking it wont be good for him. We know better and although we can say we take responsibility for what happens when we dont follow good advice our animals suffer for it. Get him a big cat play gym with the money you save from your vet bills after keeping him indoors.

Good luck and please let us know how it works out with the vet. This is not a wait and see thing, vet asap please!

[Nix]

Update.
Mr. Fish improved noticabley the morning after I posted, he started using his foreleg well and seemed to be on the mend. Recently though, he has started limping again, and I suspect the infection is returning, he has a visit with the vet as of tomorrow to re-evaluate the situation and possibly switch the antibiotic. I assume the possibility of a drain is not out of the question as well.
The antibiotic goes by the brands name of AquaDrops. To reassure you, the compress was NOT hot, only slightly warm, as I know a kitty's bare skin is somewhat more sensitive than our own, and I was only able to use the compress a few times, and for a minute or so each time. I suspect the reason a drain tube was not inserted was due to the doctor being somewhat judicious at the time, possible overtly hopeful that the infection could be dealt with using antibiotics only, not sure about that though.
I tried getting him to my regular feline-specialist vet, only to find out that she is out of town once again until the 20th on May. I will have to visit the emergency vet again.
As a side not to Traci, from previous posts I am starting to get worried at the possibility that there are possibly numerous vets out there who may not be looking at an animals situation as closely as they should. I've asked some of the questions you have given me in the past, and while I got answers, they seemed kind of vague. Almost like the vet was thinking to themselves, "Uh-Oh, another internet wannabe vet is questioning the expert...AGAIN". I will continue to ask questions, and if you can tell me a good way of checking kitty's temp, I would like to monitor him from time to time, as I know a fever in no light matter to a kitty.

[Traci]

Taking feline vitals.

It could be he wanted to see if kitty would respond to the antibiotics, but the infection could be deeper than he originally surmised, even though it sounds like he cleaned and debrided the wound. Infection can go much deeper than debridement, so he always has to take that into account.

Discuss changing the antibiotics, particularly if he is still being lethargic...it could be the antibiotic, but it could also be deeper infection, fever activity, pain (abcesses are extremely painful).

Don't be surprised if the vet wants to re-open the wound to clean it again, maybe debride again, this will give him some indication if granulation is forming, or if pus is trapped, unable to drain, etc. Systemic infection is always a risk with abcesses that don't respond quickly to antibiotics, or proper wound care at home. Ask about a possible injection of Pen-G if necessary, he may have given that during the procedure anyway but it might need to be repeated. However, do discuss the potential of a penicillin reaction, or if kitty has ever had any sensitivities to penicillin-type antibiotics, in which you'd want to try to avoid.

Again, an e-collar is important, the more kitty aggrivates the wounds by licking, the more bacteria that will be introduced, the less chance of real drainage (and if he ingests the bacteria, it's going to circulate to some degree)