Great news at the vet's

"I said NO PICTURES...dang paparazzi..."

Still no recent Mick pics just yet, but hopefully soon...

Follow-up visit #2 was this afternoon, and we have very good news.

First of all, Mr. Mick has gained two ounces since last week's visit! I have been giving him a tablespoon of Critical Care (apple-banana flavor) twice a day--I put it on a plate, then put his greens on top and he eats it all up. Tamsin from The Rabbit House suggested giving him a little porridge of rolled oats to help with the weight gain, but I decided to add a daily pinch of dry rolled oats to his pellets instead, and he loves it! Once he's back to a weight of 5 1/2 pounds, I'll stop the Critical Care and stick to just rolled oats to help him maintain the weight. He hasn't even noticed that he's not getting his usual treats, either; I do give him a bit of dried kale now and then, and he did get a dried apple slice the other night, but overall, he's been just as happy to get what he's been getting.

Dr. Shanahan checked out his wound and said it had scabbed up so I wouldn't need to keep washing it now. There is one area that looks like a small pouch-like spot that I pointed out to her; my concern being that it could be a place where infection could be hiding. She checked it out and said that it appeared to be fine, but to keep an eye on it just in case. Worst-case scenario, she would open it up from underneath (not in the same place) if it did need to be cleaned out. Right now, all I need to do is make sure Mickey doesn't scratch at it while it's healing up; a little bacitracin on the area to keep the scab soft should keep that from happening.

She also had results of the tests taken on the ick that was cleaned out of the abscess. When Dr. Leahey did the operation, he had asked if I wanted them to analyze the stuff to see what kind of infection we were looking at. It wasn't a cheap process, but I said yes because I wanted to know exactly what we were dealing with. The test results came back as pasturella, which is fairly common and, according to Dr. Shanahan, the Baytril should have cleared it up easily. I've heard some horror stories regarding pasturella infections, so I'm glad we seem to have caught it before things got worse.

The verdict: no need for more follow-up unless something happens, no more Baytril, keep up with the weight gain plan. The improvement in Mickey's condition has been amazing; you can see how much better he is--his eyes are bigger and brighter, he looks and feels more solid. Even his poops have gotten bigger and better--the Poop Inspector would be turning cartwheels of joy in the street (if she wasn't so out of shape, anyway ;) ).

Thanks much to everyone for all your love and support while we've been dealing with this. It has been greatly appreciated. I have a bunch of other stuff to fill you in on, but that will have to wait for another post. His Majesty's been fed, and now it's my turn. :)