Signs of Summer

Heat. Shedding. Bugs. The harbingers of the season....

Lomax greeted me this morning with less than his usual fervor. Upon inspection, I found his ears to be hugely swollen, and his eyes starting in as well. Horrors! His cute little face!!

So I called GDA and up we went for a little vet visit. The poor little man was puffed up severely; he looked like he'd gone a few rounds with Evander Holyfield. It had come on so suddenly, I didn't know what to think. The vet took his temp, looked in his ears, and ruled out an ear infection. Finally, she came to the conclusion that he must have been bitten by a spider. There's a tiny bump on his nose...which likely means he stuck it someplace it didn't belong, and is now paying the price.

After a couple of shots and a Benadryl capsule, the facial swelling has gone down, but the ears are still pretty big. The vet said it *looks* like he could have hematomas, but other signs don't point to that (both ears at once, and he hadn't been "flapping" before the swelling occurred). So here I am in my apartment on this beautiful summer day, keeping my eyes on his ears, rather than running the errands I'd planned. The sad thing is, Lomax doesn't want to be cooped up inside either!

If he's still swollen tomorrow morning, I'm supposed to take him to a vet near me. The good thing is, if he does have hematomas, it's not considered an emergency...the bad thing is, it does mean surgery, and nobody wants that. So we're keeping our fingers and paws crossed, and praying the swelling will subside.

We'll keep you posted!

EARWATCH UPDATE: As of Sunday morning, the ears are looking much better. The swelling is almost gone, and the exuberant wiggling has returned to about 98%. I'll most likely take him to a vet tomorrow for a re-check, but he's looking good.