Tooth extraction - swelling?

[dennison45]

Two days ago my 6 year old cat Ralphie had to have his front left canine extracted because he chipped it on something and the root was exposed. He came home with Duralactin, did not appear to be on antibiotics, and the vet tech stated that she 'believed' the doctor stiched the area up. I do not want to go prodding around to see and hurt him.

My wife and I noticed last night that his face next to his nose was swollen, and just wondered if this was common? He ate the night we brought him home (a mix of pate and grilled meat from fancy feast and we put his duralactin in the food) and this morning he didn't want much to do with it, but kept nosing around the cupboard where our dry food is. He's on a soft diet for a week.I did get him to eat a little bit by crushing come crunchies up and soaking them in water, putting them on top of the pate/meat mix, and also put some tiny bits of cut up ham on it. He ate the ham and everything around it.

I called the vet and they offered more anti-inflammatory liquid as well as the tablets, but I am just concerned about his pain and that swelling.

 

[dennison45]

He also may have spit up a little food last night or early this morning. There was a little bit of spit up near the litter boxes. I could not tell when it was from.

 

[dennison45]

So yesterday the vet sent home some Metacam and this morning he seemed to eat just fine but still looks a little swollen. How long should I wait for the swelling to go down?

 

[dennison45]

I just want to say thank you to everyone who replied. Oh wait, no one replied. Thanks for nothing.

Come to find out my cat had an infection that could have been prevented if my vet would have sent antibiotics home with him and I ended up taking him to an emergency clinic over the weekend to get antibiotics and spent another 300 bucks in the process due to my vet's negligence. My vet also stated they cleaned his teeth but the people at the emergency clinic said that they didn't. Now I have to take him back to my vet to possibly debride the infection. This is probably the worst experience I have ever had.

 

[stewball]

I am sorry nobody replied to you. That is very unusual. I hope your furbaby is ok now and you've sorted your vet out.

 

[reba]

Dennison for what it's worth I don't remember seeing your post so it's possible there was some technical glitch or it ended up on the wrong board.

 

[dennison45]

That's ok. Just overly frustrated with my vet and grasping for answers or at least some similar stories so I know I am not alone!

 

[reba]

I don't blame you for being so frustrated!  Though it's wonderful to read how you're going the extra mile for you cat (name?) to spare him suffering.   Have you searched the threads for other posts regarding tooth problems?  I know I've seen them from time to time. 

If it were me I'd hesitate bring him back to the same practice, but perhaps other people can weigh in on that. 

 

[dennison45]

Yes, I have done a lot of searching regarding cat behavior, etc. We took him to the vets tonight and we saw the male vet. He stated that the gum area looked like it was healing and there were no signs of necrotic tissue. We have another follow up next monday, then probably one more after that, but we're planning on switching vets after this ordeal.

As soon as we got home he went back into his 'safe room' and he's been sitting there ever since. We have left the door open so he can come out when he wants, and have left the litter box and water for him. Whenever we go in there he's friendly and we pet him and he purrs and talks to us. If we bring him out into the house he slinks back into the room. It's very odd to see him do this, he's been living in the house for 5 years but it's like he's never been here. I am not too worried about our female cat interacting with him because she normally will just hide and come back around after a bit to be nosy. We still plan on feeding them separately until he can eat dry food again, probably in a week or two. 

I really do not want to push him but I feel bad that he's alone in the back room, but I guess if he wants to come out he will eventually. 

 

[dennison45]

Does anyone think that feliway would help Ralphie come out of his room and help him relax again? It breaks my heart that he's acting like a completely different cat. 

 

[reba]

I wouldn't worry that Ralpie wants to be alone if he's responsive when you go visit him.  As you may have found out yourself, mouth pain is one of the worst things to have to tolerate as it hijacks your attention.  It's probably easier to be alone than have to deal with the other stimulation that goes on when people are in the room (e.g., voices, tv, light, etc.)

Did they give you some pain meds?  My vet gives me the option of having the meds compounded at a local pharmacy so everything is liquid and you get to pick the flavor - chicken, fish, beef, etc. 

 

[dennison45]

Yes, for two days he was on Duralactin, then wouldn't eat the food with it. Then he was on Metacam for three days until we found out he had the infection, and then for the past few days he has been on Buprenex. He has one more vial of Buprenex to take. After tonight he will be off any pain relievers, and just be on antibiotics. It will be one week tomorrow that he had his procedure and three days since he started taking his antibiotics. I might have to keep an eye on him and make sure he's ok once he's off his pain meds. I might need to stop by the vet and get more if he starts to lose his appetite again.

 

[reba]

Oh that's good.  I think it's right to ask for more paid meds too if he isn't feeling better, after all they're really just making an educated guess as to when his pain will end. 

I was also really surprised to see general practitioner vets doing anything to do with teeth.  Human GPs can't play dentist so I wonder why vets can?  Anyway, I seem to remember reading that at least some of them are in over their heads in the dentistry department, as your story shows. 

Anyway, so glad to hear is back home with you and doing better. 

 

[common sense]

Feliway certainly couldn't hurt, but his behavior is normal for what's going on and the buprenex he is on. And I would certainly never go back to that original vet, you are right he sure should've been sent home on antibiotics after oral surgery!

 

[furmonster mom]

A little note on Buprenex: it is an opiate derived pain reliever.  This means that it targets the entire central nervous system.  So, it's not surprising that kitty would seek out a quiet dark place to rest.  Not to be alarmist, but a few cats can have adverse reactions to Buprenex.  Watch for overly bad balance or oddly dilated pupils.  It's easily reversed if caught quickly.

I'm very sorry we missed your initial posting.  When I read it, my first thought was it sounded like an infection, and I was surprised you weren't sent home with antibiotics.  Although, a lot of vets are using injection antibiotics during the procedures, so they may not think of sending anything home.

 

[dennison45]

Thank you for all of your replies! Ralphies last dose of Buprenex was last night, so we're done with pain meds. Today is 7 days since he had his procedure. The vet told us to keep him on antibiotics another week, and he has a follow-up next Monday to make sure his gums are healing properly. Hopefully when I get home from work I'll have my kitty back. It's just so weird for him to be so anti-social, he's never been like that but like you all said, it's probably his meds. Does anyone have a particular idea of what the safest kind of pain med for a cat would be? I realize that most of them do have side effects but I just want to mitigate any behavioral changes the meds might cause.

 

[furmonster mom]

 
 Does anyone have a particular idea of what the safest kind of pain med for a cat would be? I realize that most of them do have side effects but I just want to mitigate any behavioral changes the meds might cause.

When my cat had a reaction to Buprenex, we fell back on our old standard of Torbutrol. 

Torb is a med that targets the point of pain via the bloodstream, as opposed to the central nervous system. 

It's very bitter, and can make a cat drool when it's given, so I tend to wrap it in a little bit of food (tiny bit of thin ham or cheese) and get it as far back in the mouth as I can manage so kitty swallows it readily. 

Talk to your vet about it, as you may want the Buprenex to clear the system before trying a new thing.  Then again, you may find that kitty does fine without it after all.

 

[reba]

You know I forgot about the antibiotic shot they give cats, though I know it's controversial with posters here.  Could the vet have given him one of those and that's why he didn't get sent home with antibiotics?  Though I'd imagine the answer is no because it would've been on the bill.

 

[dennison45]

the invoice never listed anything for antibiotics, just anesthesia, extraction, disposal, pain meds, and I believe cbc test. They were playing damage control and I asked them where on the bill was the anesthesia, and the vet gave me some story about it being included in the cost. Right now ralphie is still hanging out in his 'safe room' but we've had the door open for a solid day and he wanders out a few feet then runs back into the room. He's got litter, food, and water just in case. Just a completely different kitty now [emoji]128542[/emoji]

 

[dennison45]

sorry I meant antibiotics not anesthesia