Toothless Kitties ...
Dec. 11th, 2008 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
awfulhorridOK, not quite. I took Bella and Pyrite to the vet a few weeks ago for their annual checkups. They both needed dental work -- or extractions as they're called when you're dealing with cats. (Irony of ironies, I find this out the same day as I was going to the dentist to get fitted for a crown.)
I decided to spread the misery out a bit, so I took Bella in last week. She was listed for two extractions and came away with three. After a week, she's mostly forgiven me the trip in the car and the abandonment at the vet -- she's fine and dandy and is getting the last of her clavamax tomorrow morning.
I took Pyrite in today for his one tooth extraction. With his pale blue eyes and quiet 'mew,' he's actually better at inducing guilt than Bella. I know I'm doing the right thing when I drop them off at the vet for the day, but it still makes me feel guilty when I leave them there alone. About 13:00, I got a call from the vet: Pyrite was all done and he was doing fine, but they had to pull five teeth in total and he might be a little sore for the next few days. Five??? Poor kitty.
The vet is telling me that while this sort of tooth decay is fairly common in cats, it's not very well understood. It could be genetics or it could be something dietary that they're missing. Not something that we aren't feeding them, mind you, but something that cats in general are missing. It's likely that Pyrite is going to lose more teeth in the coming years. I guess it's a good thing he likes gooshy food.
Tomorrow, like last Friday, I'm working from home so I can be here with the patient. He's already been cuddling up to me and seeking comfort. I just wish he'd wait until the anaesthesia wears off completely before he starts climbing around on the things on which he's allowed to climb!
I decided to spread the misery out a bit, so I took Bella in last week. She was listed for two extractions and came away with three. After a week, she's mostly forgiven me the trip in the car and the abandonment at the vet -- she's fine and dandy and is getting the last of her clavamax tomorrow morning.
I took Pyrite in today for his one tooth extraction. With his pale blue eyes and quiet 'mew,' he's actually better at inducing guilt than Bella. I know I'm doing the right thing when I drop them off at the vet for the day, but it still makes me feel guilty when I leave them there alone. About 13:00, I got a call from the vet: Pyrite was all done and he was doing fine, but they had to pull five teeth in total and he might be a little sore for the next few days. Five??? Poor kitty.
The vet is telling me that while this sort of tooth decay is fairly common in cats, it's not very well understood. It could be genetics or it could be something dietary that they're missing. Not something that we aren't feeding them, mind you, but something that cats in general are missing. It's likely that Pyrite is going to lose more teeth in the coming years. I guess it's a good thing he likes gooshy food.
Tomorrow, like last Friday, I'm working from home so I can be here with the patient. He's already been cuddling up to me and seeking comfort. I just wish he'd wait until the anaesthesia wears off completely before he starts climbing around on the things on which he's allowed to climb!
