sagan attack sequela?

this afternoon at about 1:30 from my office upstairs i heard max barking. this is not in the least unusual these days; several times a day he falls down and can't get up. i go downstairs and pick him up, give him some friendly pats, then go back to work. but at about 1:30 today when i went downstairs, he was lying by his food bowl and there was blood all over him, coming from a hole just under his chin. i kept my cool, picked him up (he started walking around right away, dripping blood everywhere), and called our regular vet (and was told all the doctors were at lunch, which i don't think is good planning), then kara, then the emergency clinic. i bundled a towel around max's neck and put him in the car. if you want to be seen right away at an animal emergency clinic, carry your pet in your arms with a towel wrapped around her or his neck. indeed, we were seen right away.

apparently an abscess had ruptured. maybe it was from when sagan attacked him last month? maybe one of the dozens of times he fell down outside (or inside) since, he cut himself somehow? maybe yellow swatted at him and made contact, made a nick? unknown.

max doesn't much like the emergency clinic. he was shaking, panting, barking; terrified. i honestly thought he might have a heart attack and die right there. i don't want that for him, not under such circumstances, but it's weird how nothing kills this guy. i held him as tightly as i dared, but the vet couldn't clip the hair around the wound without doping him up, he was so jittery. so she took him into the back for a while.

and now he's fine, you know, relatively. he's home and doped up pretty good. he's lying on the floor of the living room, in front of the couch, a towel under his head to catch the leaking serosanguineous fluid. see? the wound is draining; no drain was put in place today because the wound is on his ventral side and gravity is in effect. there's some puffy red skin surrounding the wound and if in the next couple of days this turns black, he might need surgery. we hope that doesn't happen. antibiotics, warm compresses, keep an eye on the wound, see the vet in 2 or 3 days.