Matthew phoned. He’s at the vet’s with Hobkin. The vet says that one of his lungs is clear and the other is very good. And that he only needs oxygen therapy for support rather than round-the-clock. He’s been downright feisty there, which is a great sign.
But now they want to anesthetize him so they can draw some blood to run tests on. They also want to see if they can pull a tooth while he’s out. This is the tooth that we were planning on having them look at next month, before all this happened.
My first impulse was to have them wait a couple days for him to get stronger, but the vet is concerned that we don’t know what’s causing his pneumonia and he might not get better and could get worse in a couple days unless we can treat the cause–especially since his last UTI was resistant to Amoxycillin (which he’s on now). And that the tooth might be the root of it all.
We decided to go ahead and have them draw his blood, and if his tooth is loose enough for the vet to pull out “with his fingers” to go ahead and do it. But putting Hobkin under is so risky. I am, once again, terrified.
O gods and spirits who watch over little animals, please, please let us have made the right call on this.
[Edit: Matthew just called. Don’t know if they pulled Hobkin’s tooth or not, but he is now waking up from the anesthesia, and Matthew knew I’d want to know immediately. I’m so relieved, I’m shaking.]
::HUGS::
So glad Hobkin came through it all and is improving.
I hope you can relax soon.
The vet is a professional. He/she has given you good advice in the past.
You’re doing your best for Hobkin in a hard situation. Your round-the-clock care alone is far more than most pets get even from loving humans.
*hugs*
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
*dabs wet eyes* Hobkin is a mighty skunk!!!
Oh, thank the gods and spirits- I am so glad to hear that he’s awake! Power to the skunk and his people! 🙂
Still sending the good thoughts and healing wishes. I’m pulling for all of you.
Oh, thank heavens he’s coming round!
I’m glad he’s okay! O_O I hope and pray there aren’t any more problems.
Yay! Getting the infection site cleared up is important, but putting an elder-critter under is always scary and more so if he’s already so sick.
Oof. That’s always a hard time. When m’cat Sophie needed an anaesthetic and the vet was all “she may not survive it, and while she’s under I want to check this and I want to check that and if they turn out as bad as they might be then I won’t want to wake her up,” I – well, I came home and spent the day reorganising books, just because I had to be doing something.
Yay for Hobkin, tho’: the little skunk who can…
That is such splendid, uplifting news! I hope Hob continues to go from strength to strength.
Oh, wow. Glad Hobkin made it through anaesthesia. Hang in there, you guys.
Dault and I are relieved that he woke and is doing better.
I’m glad to hear the little guy is doing better. For the record, I think you’re a very good skunk mom.
It was the right choice. Thinking of you!
I’m so glad to hear that Hobkin is making steady progress.
*hugs* Keep hanging in there!
Thank you for keeping us updated on the situation. I’ve been pulling for him. We all have. <3
*Whew*
(Admittedly I’m glad I read this after your update!)
And the tooth certainly could be the problem. I had what I thought were severe allergies for five years, which disappeared within four hours of having two wisdom teeth pulled.
*cheering for Hobkin*
Thank goodness
Oh, lord. Roller coaster here; what must this be for *you*. An entire family of poor sweeties.
But why anesthetize for a blood draw?
Fudge needs her teeth cleaned periodically (Persians are prone to bad gums. Who knew?) and she just gets kitty valium.
Is there such a thing as skunk valium?
Thanks, sweetie.
They have to anesthetize Hobkin to draw his blood ’cause they can’t take it otherwise. I’m actually quite displeased about it. Hobkin was traumatized several years ago (more details if you want to read them at this post) when the vet took him away from me to try to draw his blood. But as soon as they brought him back and let me hold him, they were able to get blood from him without him even flinching. Pretty much as long as he’s in my arms, he’ll put up with just about anything. But our vet–which used to be an independent–got bought by a big corporation, and their policy forbids owners to handle their pets during any treatments for fear of lawsuits if the critter should bite the owner. I told them I’d sign any waiver of liability form they had, but they simply won’t let me hold him during any procedure, which makes it so much harder for both them and Hobkin, and essentially makes impossible some things like drawing blood with him conscious. So frustrating.
Frustrating would not begin to say it for me, especially with a high-risk procedure like that.
I’m so glad it worked out all right.