Hi
I am looking for advice.
My cat had a nasty abscess on his front leg which he had to have surgically removed. He was sedated and they removed the abscess and gave him an injection of antibiotics.
We were supposed to go away a few days after but ended up staying to take care of him as he had to wear the e-cone for 2 weeks. We kept it on non stop for a week but during that week when he was trying to lick the cone rubbed against the wound and it reopened and bled. We then had to keep a real close eye on him to prevent him from trying to lick. They left the abscess site open to let it heal naturally but after this we were back to square 1.
After about 5 days of him wearing the cone the wound looked much better and we sent a photo to the vet to see what they thought. They said we could remove the cone. We were worried but we took their advice and removed it. He wasn’t that bothered by the area but he must have licked it when he groomed - in the morning it was back open and very red and sore and bloody. Again, back to square one we went and we kept the cone on. After about 5 days there was a scab and the scab eventually fell off and he had pinky skin underneath with a small red dot in the middle which became dark and scabby after 2 more days (by this point it was almost 3 weeks with cone). I again sent a photo to the vet and they said it can be removed. We removed, he licked, and it bled AGAIN.
The vet keeps giving us this advice and my husband is livid - he thinks they’re being neglectful (this isn’t the first time they’ve messed up) but I appreciate it is hard to see in photos and maybe it’s a genuine mistake. We are very worried about our baby as he’s so sad with the cone on. We did try a soft cone but he took it off immediately and hated it even more.
Has anybody experienced this?? I attach some photos - the bright red bloody one is from tonight after he licked, and the other one is the one the vet saw when they said the cone could come off. Do you think there’s an underlying issue? My husband thinks im
over thinking and this is a case of the wound not being given enough time to properly heal, which keeps taking us back to square one. We will have to keep this cone on again for 10-14 days and I feel so sorry for our cat, but there’s no other option.
Are we being unreasonable for being annoyed with the vet? Does anyone have any tips for the healing process/ has anyone experienced this before?