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Cat-astrophe.
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:08 pmWell, because I needed a bit more stress in my life, Sabrina decided to provide me with some. I noticed last night that she had something on her lip. Until this morning, however, I did not realize that it was her tooth.
Her long fang tooth on the lefthand side had come dislodged and was curved up over her lip. She looked like a sabre-toothed tiger with only one sabre. Or a punk cat with a lip piercing. Either way, I knew there was no way that could be good. So I did some googling and found out that a loose or missing tooth can be the result of periodontal disease, and is a Very Bad Thing. By this morning, the dislodged tooth had actually come out and was laying next to her on the couch. I just got back from the vet, where they're going to keep her overnight to do a dental cleaning, start her on antibiotics and stitch up the hole left by said tooth. She *seems* in good enough spirits. Mad as can be, at the indignity of being put in a carrier and having to ride in a car, but when I left her she was just meowing angrily at me. I'm sure I was being cursed mightily.
I'm trying not to panic and/or freak out. But some of you may remember, she is my asthmatic kitty. In order to clean her teefs, they have to sedate her. As you might expect, these two things together can cause issues although the vet assures me that, of course, they will be monitoring her breathing very closely while she's under. Still...she's my baby. Literally, she is the baby of the family. Yet, she is ten years old. All four of my kitties are in double digits now. General will be twelve in January.
Having to sign the release form stating that I understood the risks associated with sedation, including possible death, brought back a flood of memories from signing the release for Dexter saying that I consented to have him put to sleep. It was hard to hold it together, thinking of what I was signing. I know it's standard procedure, but still..
So, that's pretty much been my day. I could think of ways I'd rather have spent it, but I'm glad to be getting this taken care of. The vet did verify that she has stage two periodontal disease. That's two out of four. So, not nearly as bad as it could be, but worse than it oughta be. But she said otherwise, she does look to be in good health. They're going to give her a thorough dental exam in the morning to make sure she doesn't have any other afflicted teeth, but if she does, I've given them permission to pull them before they also fall out. I just hate that she's going to be a snaggle-tooth, but they assured me that it should not affect her eating or anything else. I know some of you have cats with pulled teeth. Have you found this to be the case? Needless to say, I'm worried about her (a lot), but I'm trying not to think of the "what ifs" and just wait until tomorrow morning when I know something more definitive.
In the meantime, I decided to re-examine their diet after my post last week about General yacking up his food. I went by the natural pet foods store on my way home. They gave me samples of Wellness, Taste of the Wild and Innova cat foods. Thus far, General has turned his nose up at the Wellness, but Oreo seems to be enjoying it. Misty is sleeping somewhere and hasn't partaken yet. I got them a little pouch of shredded, dehydrated chicken treats. It's supposedly just cooked chicken, dehydrated into bits. General very much enjoyed playing with it and batting the pieces around the kitchen, but I'm not sure if he actually ate any of it. So, I think I can draw the conclusion that my cats prefer crap. If I put down Friskies treats, he'd be all over them. My cats like junk food, apparently.
Please send good thoughts, prayers, what have you, to Sabrina. I'm trying really hard not to cry and worry, but it's hard. She is my baby. I know a lot of you pet lovers relate.
I stopped by the library on my way in, because I had four books to pick up. I'm going to just hole up in my bedroom and read tonight, and pretend that she's not gone. I'm sitting on the couch right now, and the fact that she's not sleeping next to me is wrong. The house seems so weird without her here..
Her long fang tooth on the lefthand side had come dislodged and was curved up over her lip. She looked like a sabre-toothed tiger with only one sabre. Or a punk cat with a lip piercing. Either way, I knew there was no way that could be good. So I did some googling and found out that a loose or missing tooth can be the result of periodontal disease, and is a Very Bad Thing. By this morning, the dislodged tooth had actually come out and was laying next to her on the couch. I just got back from the vet, where they're going to keep her overnight to do a dental cleaning, start her on antibiotics and stitch up the hole left by said tooth. She *seems* in good enough spirits. Mad as can be, at the indignity of being put in a carrier and having to ride in a car, but when I left her she was just meowing angrily at me. I'm sure I was being cursed mightily.
I'm trying not to panic and/or freak out. But some of you may remember, she is my asthmatic kitty. In order to clean her teefs, they have to sedate her. As you might expect, these two things together can cause issues although the vet assures me that, of course, they will be monitoring her breathing very closely while she's under. Still...she's my baby. Literally, she is the baby of the family. Yet, she is ten years old. All four of my kitties are in double digits now. General will be twelve in January.
Having to sign the release form stating that I understood the risks associated with sedation, including possible death, brought back a flood of memories from signing the release for Dexter saying that I consented to have him put to sleep. It was hard to hold it together, thinking of what I was signing. I know it's standard procedure, but still..
So, that's pretty much been my day. I could think of ways I'd rather have spent it, but I'm glad to be getting this taken care of. The vet did verify that she has stage two periodontal disease. That's two out of four. So, not nearly as bad as it could be, but worse than it oughta be. But she said otherwise, she does look to be in good health. They're going to give her a thorough dental exam in the morning to make sure she doesn't have any other afflicted teeth, but if she does, I've given them permission to pull them before they also fall out. I just hate that she's going to be a snaggle-tooth, but they assured me that it should not affect her eating or anything else. I know some of you have cats with pulled teeth. Have you found this to be the case? Needless to say, I'm worried about her (a lot), but I'm trying not to think of the "what ifs" and just wait until tomorrow morning when I know something more definitive.
In the meantime, I decided to re-examine their diet after my post last week about General yacking up his food. I went by the natural pet foods store on my way home. They gave me samples of Wellness, Taste of the Wild and Innova cat foods. Thus far, General has turned his nose up at the Wellness, but Oreo seems to be enjoying it. Misty is sleeping somewhere and hasn't partaken yet. I got them a little pouch of shredded, dehydrated chicken treats. It's supposedly just cooked chicken, dehydrated into bits. General very much enjoyed playing with it and batting the pieces around the kitchen, but I'm not sure if he actually ate any of it. So, I think I can draw the conclusion that my cats prefer crap. If I put down Friskies treats, he'd be all over them. My cats like junk food, apparently.
Please send good thoughts, prayers, what have you, to Sabrina. I'm trying really hard not to cry and worry, but it's hard. She is my baby. I know a lot of you pet lovers relate.
I stopped by the library on my way in, because I had four books to pick up. I'm going to just hole up in my bedroom and read tonight, and pretend that she's not gone. I'm sitting on the couch right now, and the fact that she's not sleeping next to me is wrong. The house seems so weird without her here..
