I had to take one of my cats to the vet last week
By jwfarrimond
@jwfarrimond (4473)
April 20, 2009 3:15am CST
I took my cat Poppy in to the vet last week. I'd realised that she had a problem with her teeth, she was growling when she was eating, and was obviously having some discomfort if not pain. But the cost of doing anything about it deterred me for a while. However, last week I decided that I could just about afford to get it dealt with and took her in.
The vet examined her and saw that she had gum disease and probably at least one bad tooth so they said that they would take her in to do a tooth clean and a proper examination under anesthetic.
So they took her in overnight and extracted two of her teeth and nearly £120 from my wallet which was more than I had estimated. They also gave her antibiotic for the gum infection. That'll be finished today.
I also asked them to give her a worming treatment as I know that she has been catching and eating mice and that's likely to have infected her with tapeworms. I was interested to hear that there is now a new worm treatment that is applied externally to the skin like flea treatment. Anyway, they gave me some of that to apply but I've not given it to her yet since I decided to wait until she had finished the antibiotic before I gave her that.
I'm pleased to say that she's fine now and eating without discomfort or pain. 
It's obvious that if she has got problems like that though, then she's a good deal older than I thought when I got her, and she must be somewher between 5 and 10 and most likely closer to 10 than 5. Not that it would have made any difference to my decision to adopt her if I had known her true age at the time.
It's obvious that if she has got problems like that though, then she's a good deal older than I thought when I got her, and she must be somewher between 5 and 10 and most likely closer to 10 than 5. Not that it would have made any difference to my decision to adopt her if I had known her true age at the time.1 person likes this
4 responses
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
20 Apr 09
2 of my almost 5 yr old cats have that stomatitus like Taj had and they need their teeth out too, but I can't afford the $1400 to do both, I could barely afford Taj's treatment. At least they aren't as bad off as Taj was - yet.
I haven't heard about this topical tapeworm treatment - wonder if its been allowed in the States yet.
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
20 Apr 09
It's pretty new according to the vet. Its called Profender spot - on for cats and it's mf. by Bayer. The enclosed leaflet does not list the United States, so maybe it's not available there at the present time.
My other three cats dont have any problems I'm glad to say, but since I'm now on a fixed income, at the beginning of this year I started to put some money away into a savings account to help cover future vets bills.
1 person likes this
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
20 Apr 09
Yes it is available in the USA. http://www.profender.com/findVet.cfm
1 person likes this
@grecychunny26 (9483)
• Philippines
20 Apr 09
Good to know that Poppy was treated. You are such a loving human being to animal kingdom. I had seen Poppy's pic when you posted it once and I am happy now that Poppy is doing well.
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
20 Apr 09
It's great to take care of pets teeth and gums. Problems with them can lead to a host of other health problems, so even though it was expensive, in the long run it probably saved you money, and added years to Poppy's life. One of my previous cats was an avid mouser, and I was constantly having to get worm pills for her. Then a friend told me to add garlic to her food. I tried that and for whatever reason she never had worms again. I've done that ever since with all my pets, and no one has tested positive for worms yet. It could be coincidence, but it's been 25+ years and I've had pets all that time. I just sprinkle a bit of garlic powder on whatever they eat, wet or dry. They sure seem to like the taste.
@opalina143 (1240)
• Morristown, New Jersey
20 Apr 09
I'm sorry about your cat's problems but I'm glad they got taken care of. I want a cat so bad, but I don't have much money and would be really hard up if I had to take it to the vet, thanks for reminding me how expensive that is. I didn't know mice had tapeworms, yuck.
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
20 Apr 09
Rodents are one of the vectors for parasites like tapeworms as well as several other parasites and diseases and it's one of the main ways in which cats in particular can get infected with parasites.
