cuddles,17 year old..procedure monday

okay, i need vibes.
the 17 year old kitty i adopted march 1st is going into the vet on monday for a procedure. she has a badly infected tooth, the gums have receded and the roots are exposed and she has gone down to six pounds because she hasn't been eating. her bloodwork also came back that she has hypothyroidism..while she is under sedation the vet will check for a growth on the thyroid and i have given her the go ahead to remove it if there is one there since she told me med therapy would only go so far and all systems/organs will shut down and she will continue to lose more weight.
i have my sweet baby on amoxicillin right now..they drilled off the plaque off the tooth (i found it while brushing her teeth..it was a huge hard chunk that covered most of the tooth) and gave her injections of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. the only thing i can get her to eat is chicken baby food so i'm off to the store to stock up so she will at least have SOMETHING in her tummy..i can't stand to see her get thinner!
if there's no growth, we will start thyroid meds..either way that tooth has to go..it must be incredibly painful..i can imagine since i've recently had my own dental issues and i could hardly stand it..poor thing.
also found out she probably had a stroke a few years ago as she is blind in the one eye i noticed is constantly dilated and non responsive to light.
i am just very nervous about her undergoing anesthetic at her age but the vet assured me her bloodwork showed she should be able to pull through..i really hope she's right and nothing goes wrong.
vibes, prayers, thoughts would be really helpful. thank you for listening...

I hope all goes well - and what a wonderful home Cuddles has found with you.

I hope your Cat will be ok.

Lots and lots of good vibes coming your way! TCS vibes really do work!

Aww, poor kitty. Tons of !

Oh no ....... that poor baby girl. Thank goodness you noticed it and got her in for help.

Sending so many vibes that her surgery goes well, that she doesnt have any pain and that she puts weight back on

Sending lots of vibes for Cuddles.

First, I have to say congratulations and bless you for adopting this kitty!!! What a wonderful thing you did!

I completely understand being nervous about the anesthesia. It's important that the bloodwork was done recently (within the last 30 days) and all levels were normal. It's also a good idea to have her blood pressure checked. Because your baby is older and underweight, they will have to be extra careful with her. Speak with your vet about the type of anesthetic used - isoflurane or sevoflurane are gases (instead of injectables) and are currently considered the safest. My dental tech tells me these are used for pediatric surgeries! Ask if your cat will be monitored during the procedure - this is *very* important. You want another set of eyes watching her breathing and vital signs. The vet can't do this (or can't do it well) while she's performing surgery. IV fluids should also be given. There's a good website where you can read about this:

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proce...C2003&PID=3672

On the above site, the vet mentions halothane as another gas to use, but my vets have only spoken about isoflurane and sevoflurane as being best.

It sounds like your kitty already had a dental procedure since you said they "drilled plaque off her tooth". Was the infected tooth not an issue at that time?

Regarding the hypothyroidism - are you sure it isn't *hyperthyroidism*? Hypo seems to be somewhat rare in cats, hyper is much more common. If it's hyperthyroid, why doesn't your vet think the meds will be effective? Surgery isn't usually indicated anymore, according to my vets. As you can imagine, it's delicate surgery and requires that the cat be under for a fair amount of time. The amount of time under anesthesia is what's crucial - you want to minimize it as much as possible, especially for an older, weakened cat.

For hyperthyroid, there are better alternatives to the surgery. One is the meds (usually Tapazole), unless the cat has a reaction to it (as mine did). The best *cure* for hyperthyroidism, as opposed to just treatment, is I-131 radio-iodine therapy. It's a simple injection - no anesthesia, nothing invasive. The downside to this is the cost, and the fact that the cat needs to stay at the hospital for about 4 days. My cat has done extremely well with the I-131.

Sorry to go on so long here, and I don't mean to worry you! I have an older girl myself, so I'm familiar with what you're feeling. The best thing you can do is to ask your vet *lots* of questions about the anesthetic, how long the procedure takes, alternatives to surgery, etc. Knowing you've covered all the bases (or at least most of them) will help you feel confident that you're doing the right thing for your special girl.

All good wishes to you and your baby!

oh, i must've been so tired and stressed i said hypo instead of hyper *embarassed*. no, she didn't have another dental procedure..i brought her in the other day to check out all my worries and the vet said "let me bring her in the back and saw off this plaque so we can actually see what we're looking at"...they gave her an injection of antibiotics and antiinflammatory after and sent me home with amoxidrops because just holding her still caused the area to bleed thought it was non invasive. that's when they saw how the root was exposed under there and the gums receded. my friend works there as the head tech and will be monitoring the procedure. they're going to just wait till she closes her eyes and is out then pull it as quickly as possible...but if there is a growth on the thyroid then they'll have to keep her under longer to remove it as she said no med therapy would help and all systems would start shutting down shortly. if there's no growth i understand it she is going to basically stop administering the sedative as soon as she falls asleep so less is in her system. thanx for all the info. i will ask more questions regarding all the info you've presented to me..thanx again!
p.s. if no growth, we will start thyroid meds immediately..if there is one and it's removed i'm not sure yet...the vet didn't discuss that part with me yet.

Originally Posted by Tink80

i brought her in the other day to check out all my worries and the vet said "let me bring her in the back and saw off this plaque so we can actually see what we're looking at"...

Click to expand...

Wow, I can't believe the vet even *attempted* to remove plaque from your kitty's tooth without putting her under!!! You've got one very easy-going kitty!

I'll admit I'm a little confused about something. My cat was treated for hyperthyroid about 3 years ago now, so I wasn't sure I remembered it correctly, but I thought my vet told me that she needed to be on the thyroid meds *before* any type of treatment. The purpose was to make sure the thyroid levels were first brought down to normal. So, I did a little research, and sure enough, thyroid meds are supposed to be given for several weeks before surgery or any type of treatment.

From what you're saying, your kitty hasn't gotten any thyroid medication. It could be a good idea to ask your vet about this. Keep in mind that in almost all hyperthyroid cases, there is always a growth on the thyroid, most of the time it's benign. You might also want to speak to your vet about the I-131 therapy. I'm guessing she doesn't do it, otherwise she would have offered it to you. It's expensive, but so is the surgery, and you might want to weigh the pros and cons of each one since there's much more than just cost to consider. This site may help you - it compares all the thyroid treatments and gives you pros and cons for each one. It's also where I found the info about needing to give the meds before any procedure:

www.marvistavet.com/index.html
Click on "to the Pet Web Library" and scroll down to Hyperthyroidism. The info I told you about is in the table of contents.

I hope I haven't made your head ache, but I thought you should have this information since it's clear you love your cat and want to keep her healthy.