Good news at the vet's office today.

[Curmudgeoness]

I have not posted about all my recent problems with my cat, Sammy, because it was just too much to deal with and I didn't want to put it all down in writing. Until now. I just adopted Sammy at the end of July. He was going on two years old. Here is a picture of my wonderful boy:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/curmudgeoness/5971968478/|" width="500" height="333" alt="Sammy at the stairs"></a>


Sammy had a gum disease called stomatitis, which is a wicked condition. It seems to be an auto-immune problem where the body attacks any and all bacteria in the mouth----and you cannot have a bacteria-free mouth. They don't know what causes it, and there is no cure for it. There are a few things that can be done to treat it, but none of those things were working for Sammy. With this disease, the gums swell, turn purple, and bleed profusely. It can migrate down into the throat and make it too painful to eat. Sammy's problems did not get to the throat before treatment. Antibiotics did nothing. Steroids did get the swelling and bleeding under control, but the gums were still nasty looking. He was also on a water additive to reduce the bacteria in the mouth.

Once we got the swelling and bleeding under control, he went in for teeth cleaning, which would have to be done often. During the cleaning, some of the bottom teeth were found to be diseased, and so all the lower molars were removed---and from what the vet said, they were in very bad shape and were probably painful, although he did not let on. He also had lost all but 3 of his incisors. When he went back for a checkup, the lower gums were healthy looking but the top gums still looked bad, even with the steroid treatment continuing, so it was determined that they would also have to be removed. That was done a few weeks ago, and he was just at the vet's office for a checkup...and everything has healed up well and there is no sign of any gum problems.

So now, I have a cat with 7 teeth in his mouth----the 3 remaining incisors and all 4 canine teeth. But he is doing well, eating without any problem, and is friskier and acts more content than ever.

I will not go into the amount of money this has cost. But it had to be done. There was no way I could ignore a situation like this. My vet really did not want to have to take the teeth, she was trying everything to prevent this extreme treatment, but after seeing how bad the teeth were, she is confident that this was the right thing to do. After seeing how well this has turned out, I am also sure we did the right thing. We are now starting to wean him off of the steroids.

Poor Sammy! He came to me defective, but not in personality. He is a beautiful, friendly kitty who already has my heart.

Thanks for listening. This has been a long row to hoe.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Bless him and you!

I have one who's now 11 and about 3 years ago I had to have almost all hers removed. SHe has the canines (ironic) and the little tiny front uppers and lowers and she does just fine. She was in pain.

Now this sounds weird but some people swear by Willard Water. Google it.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Sammy was just so young for all these problems.

I was really upset that such a young and healthy-looking cat could have such a terrible problem.

I am sorry your kitty lost all her molars too. Does she have any problem eating? I was surprised that Sammy is not missing a beat with eating---and he is a hard food eater. Of course, cats really don't spend time chewing their food anyways.

As to Willard Water, I am skeptical. I will have to read more about it, but from what I did look at, I wonder if it is a scam. I am always skeptical.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. She has no problems eating, wet or dry.

I think she just tastes and swallows but she's a chubber and doing well!

Yeah, I've read some good and neutral about WW. What harm, right?

[hamsterjill]

3. Happ for you and Sammy

Good news for you and Sammy. Thanks for taking good care of him. I am in rescue and we have several stomatitis cats. One recently had a full mouth extraction, and although the first month was a little rough, he is going gangbusters now. Chows down on dry food by gumming it! Of course, we make sure he has wet food available, too. I was skeptical at first but in our cat's situation, the removal if the teeth made all the difference. That is not always true, but it worked for this cat. Best of luck to you and Sammy!!!!!!

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Of all the cat problems I have been through,

this was totally new to me. I did online research as soon as I heard the diagnosis, and soon found that full mouth extractions were not the end of the world, and often were the only thing that helped. This was Sammy's case too. Nothing was stopping this disease. He is doing great now, and it has only been two weeks since the upper molars were removed.

Thanks for working in rescue, it takes a lot of work and love.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Good for Sammy and for you. Today must have been "Good News At The Vet Day"

For the last 18 months or so we were fearing our oldest, 15+ year old Tigger, had a thyroid problem. She'd had weight loss and some unexplained bleeding, twice with a blood spot in her eye. Today she had her regular check-up. The vet declared her healthy She had said the thyroid issue was possible, but not certain and that we should do 6 month check-ups before getting out any heavy artillery. Last time, Tigger checked out fine, but that wasn't yet a pattern. Today, the vet said, established a pattern. She was always a round little cat, about 10 lbs at her peak. Now she's down to 7-10 or so. Apart from the weight loss, which she thinks is just the aging process and the cat getting closer to a normal weight for her size and stature, the vet thinks she's in great shape.

I'm glad my Little Buddy has her health and that we can look forward to more years with her.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Well, that really is good news.

Hyperthyroid cat is a dilemma. Meds for life, the meds can do damage, vicious cycle. So great that this is not the problem, and actually, that there is no problem.

Now, if I could only lose weight because of the aging process.......ahhhh, ain't happening.

Wishing lots of years of health for Tigger.

[Texasgal]

8. What a pretty baby!

Dental work can be dramatic!

Thank goodness Sammy is well and has good owners such as yourself!

Big hugs and love to your baby!

[Curmudgeoness]

9. It hasn't been easy.

I had lost two cats in less that five months, and adopted a young cat so I could relax for a while and have no health issues for a while, since I didn't think I could deal with any more problems. It wasn't meant to be. I am only grateful that I have been able to find the money to do this.

[virgdem]

11. I'm glad that Sammy is finally doing well...

give your Sammy a hug for me. I can relate to your situation. I had my old cat, Sammy and decided to adopt a young cat, Abby, who showed up at my house one day (I was feeding 3 other strays at the time). I thought, at last, a cat that is young and has no problems. Yeah, right. About 3 weeks after I decided to take in Abby, she was diagnosed with Pancreatitis and Hepatic Lipidosis. It has taken a year to finally get her well and off all the medication she was on. And Abby is only 4 years old!

[Curmudgeoness]

13. Well, bless you for all that you did for Abby.

Sometimes I think that they are sent to us because they need help, and we will give it to them.

But I will admit to a very low point where I wondered if I should just put him down (he also came to me with severe diarrhea and continually clogged anal glands, which we are sort of controlling now with prescription food for allergies). So I am not a saint. I'm just glad that I got past that feeling.

[virgdem]

16. I think it's normal to feel that way...

I know that I felt overwhelmed when I first took Abby in. She wouldn't eat and hid from Sammy. I couldn't figure out what the problem was, but when I took her in for her booster shot, the Vet noticed that she was jaundiced. She was diagnosed with Pancreatitis and probably had liver problems as well. No wonder she wasn't eating - she was really sick. I didn't give up on her however, and I'm very thankful that I didn't. She is now a treasured member of the family and we are enjoying loving and treating her like a Princess.

[TorchTheWitch]

10. I'm so glad things are going so well!

Sammy and you will be so much happier now!

[Curmudgeoness]

14. Yes, I can tell that he is happier.

He did not show any outward signs of a problem, but he is so much friskier and more snuggling now. He has to be feeling great!

[livetohike]

12. Yay for Sammy!

We had a dog who had to have half of his teeth pulled....and he lived to the age of 16 with no problems in eating, or other health issues.

Sammy is beautiful .

[Curmudgeoness]

15. Thanks, he is beautiful.

But the first time I saw him, he seemed to look weird to me----he has a rather long snout, the head is more triangular than a cat's head usually is. But he is a great cat, and he is not missing a beat with eating----like I would have expected anything else, he is such a chow hound.

[kestrel91316]

17. Sometimes stomatitis kitties aren't really right until you get

all the teeth out of there, except sometimes for the incisors. It's just hard to pull them a lot of the time (ask my poor right hand about that part after the difficult extractions I did last Thurs), so we try not to be doing it until they are loose.

They can eat their kibble just fine with no teeth, BTW.

[Curmudgeoness]

18. Yes, he really appears to be much happier.

My vet tells me that some of the teeth had resorbed roots (?)---I guess you know what she's talking about. Others looked fine until they were pulled. She said that she normally sends cats who need that many extractions to a dental specialist, but since he was already in for tooth cleaning, she said it was apparent it had to be done then.

And yes, he is back to eating his kibble with no hesitation.

BTW, I appreciate your input by PM. It helps to have as much info as possible before you are hit by a decision. Thanks.