Allie - abscess update

[k9Karen]

I took her back to the vet this morning, and the penrose drain was removed. Since it's Saturday, saw a different vet - the same one that did Angel's bladder surgery. Dr. N is almost certain this was a spider bite. It still looks nasty - cellulitis - very swollen and red in places. He wants me to apply warm compresses at least twice-a-day, clean the surrounding area with peroxide, and make sure it continues to drain. There is one abscess pocket still obvious and he flushed it with, I think, a chlorhexadine solution and also gave her another injection of Baytril. She is now on Clavamox for 14 days. The culture showed a beta-lactamase positve coagulase-positive staph (probably S. intermedius) that was sensitive to Cipro (applies to the Baytril) and amox/clav, but not amoxicillin alone. They expect it to remain swollen for a few days, but, I'm to return if it gets any worse. Her temp was 101.8, which they were pleased with. She's eating normally, but seems a bit low-key. At least she's now at my feet as usual and not so mad at me!

So, hope for the best. I'm glad I'm off all three days this weekend so I can keep an eye on her.

[Traci]

Strange....it was exactly one month ago, that you had her in for what you thought might have been a pinched nerve in the shoulder, she was favoring her leg....think there is a connection here? I wonder if it really is a spider bite, if it was related to the incident last month, and if so, why did it take this long to show obvious symptoms? Spider bites usually present clear symptoms within hours to days, particularly visual tell-tail signs (circular abrasions, appearing like small abcesses, etc)

[k9Karen]

I had wondered about that too Traci. We checked her from head-to-tail for any type of obvious injury during the 'pinched nerve' incident. She was completely better within 1 -2 days with that, and there was no lingering problem. This is also on the other side. She was favoring the left leg then, and this is on her right shoulder. The vet did tell me that there was a small abscess at the site - something they didn't see until it popped and drained on it's own the day after the surgery. This came on very, very quickly (it was there one day, and swollen like crazy the next), but did not have the ulcerated area I would associate with a spider bite. I haven't ever seen a spider bite in a dog, but I've seen several in humans (including one my husband had many years ago before we were married). The first vet actually said it looked like a 'cat abscess' - that it was unusual to see one like this in a dog. He asked if we had cats, thinking it might be cat-related (Pasteurella multocida infection). To the best of my knowledge, I don't think Allie has ever even seen a cat, and since it grew out the Staph, not a Pasteurella, obviously it wasn't that. I would also suspect she would have had obvious injuries if she'd been stupid enough to get into an altercation with a cat.

I don't think we'll ever know for sure, but she is doing very well, and the swelling has gone down significantly. It's just a little over an inch in diameter now, and is smaller every day. Looks like she's on the road to healing, and that's what's really important!!