Thursday, March 25, marked the end of week two that Ellie came home from her surgery. It looked like things were going okay. She was till not eating or drinking well, but getting around okay. She saw the local vet for an incision check, and then a chest x-ray and labs on Tuesday just to make sure we were not missing anything. Her chest was clear and her labs were good. Plus, her pathology came back showing she definitely had osteosarcoma. However, her lymph nodes were clear.
Her incision had a little drainage on Tuesday when we got to the vets. I assumed she had hit something in the van and opened a small area on the incision. I washed it and painted it with betadine. It looked better and no drainage until we headed to Va on Thursday for her 2 week check up. We got to Va without issue, other than that drainage. But, by Friday morning before her appointment the area below the incision was red, warm, and firm. She also was tender.
Ellie had a big abscess. They drained almost a liter of fluid from it. the carprovet was most likely masking the signs of an infection as it is an anti-inflammatory that reduces fever and swelling. Normal signs you would see with an infection. I had mentioned that to the vets earlier in the week, but with her labs and x-ray looking good an infection was low on the differential list of issues. We all thought it was from pain.
We are praying the tissue was not irrevocably damaged so as to cause the need for more surgery. Also hope she does not fall further into being septic.
Ellie’s meds now include antibiotics and no carprovet. She is doing better. She is eating and drinking more. Her attitude has improved. She has been barking off and on, an annoying but, thankfully, normal habit!!!
Can only hope things continue to improve.
Oh Ellie I’m sorry this happened. How are you feeling now? Is the incision healing up? We sure hope so!