Missy Mae goes to the dentist

I’m still working on my second set of product reviews from the WVC.  And I still owe you Madison’s five-week photo.  However, today all you’re getting is the tale of Missy Mae’s trip to the dentist.

When we took Missy Mae to the vet for the first time last year, we were told her teeth were in terrible shape.  They were - they were so covered in tartar that it looked as if she’d eaten a big wedge of chocolate cake and hadn’t brushed her teeth.  She had gobs of tartar so thick you had to assume they were kibble pieces, but no, they were hard as a rock and stuck to her molars.  Unfortunately, we just couldn’t afford an expensive elective procedure for a cat we didn’t even plan to keep.  With pre-op blood work, a dental cleaning was estimated to cost about $300.

Fast-forward eight months, and I finally made an appointment to have those teeth cleaned.  February was Dental Month, and a $50 discount was offered.  I also got my first Care Credit card, so I was able to have the procedure done with no interest for six months.  We took her in this morning, and I asked if the vet could please use the opportunity to take an x-ray of Missy Mae’s “lower end”, because she walks oddly and has a deformed foot.  I wanted to know if she had an old fracture, and/or arthritis, because I’ve suspected she could be in some discomfort when she walks.  The vet was also to do the dental cleaning, pre-op blood work, and a cleaning of Missy Mae’s badly deformed ear.  It’s hard to do while she’s awake because it’s uncomfortable, so anaesthesia seemed the perfect opportunity to get her ear squeaky clean.  The one other thing the vet did when we dropped Missy Mae off was to scan her for a microchip.  I couldn’t recall if we’d had this done before, because we sort of “knew” her former owner, but she was essentially a stray and could have once had a real home.  But nope, no chip.  I should have had one put in and it didn’t even cross my mind.

The cleaning went great - her teeth look amazing and truly pearly white.  She had two extractions—the vet said one tooth practically fell out on its own, and then the tooth next to it was removed as well.  An x-ray of Missy Mae’s back showed that she has some ankylosis of the spine, aka, arthritis.  No past fractures were evident, but her deformed foot is actually four fused metatarsal bones.  The vet said it was impossible to know if it was an old injury which didn’t heal, or a birth defect.  Missy Mae is to start taking Cosequin to help her joints.  She came home with a box of Cosequin powder, pain medication, and antibiotics.

I went to pay for the procedure, and my $300 special discount dental cleaning cost $660!  The two “minor” tooth extractions, plus the necessary pain meds and antibiotics, made the cost of the dental itself jump up to $490.  Add to that my $140 radiograph and some Cosequin, and you’ve got yourself one impressive vet bill.  I was able to pay it, as our financial situation is looking somewhat brighter, but I would have still preferred the $300 I was imagining in my head.  I’d planned to get Frank’s teeth cleaned, too (his are black in spots, but his gums look good), but now he’ll be pushed back.  Next on our vet necessities list are required vaccinations for both Phoenix and Cricket, and Eli’s annual physical, then maybe we’ll get to Frank.  To keep things interesting, that lump we had surgically removed from Dante’s foot last year has started to peek through again, but it disappeared as soon as I washed the foot and gave Dante a dose of prednisone.  It’s absolutely an immune response to something—I’m going to have to make him wear shoes.

The moral of the story is:  take the estimate, and double it.  And don’t ask for x-rays smile

Missy Mae is eating well tonight, although she’s a bit wary of me, and keeps spitting out her pills.  She’s letting Madison curl up with her, though, so she can’t feel too awful.  By the way, we finally had Miles cremated and he’s now in a nice little wooden box on my desk.  The box even has a lock and key.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 02/27 at 04:03 AM

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  1. Much, much happier experience with a dental than what happened with Sassy fat cat. This is good. Our vet offers 20% off dentals in February too.  We managed to get her booked- her gums are bright red. But with her weight, age, and the diabetes, we knew she was high risk. I told them I knew the risk and agreed to anything they felt necessary (so they wouldnt have to call me in the middle of whatever). It’s a good thing I said so, because she went into respiratory arrest while they were inducing the anesthesia. The vet said something like “she must have been holding her breath while we intubated her” and then they noticed the gums turning blue and reacted. They brought her back. But they couldnt complete the anesthesia, so no dental work done, and I had to pay $350. Fortunately, she’s otherwise fine. She recovered well from the experience. Everyone else’s teeth are in good shape.  Tonight’s lotto is $216 million. I could set up a foundation for your rescues. smile

    Posted by Georg  on  02/27  at  01:39 PM

  2. Nasty experience, Georg—that must have been scary.  My vet did comment that Missy Mae took quite a while to come around from anaesthesia, but I know that can be a common problem in cats.  I’ll try to avoid surgery for her in the future, though.

    Good luck with that lotto!  When you win, all my pets will get full physicals, I’ll build some nice cat walkways from room to room so we’ll have fewer cat brawls, and I’ll invest in my pet intensive care unit.  I also want a two-unit pet display cabinet for socializing ferals.  I’d like new birdcages, but that will have to wait until you win the lottery again smile

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  02/28  at  05:11 AM

  3. I forget to mention that Flippy’s dream job is “Internet philanthropist”.  She wants to have lots of money, and then she’ll just surf the Internet and give money away to people who seem to need it.  A new vacuum cleaner here, a renovated yard there, payment of a hospital bill—Flippy will make your dreams come true!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  02/28  at  05:13 AM

  4. Hi Leigh-Ann,

    I just read about Missy Mae’s visit to the dentist and I thought you and your readers might be interested in a new contest for pets from the creators of the KEEP IT CLEAN ™ Pet Dental Kit, a new tooth-brushing kit for pets that was recently included in the official GRAMMY gift bags. The Dirtiest Mouth Contest for Dogs and Cats lets pet lovers submit a video of their dog or cat ravaging through the trash, sticking their nose in the litter box or doing other not-so-sanitary tricks that show why they most need their teeth brushed. The contest is open for submissions through March 30 and the winner will receive a $150 gift certificate to have their pet’s picture transformed into a painting, as well as a Pet Dental Kit. For more information, check out http://www.keepitcleanusa.com.

    If you’d like to receive future news about the kit, I’d be happy to add you to our distribution list. You can e-mail me at with your information.

    Thank you and happy brushing!
    Laura Thompson

    Posted by Laura Thompson  on  03/01  at  01:24 PM

  5. Wow, and for all these years we’ve tried to keep them out of the trash.  I wonder what we could’ve won when Eli did her feminine protection trash raid.  Although, I’m sure it would’ve been too gross to award a prize, except for the “Too Gross to Picture” prize.

    Posted by Flippy  on  03/03  at  03:39 AM
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