Now it was Finnegan’s turn
and at first I thought maybe his teeth were not as bad as hers. How wrong I
was! Of course he was much worse to bring into the vet, even for just an exam.
He screamed bloody murder in the car, and he’s the one with the soft meow! He
hissed at the vet and tech panted heavily and wandered the room continuously. He was a good
boy for the exam though which showed he had some significant problems. We did
the blood work, rabies shot and came home so we could go through this again in
a month. Unfortunately, he had a bad reaction to his rabies shot and stopped
eating completely. A couple of days later we were back at the vet (NOT FUN) and
he had to get a Benadryl and famotadine (Pepcid A/C) shot. This took
care of it and as much as I protested, unfortunately we’ll have to go through
this again in the future. But this time we have it in his records and he’ll be
getting the Benadryl and famotadine BEFORE the vaccine from now on.
A month later we were back
for the dental and thankfully due to his stress level, they were wonderful
about making the same accommodations for him as they did for Lacey. All went
well but he had two teeth that were already broken and needed to come out, and
one lower canine that was rotting from the root that needed extraction. No
wonder he was also not behaving as himself.
But we had another problem. When I
got him home and gave him his pain medication (buprenex) he began acting
terrified of me. Beyond anything I’d ever seen him or any of my pets ever do.
He was shaking like crazy, hiding his face in the corner of the room, not
eating, etc. It was horrible. I only gave him two doses and felt this was more
than the anesthesia after effects. I called the vet the next morning and she
told me to stop it immediately which I had. Buprenex is a good pain medication
and as I said earlier, Lacey did well on it and so did my late kitty Alex. But
it’s also an opiate and in some cases it can cause a pet to hallucinate and that’s
what was happening here.
So in the meantime I had to syringe feed him some baby
food (no onions or garlic) and my instructions directly from the vet were to
give him a one-time only dose of baby aspirin (81 mgs). Aspirin can be toxic to
cats so I asked a lot of questions and she assured me this ONE TIME dose would
be okay. It did him wonders and within two hours he started eating on his own.
It took a full 24 hours for the effects of the pain medication to wear off but
he began to come around and was fine. It was an unfortunate incident but there
was no way for my vet or myself to know he’d have this reaction. I am the one
who prefers Buprenex over Metacam and asked for it but from now on, any
procedures he has, he will have to use another pain medication. And again,
NEVER give aspirin to your cat without specific instructions from the vet
first, EVER.
As with Lacey, since his
dental procedure I am seeing a brand new cat. Playful, loving beyond anything
I’ve seen in a long time and doing very, very well. In fact he had been
vomiting hair up quite frequently for awhile before his dental. I had them give
him a lion cut (shaved him) during the dental since he was already out cold and
this has helped tremendously with that issue. But I also suspect that his
vomiting had a lot to do with his bad teeth causing him gastrointestinal
distress. Inflammation in the teeth and gums can cause stomach upset, which
makes perfect sense because inflammation travels elsewhere in the system.
Here
is some more information on dental disease, the cleaning and dental procedures
and what to look for:
Although
my cats did not have tooth resorption, this is a common condition and very
painful. Another good reason to have their teeth checked annually:
The
vet wanted me to start brushing their teeth and gave me some CET toothpaste
with a tiny finger toothbrush. Unfortunately the CET gave them both diarrhea. I
looked up the product and it contains 50% sorbitol which is a gastric irritant.
This is why I go on and on about even tiny amounts of certain things. If this
can happen to my healthy cats...imagine what ingredients like this can do to a
kitty that already has IBD or gastric issues.
There
is no reason to put 30-50% sorbitol in a cat product, especially when it
clearly can and has caused my cats to get soft poops/near diarrhea and tummy
aches. It states right on their product pdf: Sorbitol: Reports of adverse
reactions to sorbitol are largely due to its action as an osmotic laxative when
ingested orally, which may be exploited therapeutically. I also found this on
another site: The only significant concern with sorbitol is that it can promote
Irritable Bowel Syndrome or lead to problems in the gastrointestinal system.
www.virbacvet.com/products/detail/c.e.t.-enzymatic-toothpaste-for-dogs-and-cats/dental-health/c.e.t.pet-toothpastes
www.virbacvet.com/products/detail/c.e.t.-enzymatic-toothpaste-for-dogs-and-cats/dental-health/c.e.t.pet-toothpastes
That's
the last thing I need is another cat with IBD. And although IBS and IBD are two
different things, we don’t know the effects it has on a cat’s body versus a
human’s body. Either way, it made them both sick. And I tried to find one but I
don’t think they make a pet toothpaste without sorbitol in it. I thought about
what to do because I am going to have to continue brushing their teeth. So I decided to
make my own toothpaste, and this is what I came up with. It may not be the best
but to me it’s the safest and works just fine.
Toothpaste
Use
Amco spoons for measurement:
250
mgs opened capsule of lactoferrin
500
mgs opened capsule of taurine
One
scoop of Viralys L-Lysine powder or 500 mgs opened capsule of L-lysine
Largest
spoon dose of Petkins Invisible Formula Liquid Oral care solution
2
largest spoon doses of George’s 100% Aloe vera liquid
Teaspoon
Beechnut baby food (meat and broth only)
Sprinkles
of fresh catnip for taste and mint flavor
Stays
fresh in refrigerator for 6-7 days
After
brushing give a freeze dried all meat treat as a reward
Unfortunately
to buy the tiny toothbrush you’ll need, you have to buy the CET product. But
this is the sample paste so it’s not expensive. I personally wouldn’t use the
toothpaste but that’s my preference. I wash the little toothbrush with clear
dish liquid, no dyes or perfumes. This brush works better than any other, is softer and
fits in their mouth perfectly,
For
brushing, I sit down on the floor with one of them in between my legs, wrap a
towel around the front of them and quickly but gently open their mouth with my
fingers. Slide in the toothbrush and very gently scrubbed. It’s hard to get the
back teeth, no ways around that. But if you can, those are the worst. Do it
quickly for the first week, no need to get the back ones yet. After every
brushing, give them a freeze dried, all meat treat. Let them know it’s not all
bad.
