Well...my 17 almost 18 year old Gump will be getting some dental work done Wednesday...
He has developed a lump under his right jaw....took him in and they checked his teeth, and he had some visible decay, along with a slight odor from that same ear...and a slight fever....and that swollen lymph node...no other nodes are swollen at this time so it is localized to that one node along his jaw...
He had the extended shot of antibiotics for the dental infection and fever and is doing fantastic...eating well...in a good mood...except the lymph node has not shrunk in size...
So Wednesday morning....they will do bloodwork to check his kidney/liver etc....hopefully be able to put him under...take care of his teeth....aspirate the lymph node and send that fluid in for testing to see if it is "just" an infection from bad teeth....or more.....and what we need to do from here
I am praying that the dental and aspiration takes care of it for him...and that he comes out of the anesthesia with no bad affects from it....considering his age
My fear is aftercare pain medication...after what happened with Smokey a couple months back...I am worried....even with going to a different vet...I am leery of what will happen!
Gump
Re: Gump
Are you taking him to the competent vet?
And, why aren't they aspirating the lymph node BEFORE doing dental work? One typically does not want to put pets under anesthesia when there is a known infection. Is this because he wants to do everything in one day, or what?
And, why aren't they aspirating the lymph node BEFORE doing dental work? One typically does not want to put pets under anesthesia when there is a known infection. Is this because he wants to do everything in one day, or what?
..........Traci
Re: Gump
As for pain meds, and assuming by Smokey, you mean your amputation kitty, you didn't expound on that, so no way of knowing until those questions were asked/answered.
Metacam is a common med to give kitties with dentals. However, you need to be very proactive and go over the method in which they give the metacam. Usually, it is one injection after surgery, and the next day, start ONE small dose orally each day, for three days.
That said, an alternative pain medication should be considered for Gump, given his age. You really need to discuss this with the vet BEFORE any medications/injections/oral dosing instructions are opted for.
Metacam is a common med to give kitties with dentals. However, you need to be very proactive and go over the method in which they give the metacam. Usually, it is one injection after surgery, and the next day, start ONE small dose orally each day, for three days.
That said, an alternative pain medication should be considered for Gump, given his age. You really need to discuss this with the vet BEFORE any medications/injections/oral dosing instructions are opted for.
..........Traci
Re: Gump
yes, it was the metacam that Smokey, the amputee, got two injections of....after Smokey's death, I am very leery of it...I will talk to the vet about other pain relief...is there one or two you would recommend?
Yes, there is a new hospital in the city with lots of great reviews and references from friends so we are going there...
Can they aspirate without him being under?!....I figured they would need him knocked out for that too, so go ahead and do the dental while he was out at one time...I will ask about that further when I take him in Wednesday morning...
But the antibiotic injection was to hopefully clear up any infection before putting him under for the dental...and since I have always had a difficult time getting meds into him, I opted for the injection last week...
I had hoped that the lymph node would go down at least a little since the antibiotics, but it has not...which worries me...but I am not going to get upset until the results from the aspiration come back and we know for sure what is causing it
Yes, there is a new hospital in the city with lots of great reviews and references from friends so we are going there...
Can they aspirate without him being under?!....I figured they would need him knocked out for that too, so go ahead and do the dental while he was out at one time...I will ask about that further when I take him in Wednesday morning...
But the antibiotic injection was to hopefully clear up any infection before putting him under for the dental...and since I have always had a difficult time getting meds into him, I opted for the injection last week...
I had hoped that the lymph node would go down at least a little since the antibiotics, but it has not...which worries me...but I am not going to get upset until the results from the aspiration come back and we know for sure what is causing it
I would think with proper and gentle restraint, an aspiration could be done quickly, at least for a preliminary look under a slide, then send sample to lab. But it sounds like they've already made an appointment for Wednesday for the dental, so, there's not enough time to wait now.
Since the swelling hasn't come down yet, it is prudent for the lymph node aspirate - and in this instance, as long as they determine Gump is a good candidate for anesthesia, then it can be done with the dental. Of course you first want to do pre-anesthetic bloodwork, maybe even a CBC to sort of get a feeling if it is leaning toward infection.
PLEASE, ask the vet to check Gump's heart and lung sounds adequately as well.
Ask the vet for his opinion on oral buprenorphine for dental pain. It can be given by injection at the hospital, then in oral doses at home. At time of release, be CERTAIN that you only speak to the VET (NOT the tech) about what meds were given THAT day, and WHEN TO ACTUALLY START oral doses at home. Usually, when pain med injections are done in the hospital on the same day, additional pain meds are not given until the following day, it depends on the medication. When you get home, write down on a sheet of paper the days and doses to give, and cross them out when you give them.
Ask the vet, if he agrees with buprenorphine, to dose it out in individual syringes for you, with strict instructions on what day to start, and how many times per day. It is usually only twice a day (once in morning, once at night) - bupenorphine can cause a sedative effect, which makes the cat sleepy, so vet will dose accordingly.
Here's prayers that lymph node is only responding to an infection and nothing serious, give Gump lots of hugs and kisses from Aunti T!!
Since the swelling hasn't come down yet, it is prudent for the lymph node aspirate - and in this instance, as long as they determine Gump is a good candidate for anesthesia, then it can be done with the dental. Of course you first want to do pre-anesthetic bloodwork, maybe even a CBC to sort of get a feeling if it is leaning toward infection.
PLEASE, ask the vet to check Gump's heart and lung sounds adequately as well.
Ask the vet for his opinion on oral buprenorphine for dental pain. It can be given by injection at the hospital, then in oral doses at home. At time of release, be CERTAIN that you only speak to the VET (NOT the tech) about what meds were given THAT day, and WHEN TO ACTUALLY START oral doses at home. Usually, when pain med injections are done in the hospital on the same day, additional pain meds are not given until the following day, it depends on the medication. When you get home, write down on a sheet of paper the days and doses to give, and cross them out when you give them.
Ask the vet, if he agrees with buprenorphine, to dose it out in individual syringes for you, with strict instructions on what day to start, and how many times per day. It is usually only twice a day (once in morning, once at night) - bupenorphine can cause a sedative effect, which makes the cat sleepy, so vet will dose accordingly.
Here's prayers that lymph node is only responding to an infection and nothing serious, give Gump lots of hugs and kisses from Aunti T!!
..........Traci
Re: Gump
Thinking of Gump and for a quick recovery, let us know how he's doing today, ok? Give him lots of kisses!
..........Traci
thanks Traci.....well...we wait....
his bloodwork, according to the vet, was surprisingly good for his age...blood count was good, no infection, organs in good working order with all numbers in normal ranges (I did not ask for specific numbers as I was at my son's house...his wife was in an accident this morning and he did not want her alone and he could not get off of work)...no fever...so he went to surgery this afternoon....
Dental was not as bad as suspected...no teeth needed to be removed, a few missing (and I knew that from a few years ago)...no pus or infection...so just a good cleaning....
Ears looked good....all other lymph nodes show no enlargement....
Upon aspiration of the lymph node under his jaw, the fluid appeared to be just blood...no visible pus or discoloration...they aspirated as much as would come...and it is off to the lab...so....we wait...
the vet said given his age, we will decide the next course of action after we know what we are dealing with...but would not elaborate on specifics or make assumptions...
He is staying overnight and I will go get him in the morning...
Any ideas just from what you know as to what we might be dealing with? I hate waiting and not knowing...I am glad the vet did not assume or guess at what it could possibly be...because I know a guess can be way off base either way....
the only other thing I can think of is that when I did take him in the first time, that same ear had a slight foul odor, like cabbage, which I also had the vet check...but no earmites detected on the slide...and no pus or anything out of the ordinary on the swabs, so he just cleaned his ears and I thought no more of it...but, thinking now, if he had had an ear infection that I was not aware of...until the smell...could it have been festering in there for a while, enough to cause this...and the shot he got a couple weeks ago took care of the ear infection...and the node was reacting to that?
I am hoping for the best....but as always...expecting the worst
his bloodwork, according to the vet, was surprisingly good for his age...blood count was good, no infection, organs in good working order with all numbers in normal ranges (I did not ask for specific numbers as I was at my son's house...his wife was in an accident this morning and he did not want her alone and he could not get off of work)...no fever...so he went to surgery this afternoon....
Dental was not as bad as suspected...no teeth needed to be removed, a few missing (and I knew that from a few years ago)...no pus or infection...so just a good cleaning....
Ears looked good....all other lymph nodes show no enlargement....
Upon aspiration of the lymph node under his jaw, the fluid appeared to be just blood...no visible pus or discoloration...they aspirated as much as would come...and it is off to the lab...so....we wait...
the vet said given his age, we will decide the next course of action after we know what we are dealing with...but would not elaborate on specifics or make assumptions...
He is staying overnight and I will go get him in the morning...
Any ideas just from what you know as to what we might be dealing with? I hate waiting and not knowing...I am glad the vet did not assume or guess at what it could possibly be...because I know a guess can be way off base either way....
the only other thing I can think of is that when I did take him in the first time, that same ear had a slight foul odor, like cabbage, which I also had the vet check...but no earmites detected on the slide...and no pus or anything out of the ordinary on the swabs, so he just cleaned his ears and I thought no more of it...but, thinking now, if he had had an ear infection that I was not aware of...until the smell...could it have been festering in there for a while, enough to cause this...and the shot he got a couple weeks ago took care of the ear infection...and the node was reacting to that?
I am hoping for the best....but as always...expecting the worst
Re: Gump
I'm not sure lymph nodes would react to ear infections, but anything is possible. I would think however, that the swelling would have receded by now had it been a bacterial infection. Just how swollen is it?
So, was a CBC done? You said no infection seemed likely on bloodwork - the CBC is the blood testing that looks for infection, inflammation etc - do you know if it was done, and if the vet said THOSE results looked ok? I'm assuming it was done (til you know otherwise), so if all was normal, I'm not getting why infection or inflammation didn't seem obvious on the results).
How is Gump feeling? Did he recover from anesthesia well?
So, was a CBC done? You said no infection seemed likely on bloodwork - the CBC is the blood testing that looks for infection, inflammation etc - do you know if it was done, and if the vet said THOSE results looked ok? I'm assuming it was done (til you know otherwise), so if all was normal, I'm not getting why infection or inflammation didn't seem obvious on the results).
How is Gump feeling? Did he recover from anesthesia well?
..........Traci
Re: Gump
I asked them to do the full blood workup to check for everything, including a full panel to make sure no infection was showing....since he had shown a fever at his last visit, I wanted to be sure there was no lingering, underlying infections...
the vet seemed a bit stumped as well as to what could be causing it to just look like blood when no sign of infection was present on blood tests....
I did not get to see him...after spending the morning and into afternoon with my DIL, my mom has a pulmonary appt at 2:40 and we did not get out of there til after 4:30 and the vet closed at 5:00....he called me at 5:20 to let me know what he had found and that Gump came through fine and was recovering....I will go get him tomorrow morning and bring him home to love on as much as he will let me!
The swelling felt HUGE to me...it got to be not quite as big as a shooter marble maybe (?) at the very back of his jaw, under his ear...but it was not affecting his eating, drinking or breathing...and it was rock hard...
My concern is also if it has been filling with blood...where from...and will it refill again? Hopefully lab work will show us some answers....and we will know more what to do...or if I need to worry more!
the vet seemed a bit stumped as well as to what could be causing it to just look like blood when no sign of infection was present on blood tests....
I did not get to see him...after spending the morning and into afternoon with my DIL, my mom has a pulmonary appt at 2:40 and we did not get out of there til after 4:30 and the vet closed at 5:00....he called me at 5:20 to let me know what he had found and that Gump came through fine and was recovering....I will go get him tomorrow morning and bring him home to love on as much as he will let me!
The swelling felt HUGE to me...it got to be not quite as big as a shooter marble maybe (?) at the very back of his jaw, under his ear...but it was not affecting his eating, drinking or breathing...and it was rock hard...
My concern is also if it has been filling with blood...where from...and will it refill again? Hopefully lab work will show us some answers....and we will know more what to do...or if I need to worry more!
Re: Gump
Can you remind me when he was seen before today?
Fever is indicative of some sort of infection, so the source of infection might not yet be totally cleared, and may or may not be indicative on the CBC at this point (if the infection is low to mild at this point). But, it's unusual that indicators like allergic reaction, infection or inflammation was absent from the CBC - might even be a good thing, but have to wait for lab results.
Have you noticed anything different in the last couple months, i.e.: decreased appetite, weight loss or weight gain, skin infections, vomiting or diarrhea, URI, eye infections, joint pain, breathing problems/asthma etc?
Is Gump strictly indoors-only???
Not sure about the blood - unless the needle hit a vessel or there is a leak somewhere, but I think there would be obvious symptoms if there was a problem such as a leak. I'm assuming he looked at this under a slide, and was inconclusive, therefore sending it to the lab.
There are things that can cause lymph swelling such as allergies, bacterial or viral infection etc that are sometimes self limiting (and/or with treatment of the cause), so hopefully, it is nothing more serious.
When are the lab results expected???
Fever is indicative of some sort of infection, so the source of infection might not yet be totally cleared, and may or may not be indicative on the CBC at this point (if the infection is low to mild at this point). But, it's unusual that indicators like allergic reaction, infection or inflammation was absent from the CBC - might even be a good thing, but have to wait for lab results.
Have you noticed anything different in the last couple months, i.e.: decreased appetite, weight loss or weight gain, skin infections, vomiting or diarrhea, URI, eye infections, joint pain, breathing problems/asthma etc?
Is Gump strictly indoors-only???
Not sure about the blood - unless the needle hit a vessel or there is a leak somewhere, but I think there would be obvious symptoms if there was a problem such as a leak. I'm assuming he looked at this under a slide, and was inconclusive, therefore sending it to the lab.
There are things that can cause lymph swelling such as allergies, bacterial or viral infection etc that are sometimes self limiting (and/or with treatment of the cause), so hopefully, it is nothing more serious.
When are the lab results expected???
..........Traci