Scary Day!

[StormChaser]

What a day this has been.

I got a call from my husband around 1pm that we had an emergency. Our oldest cat, Asia, could not close her mouth. She was in obvious pain and FREAKING out. He said that it had started a little earlier when he'd heard horrible noises coming from her and our other cat Zoe. He thought it was a cat fight, so he just went to break it up, not thinking much of it (which, with our newest addition, now 11mos old Border Collie mix Riley, I can't blame him too much because he's so **** hyper that he makes the cats that much more aggravated). A half hour later he came back downstairs and found Asia on the kitchen counter with a pool of smelly, slimy drool dangling below her open mouth. He tried massaging it closed but she would have none of it, so he called me in a panic. Which in turn freaks me out because A) I'm emotional anyway, B) she is my baby, and C) I'm at work, 40 minutes away.

I told him to get her to the animal hospital immediately, which thankfully there is one by us that operates walk-in only, with excellent pricing. I was a wreck at work and my completely understanding boss let me take off to meet him there. I got in just before they were whisking her off to surgery, so they brought her back in the room for me to see her.

It was a very sad sight. She was terrified, for one, and in horrible pain. Her mouth was all bloody on the outside from scratching at herself with her claws. As soon as the vet put her on the table she curled herself in my arms. I soothed her for a bit and eventually got her calmed down, even purring! My sweet girl.

At that point they could not tell what was wrong, because they would not let her near her mouth. They thought that because of how severe she looked and acted, her jaw was fractured. But, I thought that had to do with her teeth, because she's had a problem that we could not solve with the mouthwash stuff our previous vet described last year, and just two weeks ago I had been trying to look at her teeth while she slept and ended in waking her up. She immediately jerked her head away from me and then couldn't shut her mouth. It took about 30 seconds but she finally got it closed. It scared me, and put me on the resolve to get her teeth cleaned.

A little background - my husband is a Glazier and has been laid off for the last 2 months. Things are not great financially. We have very little money in our account right now, and practically nothing in savings. I didn't think about this until after I sent him to the vet. But once I did, I was sick to my stomach trying to figure out how we were going to pay for this.

Fast forward to current, her blood work came back healthy (thank God!) and the reason she couldn't close her mouth is because one of her back teeth had started growing inward, and was so encased in tarter that the bottom tooth couldn't close on it. And the inward position coupled with severe tarter buildup caused serious pain. She ended up having to get 6 teeth pulled. From what I've been reading, this isn't too bad. They are keeping her overnight and giving her pain reliever shot that will last up to 2 weeks.

I can't wait to get her back home, and I'm so happy that she's finally got her teeth cleaned and the bad ones removed. She's had horrible breath for a long time, and just recently it worsened to all out swamp rot mouth. If she so much as hissed you could smell it within a 5' radius. I just feel horrible that I didn't do it sooner. To my credit, I only found out about the procedure last year. To my discredit, I was scared of how much it would cost. All said and done, the total cost was $360. Well worth it. In fact, this summer I'm going to take my little Zoe in to get a teeth cleaning. Her's aren't anywhere near as bad as Asia's, but they will be a problem if not taken care of.

So, Asia will be fine, with a relatively easy recovery - I hope. And the rainbow at the end of the day? As my husband pulled into the animal hospital he got a call from his union hall. He's going back to work tomorrow.

Life is all about balances, isn't it?

[kittywitty]

Wow that was some day you had but am happy that the vet was able to help Asia. Poor kitty she is so lucky to have great parents!! Let us know how she is when she comes home.

[catloverami]

That was a scary day. So glad vets were able to discover the problem and fix it. I'm sure she will make a good recovery, and great news about hubby going back to work.

[Monkey_Girl]

Wow... what a day. Happy to hear everything will be okay - seems like you know what the problem is and how to fix it. Glad to hear your hubby is going back to work as well.

[Heidi n Q]

Originally Posted by StormChaser

And the rainbow at the end of the day? As my husband pulled into the animal hospital he got a call from his union hall.
He's going back to work tomorrow.

Wow!

Malibu had a slightly similar issue, but certainly NOTHING as scary as your poor Asia!
At this particular time, Mallie was an indoor/outdoor cat and when she came in I could tell she was aggitated. She kept moving around hte living room, starting-stopping, hunching down, opening/closing her mouth, shaking her head and pawing at her mouth.
I plucked her up to check her mouth, thinking she may have got a small bone or twig caught across her mouth, bridging between molars. There was no twig, the problem was one of her upper molars was bent inwards and when she tried to close her mouth it would jab her tongue. I used my finger to try to push it back into place but it *popped* out of her mouth and right up into the air!
I set her down, she shook her head, sort of checked-out-her-mouth ... then shook her whole body and hopped onto the recliner to curl up and rest.

It sounds like Asia got the treatment she needed and will feel MUCH better very soon. You guys are good cat parents!
I've also had/have 2 cats w/ no teeth. Blaze (1995-2000, cong. heart fail.) had no molars and BooBoo (1999-current) has no canines and only a few of the smaller molars. Both did fine on diets of dry food with 1 canned meal a day. I made sure the dry food was rounded (no star shapes) and had no sharp corners or edges so it would be easy to swallow whole and not scrape their throats.
I'm sure she'll be feeling better before you know it!
h =^..^=

[tigressbythetail]

Wow. Poor Asia and poor husband! That would have totally freaked me out. Glad everything turned out well for you all.

[Time Bandit]

Wow...what a terribly scary and stressful day! I'm so glad to hear that everything worked out ok...that your boss was understanding enough to let you come home, that your husband is going back to work (YAY!), and most importantly that Asia is ok!

[Jan Rebecca]

Ohh that does sounds scary. I hate when the kitties have problems..

[Alpaca]

Wow, I'm emotional too and would have freaked out too since my furbabies are my well, my babies. But even though it was scary, the day turned out very well for you! It's the best ending given the situation. Didn't cost too much, situation dealt with switftly with competent vets, nice 2 week painkiller so she doesn't have to suffer, plus your husband got a job again too!

[Susan]

I would have been beside myself! I'm glad Asia is feeling better and that your day ended on a good note.