The Blog Pound

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 , evening

11 cats to the vet, and we lived to tell the tale

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, we carted 11 cats to the vet for vaccines and checkups. It ended up being an exhaustive chore, with the six older cats being the best-behaved and easiest to catch, and the six younger cats being vicious beasts who drew blood. We took in six cats on Tuesday, and were supposed to take in six more on Wednesday, but I absolutely could not catch Bing (well, I could catch her, but I couldn’t get her into a crate). I didn’t even bother attempting to catch Dobby, who won’t allow us to touch her at all unless we’re offering a food bribe. The deal we were offered by our vet was that we’d perform a “working interview” of a new doctor applying for a position at the clinic, and in exchange, all costs would be waived. It’s impossible to pass up that sort of deal, so the aching muscles and bloody scratches seemed a small price to pay.

Overall, the cats are in good health. The main problem is with their dental health, and we’ve been cursed with cats with bad genetics. It’s not surprising that all six older, adopted cats require dental cleanings, but it was frustrating to find out that 3 year-old Scampi seems to have an autoimmune gum disease called FORLs (Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive Lesions), which is painful and doesn’t really have a treatment except for pulling the involved teeth. Scampi’s brother, Tie, doesn’t have the condition, but his uncooperative sister, Bing, seems to also suffer from it (I took a peek in her mouth when we got home). Right now I’ve got Scampi scheduled for a dental cleaning on the 27th, and once we get a definitive diagnosis on him, I can see about getting treatment for Bing. The vet suggested we feed a few pieces of prescription T/D as a daily snack to help keep the teeth clean once they’ve had professional treatment, but warned that the T/D wo萖dn’t remove any tartar or calculus already formed. It truly is a myth that eating conventional dry kibble helps maintain clean teeth in pets, because it’s kind of like trying to clean our own teeth using melba toast. Dental health is largely a matter of genetics (just like with humans), although treats/snacks specifically designed for gum health are becoming pretty popular. Other than the prescription T/D, the vet suggested trying Feline Greenies or C.E.T Chews, but we’ve tried the latter and most of our cats won’t touch them (they have a texture like styrofoam packing peanuts). The other great treat for promoting good dental health is raw chicken necks, but I don’t have a local source for them. Raw diets are generally thought to help maintain healthy teeth and gums, but it’s a lot easier to give a dog a chewy bone than it is to give one to a cat. Our cats eat raw ground chicken meat and bones every day, but the bones are ground so finely that they’re pretty ineffective at cleaning teeth. Hopefully we can eventually get everyone a good baseline cleaning and then find some treats for maintenance (I’m not brushing their teeth… you come here and try to do it).

Other than dental issues, we discovered that Missy Mae has a grade II/III heart murmur, which is odd because she’s been to the vet a couple of times over the last few years and it’s never been detected. She needs a cardiac workout to sort out the problem (hello, $$$). The good news is that Bunny, our cat with HCM, didn’t have any detectable murmur or irregular heart beat. I was just devastated by Bunny’s diagnosis back in Nov. ‘07, but I have to say that she’s doing so well that you’d never know she had any problem at all. She takes Lasix and Enalapril, and is probably the most active and lively cat in our household. So far, she doesn’t exhibit any panting or open-mouthed breathing. The vet said there was a chance that Bunny had a virus when she was initially diagnosed, and that she may not have true HCM, or may not have a progressive form of the disease, and nothing would make me happier. Bunny has an echocardiogram on the 27th, and then we should know more about whether her condition has changed from a year ago.

Kevin, our current stray, also went along on the first day of our vet visit. He was described as “gorgeous” by multiple staff members, and we discovered that he was neutered and seems to be quite young (probably no more than a year old). He also appears to be ear-tipped, although the tipping is slightly more shallow than normal, so it’s tough to say if it’s an ear-tip cut or just a level tear from fight or accident. He’s such a mellow, cuddly cat… if he’s been ear-tipped, he was probably rounded up in a TNR, and I don’t understand why no one tried to adopt him out. It’s possible he’s a stray who was dumped at the bird/farm sanctuary about half a mile from our house, which would explain how he was part of a mass spay and neuter process. Flippy and I went over to the sanctuary on Halloween night, to deliver our pumpkin (to be fed to the pigs), and we saw at least three or four cats wandering the area in the span of 60 seconds. The place must be crawling with strays. Since we’ve brought Kevin inside (where he happily lives in a pile of clothes in the laundry room and enjoys belly rubs and toys), a new, unneutered male has taken his spot in the yard and is eating the food I leave out. It feels like the supply of homeless cats is endless, and this is just one tiny corner of the universe.

I wish I could name the vet we saw, but I don’t want to mention her in case she doesn’t take the job, and in case her current employer doesn’t know she’s looking elsewhere! Suffice it to say that we liked her very much, and would be happy to see her on a regular basis. Our clinic generally keeps three or four vets on staff, and there’ve been times that some of the doctors have been “less than my favourite”, but if this new vet is hired I’ll be willing to see any available doctor with any of our animals. The vet was young but confident, answered all of our questions and entertained us with anecdotes, and most importantly, wasn’t condescending. She also managed to stump me with “FORLs” as a diagnosis, and any vet who can stump me means that I’m going to learn something during the appointments. If she’s hired, I’ll come back to edit the entry to add her name.

Now that I’ve finally finished writing this blog entry, I need to jot a note to the vet who owns the clinic to thank her for the $800+ of freebies, and to tell her that we’d love to see the new vet as part of the staff.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 01/20 at 09:03 AM
The Litterbox • (1) Comments • Permalink