today's surgery day for piglet

after some annoying back and forth with my current vet, i was able to get a referral to the only veterinary dentist in my area on friday.  he didn't have any availability until 4/22, which is way too long for piglet to wait, but i was told his third year resident had availability today.  i reached out to a friend who is a local vet tech to get her opinion on this, and she said it was fine.  she doesn't know the resident personally, but she knows the vet dentist professionally and said she'd be comfortable with the resident operating on her pets.  that was enough for me.

so piglet hasn't had food or water since before midnight - i stayed up late so i could actually pick up all the bowls at midnight.  i even tried to make sure all three cats drank water before i picked up the bowl.  i decided not to separate them all night because it would be stressful to them (well, to two of them.... one probably wouldn't care).  all three are a bit pissy right now because they usually get breakfast at 6am... in their minds, we're an hour late with their food!

piglet has her consultation at 9:20am.  if the resident agrees that surgery is necessary, it will be done today.  piglet will be on iv fluids for a bit before the surgery, during the surgery, and post-surgery.  once we get that tooth out, i know piglet will be so much more comfortable.  i plan on waiting until she's recovered from surgery, then taking her to a new vet who will work WITH me on treating her ckd, not just tell what to do and not invite any questions or ideas.  

everyone keep a good thought for piggy please.  i'm terrified of her going into surgery - i know that i'm doing the right thing and i know that by using this specialist, i'm doing the best i can by my baby.  but with her other health issues, i'm pretty scared about her going under.  

Sending many warm vibes your's and Piglet's way!

 Vibes for little Piglet for a speedy recovery 

Big love and prayers to you and Piglet, I hope the surgery is as smooth as can be and her recovery is equally easy x

I know how nerve-wracking it is to send our beloved ones into surgery, be it a big operation or a routine procedure - I was a complete wreck when Daisy was getting spayed!

well, surgery day will be tomorrow.

the vet dentist said piglet's kidney values are pretty bad, and the teeth are a bigger issue than we thought.  the 'current' vet said it was just one tooth and wouldn't say if it could be FORL.  the vet dentist found TWO teeth that have already been resorbed and a second tooth that looks like it's in the early stages.  like my 'current' vet, the vet dentist says the tooth that initially presented could be being affected by cancer, so we'll be biopsying that.  but piglet may need up to three teeth extracted, not just that one.  so the vet dentist wants her there all day today and overnight on fluids, as well as some antibiotics.  tomorrow morning piglet will have a renal panel done and then go into surgery, on fluids the entire time, and will stay about 3-4 hours after surgery on fluids.  the vet dentist could not recommend anything like subq's post surgery, so we'll be looking for a new vet ASAP.

i feel wholly justified in my decision to not let my 'current' vet do this work, and pretty comfortable with the idea that i no longer want to use that vet.  i feel like the last few visits we've had have not been productive, helpful, or fair tbh.  

for now i'm going to focus on staying calm and not worrying too much about piglet - i feel like she's in good hands.  everyone at the center was friendly and sincere.  they are a 24-hour facility that does emergency vet care and has a staff of specialists - dental, eyes, ears, dermatologist, oncologist - they have it all.  and the estimate is really not that much more than my 'current' vet's, especially considering they're planning on doing more things.

It sounds like everything is going as well as it can......good luck with the surgery, I'll keep Piglet in my prayers!

so today is actually the day and i think i'm pretty calm.  i have to intern today so i'll have things keeping me busy.  i'm going to call the medical center before i leave for work just to find out what the plan is for today and to let them know that i'll be working and not available until after 4pm to pick piglet up.

my other cats are acting strangely normal.  it kind of makes me sad to think that they just don't care that much that piglet is missing.  and i know when she comes home smelling like a vet or alcohol from being cleaned that jake (my youngest cat, a part bengal as far as we can tell) will be very upset and will hiss at her for a while.  i'm off from work tomorrow, so i'll be able to stay home and keep an eye on piglet.

your other cats probably think she's just off somewhere sleeping...please make sure they don't antagonize her when she gets back. GOOD LUCK AND GODSPEED PIGLET!

piglet is home!

turns out going to a veterinary dentist was probably the BEST choice i could have made (the vet wasn't even going to take x-rays).  all FOUR of piglet's canines had to be removed.  on x-ray they looked like swiss cheese according to the dentist.  they performed four crown amputations since the roots were already resorbed.  she has teensy stitches and seems as high as a kite.

the vet dentist sent us home with buprenorphine, which i find kind of funny because i'm a drug and alcohol counselor; that's one of the opiates we test for.  piglet's only allowed to eat soft foods for the next ten days.  they said that lack of appetite is normal after surgery, but piglet ate her food and then went to eat everyone else's! i let her and will feed the other two (who are a bit put off by piglet right now and ran to hide) separately.

i was pleased to find that they include a follow up at no extra charge in two weeks.  we'll have the biopsy results in about a week.  and the vet dentist said piglet DEFINITELY has FORL.

so i have many answers and piglet has four less teeth.  but hopefully now she'll get back to her normal self and we can revisit the ckd issue in a couple of weeks.

thanks for the positive thoughts everyone!

That sounds very positive! Yay for Piglet    l'm happy she's going to feel a lot better.

And she'll love the bupe, lol.