Mancat Monday: Toys and Treatments

It's Mancat Monday, which of course means Evan is here to grace you all with his handsome presence.

Those are a couple of the toys Evan got for his birthday back in April. I realized I never shared the photos of him playing with them on his big day.

The pickle says, "I'm kind of a big dill." Obviously, that is so very true for amazing Evan.

On another note, Evan had a last-minute vet appointment last Thursday. His ear with the aural hematoma was showing signs of yet another infection, still likely because the hematoma is weighing the ear down and preventing proper airflow into the ear canal. It was suddenly causing Evan a lot of discomfort again, so to the vet we went as soon as possible.

The vet Evan usually sees was not in that day, so he saw another vet. We've seen this vet plenty of other times, especially with Astrid, whom she's taken care of since she was a puppy. This vet agreed that Evan had another ear infection and gave him an antibiotic injection, and she also put an antibiotic ointment in Evan's ear that is supposed to keep the ear clean and infection-free for 4 weeks or so. Within no more than 12 hours of getting those treatments, Evan's ear seemed to stop bothering him almost completely.

All that said, this vet commented on how the hematoma on Evan's ear has significantly hardened. She's not sure why, as it was healing somewhat normally and still shrinking slowly but surely up until a few weeks ago. She's wondering if it's some kind of hardened scar tissue that now comprises the enlarged portion of Evan's ear. I will admit I myself had also become worried by how hard the used-to-be-normal-hematoma on Evan's ear had grown to be. This vet is wondering if, ultimately, Evan will need to have surgery to have part of the ear removed, in no small part so that it stops causing ear infections. In the worst case scenario, if whatever is now happening in Evan's ear is also affecting the ear canal, he'd have to have a total ear ablation, meaning the exterior and middle part of the ear would be removed, and Evan would be deaf on that side. That's not something we're moving toward just yet, though, as we want to see how his ear does on this round of meds, and if it shrinks at all anymore over the next few weeks.

One thing I will note is that while the vet Evan saw on Thursday is great, she is the one at our clinic who's most likely to be an alarmist. I prefer to take Evan to the vet who usually sees him, partially for the aforementioned reason. What's more, the vet Evan usually sees is the only one at our clinic who performs surgeries like the total ear ablation, and I would absolutely schedule an appointment with him to determine if he thinks that Evan would need to have such surgery.

I will admit that I am feeling a lot of guilt, especially if Evan ends up needing a surgery as drastic as a total ear ablation. Evan's usual vet and I have had multiple discussions on whether at any point we thought we should forward with a surgery to drain Evan's aural hematoma and pin the skin to make sure it didn't refill. In part because of Evan's numerous other health issues, and the many medications he's on, we opted to avoid surgery and let the hematoma heal on its own, with cleaning and other care being done while it healed. We don't know why the hematoma ultimately slowed its shrinking and then hardened as much as it did. If we had know it would do this, we probably would have moved forward with the much more simple surgery when the hematoma was still behaving in a typical way. We thought it would ultimately heal, though, like most hematomas do over time. We're not moving forward with surgery yet, but if we do, I'm going to feel so bad for poor Evan. I won't be making any decisions on surgery until Evan has seen his usual vet, but I'm over here crossing all my fingers and toes that perhaps Evan's ear will shrink some more and at least mostly heal on its own.

Well, that was lots of rambling. I'm honestly just feeling a lot of stress over poor Evan and his ear, and I guess I just needed to unload about it a bit. Thank you all for listening.

Happy Monday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

 

Today, we're starting a re-share of an old series of tips all about wildlife. We're staring today with some tips on feeding none other than geese, ducks, swans, and the like. First, keep in mind that not all areas allow the feeding of these birds, for a variety of reasons. So, first make sure that you're in a location that is safe and appropriate for feeding wild birds such as geese and ducks.

Now, on to feeding these birds of whom we're starting to see more and more in these springtime days. First and foremost, despite popular belief, bread is not an ideal food to feed geese and ducks. Bread does not have much in the way of nutritional value for these wild birds, and often can do more harm than good. So, then, what should you feed animals such as geese? You can offer them some regular birdseed, keeping in mind that sunflower seeds are not one that is ideal for them. You can also give them grapes, kale, and Romain lettuce. That being said, make sure that these foods are bite size, or else there is the risk that the geese or ducks could choke. So, cut grapes in half, and chop up kale or lettuce that you offer. If you offer birdseed or other small foods, mound them up in small piles for ease of eating.

Also ensure that you take safety precautions, both for yourself and the wild birds. For example, it is typically best that you not feed the birds directly out of your hands. In addition, place the food you feed them in a safe area, such as away from roads. In general, you simply have to use common sense, and if you're not sure something is safe, simply don't do it. Interacting with wildlife can be an inspiring and unique experience, but it is always best to keep both their safety and your safety in mind.