Cow is injured (puncture-wound inside ear)

This afternoon, I noticed Cow did not look too well. He kept sleeping on the favourite chair and did not join the rest for lunch.

He didn’t look too good, I could feel it.

I brought food for him and served him at the chair, and he ate it all up. At least that’s not so worrying – he is still eating. My nightmare is when any animal stops eating.

Not taking any chances, I called my vet to make an appointment.

While waiting to get to the clinic, Cow finally came to the kitchen and ate two rounds. Hmm…maybe there’s nothing wrong, after all, but still, better not take any chances. At most, it’s just paying for consultation, that’s all.

So, in the heavy rain, we went to the vet’s. Cow complained (as usual) in the car…

We waited quite a while since both vets were doing a procedure.

Cow didn’t dare come out of the carrier. He may be alpha at home, but at the clinic, he’s a total pussy cat.

Taking his temperature.

It was 40 degrees. The vet says that’s very high and it’s probably due to an infection.

Now, where is the infection??

Cow left ear felt really hot to the touch.

There it is. A one-puncture wound inside the ear, and pus was already flowing out and the inside of the ear was really messy and dirty.

Oh dear….Having pus means the wound had been there for 2-3 days. But I did not know because Cow behaved as per normal and ate his food. But then again, Cow has an incredibly high threshold for pain. When he was small, he had a big gaping wound on his thigh and it was stitched up THREE times (because he bit off the stitches twice!). The vet was amazed at how he never complained at all, and behaved nonchalantly with gaping hole at his side.

See the one-puncture wound? Could it be due to a fight? Where’s the other puncture wound? We could not find it.

Cow had also lost weight, about 500 g over the last 6 months. That is worrying, so I’ll have to bring him back for another weight check in about 2 weeks. Maybe like Bunny, he is also FIV positive? The vet says it is normal for 8 year-old cats to start losing some weight. But Cow is only 5 years old.

Cow only needs an antibiotic (Amoxy), twice a day for 5 days. The vet gave the first dose and Cow wasn’t too happy about it.

Wish me luck, please. That’s another NINE times of having to pill Cow. I’ll use my carrier trick and hope it works, ie. Plonk Cow into vertically propped carrier, plop the pill in as fast as possible.

The vet says with the antibiotics, he should recover by tomorrow.

Cow, after coming home from the vet’s.

While I was waiting at the vet’s, the vet assistant told me about this new food they’ve just ordered.

Apparently, it’s very tasty. It’s from Canada and it’s grain-free. She gave me some samples to try.

I thought I’d give Cow a treat with the new food.

He wasn’t interested.
(But Cleo, the fussiest of them all, was. She ate all of it up!)

Cow still preferred his Royal Canin.

I’d have to feed Cow his antibiotics for 9 more times, and apply hot compression on this ear (if he allows it, that is). Also, povidone iodine on the wound, if he allows it. With Cow, it’s all a big “if”!

Cow is injured (puncture-wound inside ear)

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