- Joined
- Oct 8, 2011
- Messages
- 10
- Purraise
- 10
Hello all,
About four or five weeks ago, at the end of November, my 8 year old cat (had him for about 7 years), Oreo was in discomfort. He was constantly opening and closing his mouth while circling his tongue around it (sort of how a dog would react to getting gummybears stuck.) When purring, I noticed that he would constantly swallow. Then we noticed a couple times he tried to vomit, but only mucus came out. He was very lethargic.
We took him to the vet and they said there was noting stuck in his throat but saw a sore - and said that it could be anything from feline HIV/Leukemia to an infection. They sent me home with some antibiotics, and took some blood. Boy was I nervous, but his blood thankfully came out negative to HIV/Leukemia. During the week's dose of antibiotics, we noticed an improvement, but when it ran out, we noticed him getting worse again.
After another visit, they were telling me how it could be that he is allergic to the tarter on his teeth. They did a cleaning (they said there wasn't much there), and gave me a larger dose of antibiotics specifically for oral infections. They told me if things didnt get better, Oreo may need all of his teeth extracted.. Personally I feel they are jumping to that conclusion way too early. They never even asked me if I changed his food recently or anything along those lines.
So after a week of giving him the oral antibiotics, we've noticed a very big improvement with Oreo (more energetic, no more trying to vomit or paw at his mouth). Then I went on vacation for a week, and came back yesterday. He still seems pretty good, but I noticed today that when he was purring, he was doing the hiccup/swallowing thing again. He's not really showing signs of discomfort, but I'm afraid it will return.
I've thought about changing his food. Currently I'm feeding him Wellness canned food. I've been feeding him Wellness this since the beginning of November - before that, he was getting 9lives canned. Could it be the switch to Wellness that sparked this - as in, could he be allergic to something in Wellness? Could it take a month for these allergies to make themselves apparent? I am a bit nervous to begin switching foods until I see the vet again, because I do not want to have too many variables. If they give me another dose of antibiotics, I would not know if he just needed the second dosage, or if the change in food was what helped him.
I know this is a long read, but Oreo has been my pal for a long time, and I want him to feel better without removing all of his teeth... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Richard
Edit- Seems that I cannot edit the title. Let me fix that typo here... throat*. I promise you, I have a college degree ------ in Art.
About four or five weeks ago, at the end of November, my 8 year old cat (had him for about 7 years), Oreo was in discomfort. He was constantly opening and closing his mouth while circling his tongue around it (sort of how a dog would react to getting gummybears stuck.) When purring, I noticed that he would constantly swallow. Then we noticed a couple times he tried to vomit, but only mucus came out. He was very lethargic.
We took him to the vet and they said there was noting stuck in his throat but saw a sore - and said that it could be anything from feline HIV/Leukemia to an infection. They sent me home with some antibiotics, and took some blood. Boy was I nervous, but his blood thankfully came out negative to HIV/Leukemia. During the week's dose of antibiotics, we noticed an improvement, but when it ran out, we noticed him getting worse again.
After another visit, they were telling me how it could be that he is allergic to the tarter on his teeth. They did a cleaning (they said there wasn't much there), and gave me a larger dose of antibiotics specifically for oral infections. They told me if things didnt get better, Oreo may need all of his teeth extracted.. Personally I feel they are jumping to that conclusion way too early. They never even asked me if I changed his food recently or anything along those lines.
So after a week of giving him the oral antibiotics, we've noticed a very big improvement with Oreo (more energetic, no more trying to vomit or paw at his mouth). Then I went on vacation for a week, and came back yesterday. He still seems pretty good, but I noticed today that when he was purring, he was doing the hiccup/swallowing thing again. He's not really showing signs of discomfort, but I'm afraid it will return.
I've thought about changing his food. Currently I'm feeding him Wellness canned food. I've been feeding him Wellness this since the beginning of November - before that, he was getting 9lives canned. Could it be the switch to Wellness that sparked this - as in, could he be allergic to something in Wellness? Could it take a month for these allergies to make themselves apparent? I am a bit nervous to begin switching foods until I see the vet again, because I do not want to have too many variables. If they give me another dose of antibiotics, I would not know if he just needed the second dosage, or if the change in food was what helped him.
I know this is a long read, but Oreo has been my pal for a long time, and I want him to feel better without removing all of his teeth... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Richard
Edit- Seems that I cannot edit the title. Let me fix that typo here... throat*. I promise you, I have a college degree ------ in Art.
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