? Antibiotics for abscess, high numbers

Ever since I took Tim to the vet to treat him for an abscess (5 days ago now) his numbers have been much higher. I know that infections can cause higher blood glucose, but I thought once the antibiotics started working his numbers would come down again. I have upped his dose slightly but it hasn't made much difference. Should I up the dose more?

 

You need to give the dose at least 6 cycles to fill the depot with Lantus. So far you have given 4 doses. So I would not increase the dose yet.
How is Tim feeling? Where was the abscess? Does it look as if it is improving? How is his appetite?
Waving to you from Sydney

 

Thanks for your reply. He seems to be feeling fine, sleeping a lot, but then he is a cat, so that's fairly normal. Maybe not quite as hungry as usual, but still a healthy appetite. The abscess is on his neck (a bite wound). It looks to be healing ok, though I think it might have got opened up a few nights ago as there was a lot of dried pus on it in the morning.
His glucose level was down a bit this evening, though that seems to be the pattern at the moment with a lower evening reading and higher in the morning and during the day.
I'll see what he's like after another couple of cycles.
He often goes on the prowl at night time. I really need to come up with a strategy to keep him inside at night and happy (he hates to be inside and I'm also scared he'll terrorize our other cat if he's locked inside).

 

It is good that the abscess drained (opened up). That is really necessary for proper healing. Since it drained and BG is going down I conclude that healing is progressing fine.

 

keep your eye on the abscess -- if it starts to close up again, try holding a hot-water-wet washcloth or gauze pad against it, to keep it draining -- that is, if Tim will let you and not fight

 

You can also make up some warm water and steep some catnip in it, to make "catnip tea" - also you can add 1 tablespoon DECAFE earl gray tea to it. Earl gray tea is AMAZING for tooth pain and abscesses, it helps keep the drain open and the catnip will disguise the taste. If you'd like the recipe let me know! (I did this for my cat Mao).

 

Thanks everyone. The vet drained it and seemed quite happy with it. I never knew that about earl gray tea! Tim is a very gentle cat (with humans but not other cats), so I'll try the washcloth too. It does look like it's still draining. His BG was pretty good at +8 today so I'm hopeful he's coming good again.

 

Ooh good, god bless Tim!! xxx But yeah Earl Gray works on human mouths too! Either as a tea or soaked in warm water and stuffed in the cheek against the offending tooth. Basically it works as poultice. But for cats, it HAS to be DECAFE.

Being decafe, it Also helps calm them down - you can also add some to wet food with added water to make a soup. xx

 

hi all my cat is diabetic and he had a cat bite from another cat i "had" and it was in 3 spots since january they just keep opening the vet is stumped and they just heal and then open and drain again i just dont know what to do he's had countless convenia shots of bottles of orbax .. im so frustrated for 7 months

 

has your vet opened them and put drains in? Cat's skin heals really quickly, so if you don't put a drain in, the skin heals over but the bacteria and gunk are still in the tissue.

 

read the earlier part of this posting -- the hot water "poultice" and the tea, will keep those abscesses open and draining -- sometimes it takes awhile (cat bites are fierce infections) -- to clean the drainage off fur, you could use Cetaphil classic face wash (may say Gentle Skin, don't get the oily, it has perfume), followed by swabbing with a wet cotton round or square, then mop with gauze or cotton saturated with chlorhexidine -- then apply the hot wet sponge/washcloth/pad to encourage his body to expel the infection -- you don't want the skin to close up over it until it's GONE completely

just what's worked for me in the past -- good luck --

 

yes he opened them all and had drains i just dont know what to do any more

 

He may need to culture the abscesses and see which bacteria you're dealing with and which antibiotic will kill it.

Different bacteria may require different antibiotics to kill them.....they may also need a longer course of treatment. Think weeks instead of days.

 

Clindamycin, topically, was what finally cleared Catcat's chin abscess -- may have been MRSA ... the Convenia injected helped, but didn't do the whole job; bites are a whole different breed of cat cat: ,, sorry about that)

 

I would hold off on any more Convenia shots. Unlike traditional antibiotics, this stays in the system for like 60 days, so you may have quite a build-up.

I'll second Chris on suggesting you get the abscesses cultured to determine what would be an appropriate course of antibiotics.

 

he did culture something 200.00 im into this vet for 4900 since january when this started he has a huge lump of tissue on is back from where i was giving shots but that had nothing to do with the area under his "arm" where the original surgery was he had so much convenia and orbax and i asked about another antibiotic and he said he didnt want him to become 'immune' i dont want to keep flushing these openings that just burst open after they appear to be well healed over

 

Sometimes if things wont heal it is because there is something left in the wound like a foreign object. Can’t think what it could be from a cat bite but it’s worth asking the vet.
I agree get a culture of the site.
That’s crazy the vet saying he didn’t want the cat to become immune to the a/b. If the a/b is the wrong one and the bug in the wound is resistant to the a/b, that is more likely to cause problems if he keeps giving the a/b that is doing nothing.
May be time for a second opinion from a different vet

 

that made me think -- could one of those wounds be a claw puncture rather than a bite? -- I've pulled claw fragments out of cats, though years ago and never with Catcat .. he swats first, and hard, with claws well clipped back

 

To put this as delicately as I can, after six months of the current approach not working, it might be time to seek another opinion. Echoing Bron here .

Do you have a copy of the lab report from when the abscesses were cultured? You paid for it and so you have a right to it.

Has your vet said anything about the injection-site growth on your cat's back?

 

yes that's what im thinking too .... its in the same 3 spots though that keep opening he did culture something it came back "sterile abscess" at the time so frustrated and im disabled too myself my friend thank God has been bringing him back and forth to the vet for me im so upset that this opened again heals and comes back he is acting fine though eating, being himself etc.

 

Get another opinion if you can. Something has to be stopping the healing process.

 

he has a mass of tissue on his back where i was putting insulin - so i stay away from that area but the 3 openings are literally in a triangle off his back from where the surgeries were one on the bottom one on his neck and one behind the mass im wondering if bacteria is trapping under that mass and then gravitating downwards and causing this - maybe if that mass gets removed it'll all go away idky it keeps opening and this all started Jan 3rd from the first surgery after the bite from the cat i used to have then she bit him again the end of january he was in the ER twice its just been a horrible year

 

the fluid inside the abscess may be sterile, but it is THERE -- in humans, such collections of fluid would be called seromas, let me tell you from personal experience, they can HURT -- the pressure itself, anytime it gets bumped, you mention at least one is in the "armpit" -- I had one each side, it was like having a hoagie roll under the skin, and the skin grew to contain it, every time I moved my arm it jostled and felt uncomfortable

worst yet, they can persist for years -- I still have one more than six years after surgery

so, if you can, do whatever necessary to keep those drainage spots open until the fluid is all out of there and the cavity is healed from the bottom; and it's a prime site for another infection to develop ...

 

yes it is draining and healing and then it happens again but thank you for your response it totally makes sense

 

I know when Callie had a UTI the vet sent some of the urine out to be tested to see what bacteria was causing the infection. In her case it was several different types of bacteria so she was put on several different antibiotics to treat all of them. Has your vet tried that to find out what bacteria is infecting the wound? It may be something that needs a different antibiotic.

 

he did a culture months ago 200.00 for the culture alone ... it came back negative he's been on orbax and convenia for months now i had other cats that had abscesses from another cat bite they healed and it was done this is probably cuz of his diabetes too i just feel so bad for him and he's such a good boy too thank God he lets me clean it and do what i need to do even his insulin i say mikey medicine and he comes to me and turns around and gives me his back .. i do diamond painting and i designed this from one of his pictures he lived on my patio for 4 yrs afraid to come near me i fed him and took care of him and then a friend who does TNR trapped him and i brought him inside in 2014 took him a few weeks but he's such a lovebug <3