Yes, THIS Stuff Makes My Day - Even AT Lunchtime!

I freely and fully admit to loving pus. There is nothing more rewarding than popping a nice juicy abscess on a kitty and giving him immediate relief and an almost instant cure! 


Today the office manager took in a cute little stray black female kitten that someone wanted to pay to have euthanized! The kitten was not terribly sick and was alert and purring. She did have a few scabs and wounds on her. 


One was on the side of her face - covered by a large scab. When I pulled it off, much to my delight, quite a bit of pus came out from behind it.

What you probably can't appreciate with this picture is the size of this defect compared to the kitten's little face AND that this cat has orbital bone exposed (the support structure for the eye), along with some muscle. Don't freak out though. Cats are AMAZING healers. No really. This will granulate in and be normal before you know it.  We have her on some antibiotics and will keep it clean of course. 


Now, on the other side of her neck, there was a small hole which at first appeared to be a bite wound. However, upon closer exam the wound was too "round" and there was a small light brown object poking up just through the top..but then it would go back down. This had me truly excited because I knew it was a cuterebra - or fly larva, that was growing in an open wound. They make a little breathing hole. Extracting them is fun to me - reminds me of playing "Operation" as a child. I LOVED that game! Anyhow, we pulled it out and it looked like this: 

The hole (seen above) will also heal fairly quickly. 


Anyone want a cute little black female kitten? She's a very sweet little thing! She purred the entire time we worked on her and NEVER once fought us or tried to bite - even though it was definitely uncomfortable for her.


Oh and yes, this was just before a brief lunch break! But we are used to eating anytime, anywhere from vet school - be it over anatomy carcasses smelling of formaldehyde or in between cases or rounds or surgeries (of all levels of "grossness").