Smitten almost died :'(

[slleipnir]

I took smitten into the vet a while ago for her checkup, and they suggested having her teeth cleaned as they weren't in the best condition. So today my mom dropped her off. Turns out her teeth were a lot worse then we though. She had to have 4 teeth pulled because of..er, don't remember what it's called, but it makes holes in the teeth..Anyway, she needs 4 more teeth pulled and she has a bad infection in her front teeth. I have no idea why it's so bad :( We're going to start brushing her teeth..Poor Smitten. The vet said she almost died when they pulled the tube out..My mom said she turned blue but I'm not sure what she ment by that..I'm really nervous about her having to go back in..Poor kitty :( Stupid ppl at work we're joking saying 'wouldn't it be funny if she didn't wake up?' :mad: Thats never funny! Urg. I really don't want her to go back in, but the vet said its neccessary :( They also say shes really fat ;) -sigh- I'm going to start brushing Jo and Zeke's teeth too..Is it hard?
Sorry for the pointless thread, but it's worrying me..

[kimlovescats]

Nothing stupid about being concerned for your kitty!!! I do hope that Smitten will do better under the anesthesia next time! Please let us know how she is doing, and especially when she has to go back in, so we PTers can pray for her!;)

[CatDad]

I am so sorry to hear about Smitten. It sounds like she came out OK, even if it did not look good at first.

I know that you are nervous about have the other teeth done. However, I would because alot of other issues can stem from oral problems. Ask the vet if there is some other type of anesthesia that can be used if that was the issue. I know that there are alot of things that they can do.

I don't really have any informaiton on teeth brushing. I have never done that with my 2, although I should.

About the only thing that you can do about the people at work is ignore them. Some people just do not have any heart. I would suggest that you just don't tell them anything else about the fur kids. That way you don't have to listen to it. Kim is right, there is nothing stupid about being concerned for kitties.

Please let us know if Smitten goes back and we can send prayers for a succesful proceedure.:)

[catcrazylady]

Oh poor Smitten!! We can all understand why your so upset. That would be very scary to know that she almost died and she has to go back and do it again! I'm sure everything will be ok next time because the vet will know how she reacted this time. Maybe they won't keep her under as long or use something different.
I can't help with the tooth brushing because I don't do mine. I'm sure you can get plenty of advice here though because I know there has been some recent dental work done by some of the PTer's.
I will be praying for Smitten and please be sure to update us on how she is doing.

As for the people at work who made those comments...just think how sad and lonely their lives must be without the love they could recieve from a pet. It is like no other love. Nothing in their earthly lives will ever give them that complete, and true unconditional love. What a shame for them but how lucky for you!

[slleipnir]

Thanks. Smitten will be going but, but it just worries me is all. The vet says it's for the best she gets it out. I think they're causing her a lot of pain or discomfort :(

As for the people at work..The thing is I know him. He's a really funny/nice guy. And he has a dog which he takes everywhere. I think he just had to much to drink ;) (It's a bar) He was joking before mom found out she almost died, but he continued with other jokes after. I know he was joking, but I still don't think it's funny..I don't disrespect him for it, but I think its kinda mean :( But like I said, I think he has a lot of beer -_-

[PayItForward]

I'm sorry to hear about Smitten's bad day at the vets.

What about giving your cats dental treats, these are chewy treats which remove tartar from their teeth, this is what we use, I don't brush their teeth...bad meomie. ;)

As for people at work, you have to ignore those who don't understand your love of animals. I only talk to people who ask about my cats in a nice way, otherwise I come to Pet Talk to bore others about my cats. :D

[slleipnir]

Thanks :) We've been giving her tartar control (or whatever) treats forever now..guess they don't work for her! lol :X

[PayItForward]

Originally posted by slleipnir
Thanks :) We've been giving her tartar control (or whatever) treats forever now..guess they don't work for her! lol :X
The tablets only work if the cat actually chew them but how you are meant to get your cat to chew them, I don't know.

My Georgie just swallows them whole but he only has three teeth so I don't think it matters ;)

[jazzcat]

Poor Smitten. I hope she's all better soon.

It is important to keep their teeth as healthy as possible. Ripley got very sick last year and almost died from a mysterious infection. The vet thinks it was caused by his teeth - which really weren't that bad. As soon as he was healthy enough to go through it I had his teeth cleaned. Luckily all went well and he didn't have to have any extracted.

Please keep us posted on Smitten.

[Cataholic]

I am sorry to hear about Smitten! How scary and awful for the both of you :(

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[RedHedd]

I'm so sorry Smitten had such an ordeal with her teeth. I just had my two's teeth done for Christmas (yeah, I know - mean meowmie :rolleyes: but it was necessary). The vet had been after me for months to get it done. They both needed teeth extracted :( but seem to be doing fine now. I was so worried about them being put under. Mishi was worse than Mitzi with his recovery from the anesthesia - he looked stoned for the next day or two :D He had two teeth extracted and lost his voice for about a day. I didn't realize they intubated the cats - perhaps that is why he lost his voice :confused:

I've never brushed a cat's teeth and know my two wouldn't sit still long enough for me to do it so I give them the tartar control treats regularly and have them both on dry food, which is better for their teeth.

PT prayers work wonders. Let us know when Smitten is going in for her next round of dental work.

[luckies4me]

Oh no! Poor Smitten. :( I hope she does better next time.

When you say she almost died when they pulled the tube out, did they take it out too early. They aren't suppose to take it out until they cough. Also do not feed her the day the extractions are supposed to take place until she is home after the procedure. Did they tell you not to feed her? Sometimes if the cat has food in the stomach, the cat or dog will vomit and consequently choke to death, so the tube has to be taken out. If not, they will choke on their own vomit.


I am sending prayers for sweet Smitten and hope she does better the next time around. Maybe do a blood test to make sure there are no other illness since bad teeth can cause serious problems and death.

[carole]

Oh poor Smitten, lets hope her return visit is much better, once the treatment is over hopefully Smitten will recover fast, and will be in top notch health, even in humans having bad teeth really run your system down.

I worry about Ash and his teeth, we are planning to get his cleaned this year, but I read where another older cat died as a result, so it scares me too, but there is no way Ash would let me clean his teeth, ever, I would be too scared to attempt it, he would rip me to shreads, he is not a cat to be reckoned with at the best of times.

Good luck with smitten, I will be thinking of you.:)

[slleipnir]

Originally posted by luckies4me
When you say she almost died when they pulled the tube out, did they take it out too early. They aren't suppose to take it out until they cough. Also do not feed her the day the extractions are supposed to take place until she is home after the procedure. Did they tell you not to feed her? Sometimes if the cat has food in the stomach, the cat or dog will vomit and consequently choke to death, so the tube has to be taken out. If not, they will choke on their own vomit.

Hm. My mom said she never fed her so I doubt it's that. Also, I use to work there kinda. So I got to see up close how they did things. I know they mentioned that to me about taking the tubes out. So I'm not sure why this happened to her :( I called my mom to see how things went/are going but her phone is broken or something and I can't hear a word she says :( I know Kiba has to go in ot get spayed within the a couple of months too..-sigh- Too much stress!

[Miss Meow]

I'm sorry about poor Smitten.

I hope all the infected teeth are out, so you all don't have to go through that trauma again.

Will she chew on raw chicken wings or chicken necks? They can help cleanse the gums and teeth. I've never tried to brush a cat's teeth, and wish you good luck for that experience ;)

[slleipnir]

No, she's very picky ;) She won't eat most things unless its small enough :rolleyes:

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear about Smitten's awful ordeal.:( I'd be very upset too. Prayers and positive thoughts are being sent your way for a quick and full recovery for Smitten. I also hope that the next tooth extraction will go smoothly. Please keep us updated.

[bisi.cat]

Oh poor Smitten...

Cleaning cat's teeth is really a challenge...I can't brush Nellie's teeth either and the chew treats don't work here very good as well:(

I think todays processed food (canned and dry) doesn't lead the cat to chew much compared to the food a wild cat would eat...if Smitten isn't to finicky about food you can try to mix meat chunks in her cat food, then they use their teeth much more to chew the meat in pieces...my sister has added this to her cat's food and it works wonders with the teeth...

[catmandu]

I am sorry to hear that Smitten had such a horrible reaction , at the Vets. Poor John Hancock , lost all but 2 of his teeth, It takes time , but he is young and back to eating! At first he got Royal Cnin Baby Kitten Food , but now he eats , what he wants! Good luck with Smitten , Found Cats are praying and puurrring!

[slleipnir]

I went to see her today. Unfortunatly she doesn't look so good :( She makes a weird gurgley sound - almost like a purr noise (but she doesn't purr, so it's not that) I feel so bad for her..poor thing :(

[Felicia's Mom]

I am sorry to hear about Smitten. My vet thinks something like that will happen to Felicia. So he wants me to brush her (and Beaus) teeth, but it is too hard for me to do by myself.

[cutie_chica]

Brushing a kitties teeth is not that hard, let them "play" with the toothbrush first. Tony my kitty likes to rub hit teeth on any toothbrush that is left on the sink lol, they have kitty toothbrushes and Tooth Paste at any vet. :) Good luck all my prayer go to your kitty!

[ramanth]

I hope Smitten is feeling better!

[catlover4ever]

People can be so very cruel.:mad:

I do hope that everything turns out OK with Smitten. Please keep us posted on how she make outs. I will keep her in my prayers.

[mspepper]

how is smitten doing now?

[Laura's Babies]

You are not being foolish one BIT! I was a basket case myself when Amy had her surgery, just getting "fixed".. Just ask anybody here how I was... It is not silly to worry about your loved ones and we all do that. (((((Poor SMitten)))))) Hugs and kisses from all the PT'ers and a BIG hug from Amy..

As for the people at work, WHO are they to make jokes at anybody who is upset and worried.. Tells me a lot about their character... I work with 8 to 9 guys and they support me everytime I have a problem with one of my babies and offer me all the comfort and support I need. A few of them have their own "babies" and we just sometimes sit around and talk about them while we are out there. to help us pass time and not miss them so much.

Prayers are allready sent for Smitten!

[Steffi N]

I am so sorry to read about poor Smitten. We all send our best wishes and prayers for her recovery and a safe second visit.

Here is a link with some information about anesthesia in cats.



Anesthesia from Vetinfo (http://www.vetinfo.com/canesthesia.html)