March 2006 Pet of the Month: Zambezi

Zambezi is a 5 year old Himalayan who decided to take a little trip off of a balcony and disappear for several days.  When his owner found him, she knew he needed medical attention.  His tail was broken in multiple locations and there were several deep wounds on his body.  The deepest wound was located on his leg and the above picture shows progress after several days of healing.

When Zambezi first saw us on July 22, our primary goal was to control pain and heal infection.  His tail needed to be amputated since it was broken in so many places and beyond repair.  He did have maggots present in his wounds in addition to the severe infection.  His first treatment involved cleaning the wounds thoroughly and starting on a regular course of pain medication.  Zambezi stayed hospitalized with us for a week so that we could continually clean his wounds and stimulate healing with hydrotherapy.  Hydrotherapy is the process of using a steady stream of lukewarm water in circular motions over wounds to stimulate healing. 

After the week-long hospitalization, Zambezi was allowed to go home on oral antibiotics and cream to apply to the open wounds.  His treatment was completed on August 19, which is the date of the picture above.  Even though there is still a small wound present, there was no longer infection and the wound would heal over the rest of the way without a problem.

Zambezi is now doing well and doesn't visit the balcony anymore.  If you would like more information on hydrotherapy and wound care, please feel free to email me at kpercival@CatHospitalofAustin.com