Artie Dental on Monday

Stewball said:

I've only just found this thread. I felt so bad for you and artie and so relieved that you cancelled the appointment. Poor artie with his poor teeth. I was lucky. None of my cats had any teeth out. Towards the end of lotto's life he had such stinky breath but was too old to operate. So I kissed him stinky breath and all.
If you're blending his food, is he eating better?
Hugs and kisses to both of you.

Click to expand...

Artie, ate some of the pate Wild Calling on Monday, and a Bit of the pate of NV Rabbit this morning..

Late this afternoon, I finally pulled out my mini food processor and ground down a small can of Pride Ritzy Rabbit, morsels, with some added water. I brought it over to him. Artie was sleeping on my bed. He immediately ate 3/4 of a can. Now I am aware that his teeth are really bothering him..

I also called the Vet's office and asked if there was a cancellation for this upcoming Monday, to let me know..

It is a pain to have to keep grinding the food, but I will...I will grind down a large 6oz can tonight....If this works, I will eventually change the order I get from Chewy. I will change it from small cans to large.. It will be easier and less waste---clinging to the walls of food processor However, Artie just HATES leftover food...It has to be a fresh can..

I will try a large can which I will puree tomorrow morning and place in a tiny rubbermaid container...If that does not work, do have a small pyrex container with a plastic cover.; I can use that for him.

He is really lucky he came to find me as his forever home.....I know ;   I keep saying, God really knew what he was doing when he sent Artie to me....

Just thought I would update this thread. I am thanking everyone for their kind comments and support when I originally posted this.

Artie is now going in this upcoming Monday for his dental.

Poor guy. I noticed he was mostly lapping up the gravy from his food. I decided to puree it in my mini-food processor. Initially I just did a quick puree. I have now resorted to really grinding it down. He is at the point where he is only lapping the water, juice from it. Yes, I am wasting food. 

I think he lost a few ounces. That is not good for a cat his size. He has been stable for 6 months now. I really think it is his teeth. 

For some reason, I am not feeling good about this dental.. i cannot put my finger on it. If it is my anxiety issues coming into play or if it is a valid reasoning. 

To make matters worse, I joined the Humane society. None of them take their cats to my Vet's Practice; yet it is next to the Petsmart where their cats are shown. They flat out did tell me to stay away from one Vet which is very low cost, an assembly line, and not clean and through. The Shelter uses them because they are the cheapest. I know my Vet's Office is expensive, but I think you get what you pay for, around here. Unless you go into Boston. I do trust my Vet. The office is clean. The staff all know me and Artie and are kind and gentle. My Vet explains everything to me, and is conservative in her practice--pricing is up front. For anything out of her control, the animal is sent to a specialist. She also told me she gets update from the specialist about Artie and is following him completely. 

I guess what is bothering me is the Volunteers who never commented when I mentioned I was taking my guy to this practice. I know the owner of the practice is a member of their medical board, but they do not use him very much because he does discount the care, but not enough for the guy who is in charge of picking the Vets they use. Maybe it is just a sore subject and they do not want to comment on it. One of them did tell me not to mention that I use this practice to this guy because he would jump all over me about how expensive they are...I do not think they are out of the ordinary. All vets are expensive. 

I guess what is bothering me is an innocent comment form a different volunteer who was manning the adoption area. She mentioned that the most serious years of age for cats are from 10-12. If they can get through these years, then they seem to live very long...Artie is 12.....sigh...

Sorry, my anxiety disorder is just getting to me. Artie ate really good yesterday. He did not eat much during the night. During the day, he ate hardly anything...

ok--one more day...and then we see...

He is doing good with the IBD. His next appointment is in June or July...unless something comes up....

thanks for listening....

I would be anxious too, it can be a scary procedure for a kitty. I hope all goes well. Give Artie a hug for me

If the worst the Humane Society can say about  your vet is that he's too expensive for them, that's not much of a complaint.  He sounds like a terrific vet to me, one who genuinely cares about cats in general and Artie in particular.   I'm sure Artie is in very capable, competent hands.  I'm sure if the volunteers knew anything negative about him, they would have told you. 

About the ages 10 - 12 being problem years....  How many of those cats had regular vet care all their lives?  How many had good diets and plenty of exercise?  It's scary to hear something like that right before Artie goes in for his dental, but try not to take it to heart.  That comment really doesn't give you enough information to know if Artie fits the profile.   For what it's worth:  All but one of my cats  lived longer than 12.  I lost Milo at 14 and Wesley at 19 and all the others fell in the middle.  The exception was a two year old who picked up an infection eating something outside that he couldn't beat.  (This was when I still had indoor/outdoor cats.)

Anxiety is such a pain in the neck.  It's SO easy for your mind to start imagining things that might go wrong .  As if that's not enough, then comes the fear, worry, pounding heart and obsessive concern, all of which are very physically uncomfortable.   It's awful, I know!  

Anyway, things actually sound very promising.  Artie's eating, his IBD is under control and you have a great vet.  Try to get some rest tonight!                    <<<<  That's 8 hours of sleep for you!

Good luck to Artie! I'm sure everything will go fine, but it is definitely scary. I have a major fear of going under anesthesia so when my older dog went under I was really nervous. My vet has only lost 2 animals (to anesthesia) in his whole time practicing though. But I still almost cried when I watched them put her under for the surgery. She came out of it with no problem at all though. I'm sure your vet will do everything they can to take the best care of Artie while he is in. 

Yeah...I wish kitties didn't need to go under for this.  ><  My kitten's only 11 months old and seems to need one already and I don't like the thought of him having to go under...

artiemom Try not to worry too much about tomorrow. Cali went in for a dental (including a couple of extractions) at age 11 with chf. He came through just fine. I'm sure Artie will too

You'll both be in my thoughts tomorrow

Hope your day is better today..Theres something I have noticed recently in regards to "rescues". There seems to be plenty of bickering and bullcrap...I have followed a very popular kitty on facebook from maine..his owner has recently dealt with a huge amount of bullying in regards to rescues..I call it bullying...In each group there is always a ring leader-in my short years-its often that everyone follows in line-easier to do this than fight..I would ignore the baloney. I agree with the post earler "If all they complain about is price?!" then disregard the spats. We can only spend so much time researching and finding a good vet..I think your vet sounds very up to the minute and will be just fine...I have made the mistake of going to cheaper places and not been happy..I have gone to other places who are a rip off and I guess we just have to take what we can find. The good news is dentals are more common now=more vet techs/vets are doing more so they have the experience to make it as painless and quick as possible. They usually have a person who monitors the vitals as well as the person or people who preform the dental..I think Artie is in good hands...

As far as anxiety=I live it every day. I understand completely. I only wish we knew how to cure it because I sure hate it when those physical symptoms come on and my brain shuts up..then people ask questions or talk to me and I am off in lala land.Then I feel like an idiot as I try to backtrack what was said in order to reply without having to say "what? huh?"  Take a deep breathe...we will be with you in thought...And hoping Artie comes home and gets some rest.

Artie will be fine. Don't worry lovey.

I can totally understand anxiety, I have to take medication for it.

I know Artie will come through just fine, you just have to believe that.

Just wishing you and Artie   GOOD LUCK!!!! tomorrow!  



             

Will be thinking of you both!    

Thinking of you and Artie!

Thinking of you and Artie. Sending mega vibes for his dental procedure today 

Sending lots of and :cross: your way.

for Artie! A little bit of anxiety about any medical procedure is perfectly normal (and disagreements about vets are also common at shelters and rescues).

Artie's going to be just fine!! 

It's normal to be anxious when they have to see the vet. Thinking about both of you today! Stay warm! 

Kat0121 said:

Artie's going to be just fine!! 

It's normal to be anxious when they have to see the vet. Thinking about both of you today! Stay warm! 

Click to expand...

Absolutely!

My cats are now 12 and they both really could use a dental. The thought of that as they get older makes me very anxious, and I feel very undecided and nervous when I think about it, so I can totally understand you.

Thanks Everyone. I dropped Artie off at 8:30 this morning. The Vet will call by by 3:30pm. She has several surgeries today.

I still have a nagging feeling about this...

I really do like his Vet; but I think she is preparing me for something bad.

Artie lost 4 ounces in a month! that is a lot for him. He is a skinny cat as it is..that means he has lost 6 ounces this year. 

Yes, it could be due to his teeth, as the IBD Specialist suspects; however his Vet does not feel his teeth are that bad to consider it as the cause of the weight loss. She will be very liberal in extractions today, after she sees the full mouth x-rays.

Considering his age, his heart murmur, and his health, she does not want him to keep undergoing anesthesia...

He is a very difficult cat to anesthetize.... he fights things so much...

Artie will have a follow-up visit in 2 weeks. His mouth should be fine by then...

My mind is going crazy.. 

For the past couple of weeks I have been pureeing his food. I originally started off with some coarseness to it. That was great for a few days, then he started not to eat as much. I then started pureeing it down to a mush with added water. 

That was good for a couple days...but he has not been eating as much...he cut down and is sleeping a lot, wanting his tent...

I have been attributing this to his teeth...

On a good day, he would eat 3, of the 3 oz cans of food. On a bad day it is now, 1 3/4.......mostly 2.....not enough for him...

Artie is not vomiting, unless he eats something he should not, or the cisapride capsule goes down the wrong way. 

He is pooping every day.

A year ago, his regular vet was preparing me for bad news about his IBD, meaning that she felt it was turning into lymphoma or that it was at a point, and knowing my Cat, that he would not take to the IBD regimen. 

One of the Foster Mom's a Vet tech in her practice, just had to put down one of her own cats because the IBD regimen was not working for them...The Vet feels that Artie is following in those steps...She does know him well...

so I am scared..

I like my Vet..

I know the office practices complete sterile procedure during surgery.. She told me so. She said some Vets do not even do that. The office is clean. It is a member of the American Vet Hospital Association, the Vet Association, whatever this means: a fellow with Cornell University HealthCare Team...etc....

so confused.....so scared.. 

I am staying home today...I was going to clean out his "poopie" litter box today, vacuum, and clean my own bathroom, but it is now almost 11AM and I am just sitting here..

I was so upset when I left the vet, I went to Starbucks and got a Butterscotch Latte, then went to another city where an awesome donut shoppe is. I got 3 donuts--huge, cake like things. I came home and had a butterkrunch donut. It was so sweet!! Too sweet for me!! But I forced myself to eat it....sitting in my stomach now..

I guess my tastes have changed..I will probably give the other 2 donuts to my elderly neighbor downstairs...

Poor Artie... He woke me up at 5:30 AM looking for food. He was talking to me, asking for it all morning..He was so vocal in the car and at the Vets office. I let him out of his carrier. He was nosing around, jumping on things, but yelling at me at the say time.. very alert..but too skinny...

Thanks everyone for listening.

It sounds like you have an awesome vet! With a great vet and so many people sending love and healing vibes; I have a feeling Artie will breeze through this today