At the last checkup, we commented on his gums. Th eVet did a close inspection, and told us that Washy was suffering from tooth reabsorption. Apparently it's very common (as many as 1 in 3 cats apparently). It was likely that he had problems below the gum line, and we needed to book him in to have it looked at.
Yesterday was The Day.
Wash has a fear of going to the Vet. I know that most cats don't like the experience, but Wash is very distressed by it. He's had a few traumas in his life which have resulted in him having extended hospitalisation, and he's always afraid he's going to be left. His diabetes was stress induced, from his last stay (when he was hit by a car, had his paw crushed, and then was having liver failure).
We starved him from 10pm the night before. He didn't notice until 7.30 when he was demanding breakfast, and was looking for the bowl of dry food which is otherwise always available. We felt dreadful handing him over, but of course we knew it was for the best. The Vet knows about Wash's issues, and planned to do him as the first of the dental ops that day.
The Vet rang late morning to let us now that the Xrays were better and worse than he had anticipated. One of the suspect teeth was fine, but there were two others which needed dealing with. Of course we gave the go ahead.
I phoned at 2.30pm to hear that he was awake, and had eaten, and was being Wash.
We collected him at 5.30, and were shown the xrays. We were happy to hear that his teeth were in good condition, very little scaling and tartar. There wasn't anything we'd done or not done that had caise the issues with the dodgey teeth.
We brought him home. He ate the bland fish and chicken as if he hadn't eaten for a week.
This morning we had to give him his antibiotics, and we decided to see if he would just eat them. He did. He's such a lovely boy.
He's not quite himself and I guess he won't be for a few days. The cat flaps are blocked up, he has a litter tray (which he used without any fuss), and the dry food will stay locked away until his gums have healed.
He'll feel much more comfortable without the teeth.
