Bunny has been alright after the Sunday fight with Indy. The only thing is he showed some mouth pain whenever he eats and he has been eating a little less than usual. But yesterday, when I opened his mouth to give him is Maximum Ophtal (his eye anti-oxidant), I noticed a significant swelling way back in his left upper gum.
So, it’s off to the vet’s this morning.
The vet checked and yes, there is a fresh scratch in that swollen gum. There were also scratches in Bunny’s ears, which I had not noticed earlier since Bunny has some allergic scars on both his ears all the time.
The vet and I both wondered how on earth Indy’s paw could have reached so far back inside Bunny’s mouth, though. But as always, with Indy, you’ll never know. Maybe in the scuffle, Indy’s paw went inside Bunny’s mouth and as he pulled out, his claws scratched Bunny’s gum.
Since Bunny is FIV+, it was best to put Bunny on a course of antibiotics. Bunny was also due for his annual blood test (Bunny has kidney disease, discovered in March 2019, but has been under control with diet and twice-weekly subcut). His present kidney condition will also decide on which type of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory he can be given. So, we did the blood test.
I sat with bated breath as we waited for Bunny’s blood test results. As you know, it’s the kidneys and we just lost Pole.
Well, it’s happy news! Bunny’s creatinine is only at 104 (lower end of the normal range) while his urea is 12.2 (still within the normal range). Bunny’s previous creatinine was 150 last year (also still normal) but it had been as high as 199 before, in 2019. Bunny’s urea readings have always hovered around there all this while. The vet thinks it’s because Bunny doesn’t drink much water.
What a relief! Even the vet was relieved as she had expected Bunny’s creatinine to have increased due to his FIV+ condition and his age. Bunny is 15 years old.
So, we were both happily relieved!
Bunny is not on any medication for his kidney condition. He is only on twice-weekly 150ml subcut and on the raw diet with Cubgrub as his staple food. He also eats Coco&Joe’s for some variety. For Cubgrub, Bunny is on the special CKD Chicken where bone is replaced by eggshell.
I asked if Bunny needs to continue with his subcut fluids. The vet says it would be good to continue since it would help his hydration. This is especially so when Bunny does get constipated once in a while (I give him Lactulose for this).
Bunny weighed 5.2kg today. He used to be more than 6kg in his heyday many years ago, but that was being overweight, actually. Hopefully, we can maintain him at around 5kg.
So, for the gum scratch, Bunny was given the anti-inflammatory Metacam injection to be followed by oral Beazyme (papaya enzyme) and the antibiotic Metrogyl for 8 days. Bunny is also given transdermal Tramadol to manage the pain. Afta-Med (the gel) would also help in healing the scratch.
So, we drove home, quite relieved.
Cleo greeting Bunny upon his return.
Let’s hope the scratch will heal soon and the pain will be gone. And Bunny can eat comfortably again.
The vet did suggest that Bunny can be put on the soft collar to prevent him from getting injured in fights. Hmm….
…or, maybe we should put the perpetrator on the soft collar, right?
I did buy two soft collars recently (the type made of sponge). We shall see if there is a need. Indy, did you hear that?