Updates.. dental, diabetes, artwork

It's been a while since I posted.  Since Merry passed away actually.  I just never really felt up to it. I thought I'd give some updates on Pippin.  He's doing fantastic now.  At first when Merry was gone he would meow for him.  Especially when he went out to sit on the deck (they aren't outdoor cats, only in door but can go on the deck).  Even writing this post and thinking about Merry is sad.  Right after it happened I found myself getting two scoops of food, or hearing his nails tapping on the floor, every now and then I hear him meow.  I still haven't removed his picture from my Facebook's profile picture.  I just can't take it down yet.  It's like he's really gone, or I've really decided that I'm over him.  I don't know when I'll take down his picture if ever. It's been very difficult.  Actually, actress Felicia Day just posted something about this on her Facebook:

Felicia Day

April 20 at 7:28pm · 

SERIOUS QUESTION:
I have a picture of my dog Cubby on my phone lock screen. He passed away 2 years ago next month. I have a baby now and want to put her on the lock screen, but I feel INCREDIBLY GUILTY about removing his little face so I can't make myself do it. It feels disloyal, like I won't see him every day to remind me of how much I loved him and maybe I'll forget him. How do I overcome the guilt?!?! IS THERE ANOTHER SOLUTION?!?!

I know how she feels.  Though I don't have children. Anyways... Pippin was doing well till a few weeks ago.  On a Sunday I saw something by his food bowl but honestly I thought it was trash.  Like a garlic clove or something.  I got around to picking it up on Tuesday and thought it was so odd.  When I first looked at it I thought maybe one of his claws came out.  I handed it to my husband and was like... "what is this!  I think he lost his nail! "  My husband was like.. "um .. this is a tooth."  So I grabbed it and sure enough it was Pippin's FANG! Oh my God! I felt so bad.  I immediately called the vet. She put him on antibiotics and a week later he got his teeth cleaned.  It had only been 14 months since his last cleaning so I have no idea why this tooth fell out!

Tooth I found! 

And... when he went in to have his teeth cleaned (this is a new vet.. see previous posts) it was taking a long time for them to call with an update.  So I called up there and they told me there were having a tough time but everything was fine.  I come to find out that the previous vet LEFT the roots in for 3 teeth that they had pulled at his last teeth cleaning.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME.  The rear right molar was giving the new vet a hard time.  The root had rotted and slipped under his jaw bone into an area where I guess blood and tissue gather and she had to get it out of that.  I am pretty furious about this but what can I do.  He was hurting for a while and had to go on pain meds for two weeks.  He's great now and really spunky.  It's so hard to know if pet's mouth's are hurting.  I felt so bad when all this happened. 

Pippin's diabetes is really doing great.  He's on 4 units of Prozinc twice a day, his steroid at night, and after Merry passed we decided to start giving Pippin Cosequin to help with his bones.  We've also done a lot of research (of course this is after years and years of paying high prices at the vet) and now order his prescription cat food through Petsmart.  We set up auto refills and so we get an additional 15% off the food.  Needles are the same.  Insulin and the steroid cost the same from the vet so we still get those there.  

I did have one of my favorite cat artists do a portrait of my cats for me.  Apofiss does amazing artwork.. especially of cats. They rarely do commissions so I was so lucky to be able to get one.  PLUS lucky that he would do both cats.  I told him if he couldn't do Merry and Pippin then I wasn't interested in the commission.  Can't have one cat without the other.  He did a great job.  I sent him several pictures of them for him to use as a reference and this was the result:

Be sure to check out Apofiss' work! 

Teeth Cleaning Success

If you read the previous post on the blog you know we weren't able to clean Merry's teeth last week.  He wasn't able to go under because he couldn't breath on his own.  So this week my vet tried again using a different anesthesia.  It was successful this time. Though it turned out quite expensive.  When Merry went in the previous week my vet could tell he has a lose tooth, but that was all she could really see at the time.  When I picked him up he had like 8 teeth pulled!  I did have his teeth cleaned in May 2012 so I didn't think it had been that long and then 2 years before that.  He has never had teeth pulled before now.  I don't know how they got so bad.  She did say that when a cat is diabetic their teeth will go bad... but that bad~!!  He was under anesthesia for 50 minutes and so she didn't take xrays because he was under so long.  Merry gets sooooo moody at the vet.  I had to go in the back and move him into his carrier.

The vet did say she wants to see him in two weeks but she can't even get near him.  I asked her how she would look at his mouth and she said from a distance.  Well I am not going to pay $50 for her to stand away from him and say he looks good.  I have been feeding him wet food for the week, and of course he is on all kinds of medication.  I am going to start softening his diabetic dry food so he can eat that from now on.  I think with all those teeth gone it's going to be too hard for him to eat normal hard food.  His eyes also wigged out the night after his dental.  One eye was fully dilated and the other was not.   I googled this and of course this is a major sign of stroke.  Luckily my vet will email after hours if you email her so I emailed her right away! She did say this was a symptom of coming down off morphine.  But it was still very scary.

Be sure to get your cat's teeth cleaned. I had NO idea this is how bad his teeth were.  I would've never know he was in pain.  His breath did stink real bad so that's how I knew it was time.  Plus my vet had 10% off this month for dentals so I saved a lot of money there too. 

Yellow teeth are the ones removed

Teeth Cleaning

Merry's breath has not smelled good lately and it's been about 1 1/2 years since the last time he had his teeth cleaned.  I think it's important to take care of your cat's teeth.  Imagine a painful mouth!  Cats can't tell you when their mouth hurts so I try to do it every now and then (I don't do it as often as recommended though). If your cat has bad breath though then it's time.  Most likely there is plaque stuck somewhere in their teeth.

He fasted during the night but since he is diabetic he had to have a little food this morning. No shot though, no food or water during the night.  After dropping him off I called and check on him a few hours later.  Turns out he couldn't breath on his own while he was gassed so my vet decided to not do it today.  She was able to get some plaque off some of his teeth, but went ahead and woke him back up.  He does have one lose tooth so she wants to try again.  Next week we will bring him in and she will use a different anesthetic.  She said they would be able to tell before he is under whether or not he can breath.  I am hoping it works because a lost tooth can be very painful and I am not sure what the next option will be for this tooth.  This month is dental health month for pets so my vet also offers 10% off cleanings.  I wasn't charged for today either which was really nice of them.   I don't brush my cat's teeth though I should.. I do have a tooth brush and tooth paste for them for the vet but it is tough work. Be sure to get your cats teeth checked out especially if they are diabetic.  I'll update next week about how that appointment goes.