Vibes for Merlin---dental

I could use some vibes for my aby, going to the dentist on Monday.

Merlin has been dealing with gingivitis ever since I got him at 5 months of age. Initially it was fairly mild and the vet thought I should be able to keep it under control with regular brushing with an enzymatic toothpaste.

Unfortunately, it has gotten progressively worse. Apparently it's not just a regular type of gingivitis. The diagnosis the vet has on Merlin's record is "hyperplastic plasmacytic gingivitis". Basically, in addition to the inflammation there is excessive growth of the gums.

Over the past year Merlin has had:
1. Depo-medrol shot which reduced the inflammation but had no effect on the hyperplasia.
2. Full dental (under anesthesia) including trimming the excess gum tissue.
3. Course of antibiotics which had no visible effect.
4. Another shot of depo-medrol which helped some, but less effective than the first time.
5. A third shot of depo-medrol (about 6 months later) with moderate improvement of the inflammation on the right and very little effect on the left side of his mouth.

My vet says there isn't much else he can do except to pull Merlin's teeth, which he is reluctant to do since the teeth are actually in good condition. He's referred me to a dental specialist and I have an appointment for Merlin Monday morning.

Merlin needs all the good TCS vibes he can get for a permanent solution and the least amount of trauma. So far he's still eating anything and everything, but I know he's in pain when I try to brush his teeth, even with just using my finger to apply the toothpaste.

Oh, your poor boy - thank goodness he has you in his corner. that the consult will give you a good treatment option.

Poor Merlin! Lots of for Monday!

Awww poor merlin

Sending dental vibes for Merlin! Let us know what happens.

Thanks, everybody. I'm hoping for a non-surgical intervention, but I don't really think that's going to happen. They've asked me to have him fasting just in case they need to do something under anesthesia. At the very least they'll be taking X-rays and possibly doing a full dental cleaning.

The fasting part is going to be fun. I have two options. Either take all the food away Sunday evening and have a bunch of hungry unhappy kitties jumping on me all night, or keep Merlin in my room without food and have unhappy kitties banging on the door all night wanting to come in to sleep with me. I'm still trying to decide which option will be the least traumatic for all of us.

Poor guy. Twitch had her teeth pulled many years ago - she was miserable for awhile but in the end it was well worth it. I'm hoping it won't be that case for Merlin.

I hope the specialist comes up with an answer for Merlin on Monday!

Oh sweetie, I am SO sorry! I didn't realize it was so bad.

Mega there's a non-surgical solution!

As to the food... when we free fed, we always just pulled up the food and water for everyone the night before, and put it out once the kitty requiring surgery was in the crate. They really didn't complain as much as we expected - especially since you really don't need to pull the food up until around 10:00pm (at least according to our vets) if you're off first thing in the morning.

Originally Posted by LDG

Oh sweetie, I am SO sorry! I didn't realize it was so bad.

Mega there's a non-surgical solution!

As to the food... when we free fed, we always just pulled up the food and water for everyone the night before, and put it out once the kitty requiring surgery was in the crate. They really didn't complain as much as we expected - especially since you really don't need to pull the food up until around 10:00pm (at least according to our vets) if you're off first thing in the morning.

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It's been a bit of a roller coaster, sometimes worse, sometimes better. It's only in the last month or so that it's gotten really horrible.

The woman who called me from the dentist office said I should take up his food at 7:00 PM. I'm not quite sure why it has to be so early. His appointment is at 9:45 tomorrow morning. When I had my girls spayed they only had to be fasting after 10:00 PM for an 8:00 AM surgery.

I normally do a measured free feed, putting out half in the morning and half in the evening. They get their wet meal some time between 8:00 and 9:00 PM and I'll put out the evening dry food while they're eating that. I'm thinking if I feed them around 8:00 and don't put out the dry food for the night, that should be plenty of time.

Mega vibes for your darling Merlin tomorrow. I would just take up all the food too tonight. At least everyone will have a normal sleeping routine then good luck tomorrow

Good Luck for Merlin

I'm hoping this specialist will be able to help poor Merlin (love that name).

Lots of coming his way!


Robin

So I fed the kitties their wet meal about 8:00 last night and took up their dry food while they were chowing down. That worked pretty well until 5:00 AM when Shareena tried to dig me out from under the covers, literally, to feed her. I finally got up about 6:30, put Merlin in the carrier, and put out dry food for the others. They all made a beeline for the food, ate a few nibbles, and walked away.

I left the food out for 15 minutes then put it away again and let Merlin out. I didn't think it was fair to leave him in the carrier for an extra two hours. Poor baby has been following me all over the house begging for food. He made me feel terribly guilty for eating my own breakfast.

We leave in about half an hour, and I have a feeling this is going to be an all-day ordeal. If we get home early enough I'll post again before I go to work tonight, but it may be tomorrow morning before I can get back.

Thanks for all the good

here's wishing everything goes well !

Good luck - and I know what you mean about breakfast...luckily, last time I went through this (just a cleaning, thank goodness), I didn't eat til I got home from the vet, as I took a vacation day. I was so hoping they'd get through early and I could pick them up.

Of course, by time I got home I wasn't hungry anymore either, and that was the day a few urgent cases came into the surgery so my babies with their routine cleaning were the last cases of the day. We all ate better the next day!

Good luck for an easy procedure and quick healing!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thinking of Merlin.

All my love and go out to you and Merlin today!!!