Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've been doing field work for a few months and Chris didn't have the password to log in.
Anyway, I noticed about a week ago that Spud's (Sparticus's) left cheek looked a little puffy, just a little bit (maybe 1-1.5 mm distended). So I decided to watch it closely and see what happened. Last night we noticed that occasionally he was making a little wheezing sound as he breathed. No nose bubbles or anything else, still eating normally, just wheezing. I left a message at the vets and they saw him in this morning (our vet is awesome, I'm so glad we found them). It seems that his cheek is very slightly swollen, but it's really more that his eye is a bit sunken in.
The vet flushed his sinus cavity with something called enroflox dexameth and saline, to see if there was any blockage or infection, but it flowed cleanly out of both nostrils with no goop (although Spud was really not pleased). Dr. Johnson was a bit stumped, since the eye is sunken in rather than puffed out (as one would expect with an infection or blockage), he said it could be a vascular problem (like a little blood clot behind his eye) but that doesn't explain the slightly puffy cheek. But the random wheeze is probably associated with what's happening in his face. He was examined from every angle, and there were no foreign objects caught anywhere, no tenderness, and he doesn't seem to have any pain (thank god), just a slightly puffy cheek and slightly sunken eye (which seems to still be working fine).
For now he's on daily oral enrofloxacin and meloxicam to bring down the swelling and to get rid of any infection, then we'll reassess in a week. Of course if anything changes for the worse we'll take him in immediately. Has anyone else seen anything like this before? I'm freaking out, and I feel awful because he really didn't like having stuff squirted in his mouth.
-Devon
Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've been doing field work for a few months and Chris didn't have the password to log in.
Anyway, I noticed about a week ago that Spud's (Sparticus's) left cheek looked a little puffy, just a little bit (maybe 1-1.5 mm distended). So I decided to watch it closely and see what happened. Last night we noticed that occasionally he was making a little wheezing sound as he breathed. No nose bubbles or anything else, still eating normally, just wheezing. I left a message at the vets and they saw him in this morning (our vet is awesome, I'm so glad we found them). It seems that his cheek is very slightly swollen, but it's really more that his eye is a bit sunken in.
The vet flushed his sinus cavity with something called enroflox dexameth and saline, to see if there was any blockage or infection, but it flowed cleanly out of both nostrils with no goop (although Spud was really not pleased). Dr. Johnson was a bit stumped, since the eye is sunken in rather than puffed out (as one would expect with an infection or blockage), he said it could be a vascular problem (like a little blood clot behind his eye) but that doesn't explain the slightly puffy cheek. But the random wheeze is probably associated with what's happening in his face. He was examined from every angle, and there were no foreign objects caught anywhere, no tenderness, and he doesn't seem to have any pain (thank god), just a slightly puffy cheek and slightly sunken eye (which seems to still be working fine).
For now he's on daily oral enrofloxacin and meloxicam to bring down the swelling and to get rid of any infection, then we'll reassess in a week. Of course if anything changes for the worse we'll take him in immediately. Has anyone else seen anything like this before? I'm freaking out, and I feel awful because he really didn't like having stuff squirted in his mouth.
-Devon
