LeftyTom
I am not just another pretty face.
Last Thursday, I took Charlie the Beagle to the vet, as he seemed not to be responding to meds for a bad tooth that flares up from time to time (he is 15 years old). The vet found a slight swelling under his jaw. Shes wanted me to come back Monday for the veteran vet to check it out.
By Monday, the swelling had noticeably increased, though Charlie was showing no symptoms of anything bad. The veteran vet put Charlie on a 2nd med, along with the first. He said the swelling would "burst" into Charlie's throat, and Charlie would swallow the fluid. It would disappear as quickly as it had appeared, no worries.
By Wednesday, the swelling had increased, and Charlie had lost his appetite. The vet suggested warm compress every hour to help the swelling go down. The vet asked us to bring Charlie in Thursday.
6am Thursday morning the swelling burst to the outside of Charlie's neck. By that time the swelling was across the bottom of Charlie's jaw, side to side. From his jaw down, the swelling was 2" wide. A foul-smelling brownish liquid spilled forth. That left a seeping open would about 2" long under his jaw, down the middle of his neck.
It would be 7:30 by the time we got Charlie to the emergency vet, and they got around to seeing him, so I took him to his usual vet at 8am. They were going to work him in and call me with updates.
Around 10:30am Thursday, the vet called, told me they had cleaned the wound, and because the swelling popped the way it did (external rather than internal), he thought it was a bite by a brown recluse spider.
Charlie will have to stay at the vet's over the weekend, so they can better asses his condition and how much flesh he would lose to the bite.
By Monday, the swelling had noticeably increased, though Charlie was showing no symptoms of anything bad. The veteran vet put Charlie on a 2nd med, along with the first. He said the swelling would "burst" into Charlie's throat, and Charlie would swallow the fluid. It would disappear as quickly as it had appeared, no worries.
By Wednesday, the swelling had increased, and Charlie had lost his appetite. The vet suggested warm compress every hour to help the swelling go down. The vet asked us to bring Charlie in Thursday.
6am Thursday morning the swelling burst to the outside of Charlie's neck. By that time the swelling was across the bottom of Charlie's jaw, side to side. From his jaw down, the swelling was 2" wide. A foul-smelling brownish liquid spilled forth. That left a seeping open would about 2" long under his jaw, down the middle of his neck.
It would be 7:30 by the time we got Charlie to the emergency vet, and they got around to seeing him, so I took him to his usual vet at 8am. They were going to work him in and call me with updates.
Around 10:30am Thursday, the vet called, told me they had cleaned the wound, and because the swelling popped the way it did (external rather than internal), he thought it was a bite by a brown recluse spider.
Charlie will have to stay at the vet's over the weekend, so they can better asses his condition and how much flesh he would lose to the bite.
