Massive bruise (formerly ? infection) on Gavin's chest

Holy cow. Who'd have thought.

Now I'm thinking I should pad Tully up too. She's having heavy falls atm (thanks to a combo of the new floor and Della knocking her down) and I have wondered if she's getting sore from it. Do you think Gavin's tummy could have happened from repeated falls? Love to know if you decide to do padding.
 
I think it happened when Gavin fell in the kitchen. My Mom's kitchen table has these legs that curve out and if the chairs are pulled out (which she leaves out even though I asked her not too multiple times) are accessible for Gavin to fall on. He would tend to circle around after drinking water or eating, and sometimes would end up including the table in that circle. If the chair was pulled out, he could end up caught under the table and if he slipped and fell his chest could end up on that curved table leg. Since he has avoided the kitchen since thursday, it makes sense. I added a water and food bowl to the bedroom, and he ate in there last night. I have been bringing water to him periodically throughout the day. food is trickier since he only eats when he wants to (and he likes to be alone). yesterday was when he was outside.

Padding wouldn't be a a bad idea. but it would need to be somewhat thick.....I was thinking of modifying a t shirt just to protect his skin. Or I could add padding to his webmaster harness belly guard. How does Tully fall? normally gavin would plop down, with his rear end hitting the ground first so the chest doesn't take the brunt of the force.

At no time did Gavin flinch when I picked him up or touched his belly. The only way I found it was grooming. I was combing him Monday evening and decided to try his his chest (usually gets a cursory combing as he hates being put on his back for a proper one). I saw this dark skin bit under his white fur so I started cutting fur with a scissor to get a better look although it was still obscured by fur. It was so big (and I missed a lot). I thought it was a staph infection cause it was red, but obviously it wasn't. I asked the vet to clip it and it was even larger than I'd thought and had the obvious appearance of a bruise..

I called 5 vets. This one was the only one who has anything same day (others were thursday), probably didn't help that I was not a current customer. I called at 8 when they opened, they had 3 openings. one at 9:30 and 2 in the afternoon. I think they only had 3 vets, so small practise. But good location in a strip mall with whole foods and target, and yelp reviews were good.

It was $400; $75 for vet, $300 for blood work, rest for carprofen. Gavin slept like a baby last night once his meds kicked in, so I got a good night sleep finally :)
 
RikyR said:
Could you imagine having a bruise that large on your body? I don't think I would be able to move at all! Good to hear he is doing better!
Click to expand...

I know. His behavior changed after; sleeping more on his side and not sitting on his haunches (makes sense, didn't want to put pressure on his chest). He also couldn't get up from laying down (he uses his tummy muscles to do that) and he had a harder time pulling himself up from sitting. They all make sense now, but I attributed them to overall weakness as that has happened before for a few days (now I am wondering if maybe he had falls and bruises before as the episodes were months apart with no discernible cause. the recovery was a only a few days those times).
 
Gavin seems pretty perky today. ate his breakfast and drank his water. He is SITTING up outside now. Like he did before we think he got hurt.
Supposed to rain tomorrow so he might not get out too much until it dries out during the weekend.

With a bruise that big, I wonder how he even functioned! But now I definitely know why he was laying on his side all day and was so lethargic.
 
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