Monday, January 22, 2018

An Update on Katie and Her Pearly Whites



Dear Friends & Readers,

Last Friday I posted about Katie's dental appointment that she was heading into that same day. There was no way to really know for sure how minimal or extensive her procedure would be until the vet was actually in there. You've all been such wonderful friends and readers, sharing your prayers and well wishes both here and on social media. I want to thank you for keeping our Katie Girl in your thoughts. 

xoxo,
Glogirly

Let me first say that everything went very well, and Katie is safe at home recovering.



Taking a Funny Break, Just for Today
It's awfully hard to be funny or clever when your kitties are hurting, so I'm not even going to try. Instead, I'd like to share an update on how the procedure went and how everyone is doing. 

I don't have any new photos to share. Today's pictures are just a few favorites that make me smile. I don't like to take photos at the vet during serious procedures like this or even at home when Katie or Waffles aren't feeling well. 

Katie's Procedure
Katie's dental surgery was pretty extensive. Her vet and I were fairly certain she had some diseased teeth that were contributing to some of her health complications. As it turns out, there were four teeth in very bad shape that had to come out. Part of the reason it was so important to remove them is because of the bad bacteria those teeth were continually releasing into her bloodstream. This can adversely affect her immune system, put her at risk for other diseases, and even exacerbate the side effects of her IBD, inflammatory bowel disease. 

They were likely causing her quite a bit of discomfort too. Katie had three canines, those are her large front fangs (*triple sad face*), and one incisor extracted, as well as a thorough cleaning, tarter and plaque removal. She was under general anesthetic for the procedure which lasted about 1.5 hours. 


Katie's Recovery So Far
Despite the fact that the teeth were extremely difficult to get out and required a tremendous amount of torque on the part of the vet, Katie is doing extremely well. She came home late Friday afternoon and wasn't a bit shy about asking for food. After just one jar of her favorite baby food, she was back to her regular diet of raw turkey.

Giving Katie any kind of oral medication is a challenge. And given how sore her sweet, little mouth must be, I couldn't even imagine trying to get her to take a pill or liquid. So I opted for at-home injections. It's much easier than you might think.  I'm giving her one injection of Buprenorphine for pain about every 12 hours. She's such a sweetie and doesn't mind the shot at all. I just gently hold the loose skin behind her neck and insert the needle just below that. She doesn't even flinch.

I can tell her mouth feels different to her. Just by the way she licks after she's eaten. Her cute pink and black lips show a little more than usual, probably because there's some swelling and because she's getting used to how it feels. She has some dissolving stitches that should already be gone. She's not ready to start grooming herself yet, so I've been petting her with a warm and damp washcloth. I'm sure she'll be back to usual grooming routine and her silky soft self soon.  

She's been sleeping quite a bit, probably from the pain medication. But she doesn't appear to be in any sort of distress. She's letting me pet her and is purring like a steam engine. 


Waffles Recovery
Waffles is having a rough go of it. He experiences non-recognition aggression whenever either of them visit the vet. Even when they go together. He's not aggressive in a way that indicates he'd ever harm Katie, he's more scared. Non-recognition aggression is all about smell. It would be like if I came home one day and still looked like me, but smelled like a total stranger. It's scary and confusing to him. He'll hiss, growl and yowl. He needs a lot of reassurance from me that everything is ok, so I'm making sure to spend some time with him too. 

Because Katie hasn't been able to groom herself yet, Waffles is still smelling the vet and medications as opposed to smelling his favorite companion.

On the first night I separated them so everyone could hopefully get some rest. I spent time with Katie, laying on the floor next to her in our walk-in closet and then also spent some time with Waffles in the office where I had his accommodations set up.

With the exception of mealtime, I've let Waffles out of the office. Although he's still hissing and growling some, it's definitely tapering off. It will just take some time. This is another reason it's a good idea to pet Katie with a damp and warm washcloth. The more I can help her to smell like "home," the quicker Waffles will come to realize everything is ok.




The Hardest Part
One of the most difficult parts of being a cat parent and guardian is not being able to explain to them what's going on and why something is hurting. I wish more than anything I could hold Katie close and reassure her that she'll feel so much better soon. That she did nothing wrong. That I love her. That we'll play with fuzzy balls again soon. I wish I could take her pain so she didn't have to feel it.

I wish I could tell Waffles that his buddy is still here, she's just smelling a little funny. 

Thank you so much for keeping all of us, especially Katie, in your thoughts. We are all so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Love,
Glogirly



30 comments:

  1. I'm glad Katie is doing well. Waffles will sort it all out and I'm sure things will be back to normal soon. Perhaps the snow will distract them

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sending comforting thoughts to everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cats are so good at hiding any pain. It makes our responsibilities to care for them so critical. So glad Katie has a bright white smile now and I hope everybody settles back to normal soon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I know how you feel. It feels like your heart drops into your stomach when one of our fur babies is ill. Truffle experiences non recognition aggression when Brûlée has been rushed to the ER. I hope things are back to normal soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are taking such good care of Katie, and Waffles too. Sparkle used to have the vet aggression thing, especially with Boodie. Fortunately, we are all cool about absences and vet visits here now. I'm sending some healing purrs to your home and I'm sure everything will be back to normal soon!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We’re so glad Katie is getting better! She has a great nurse!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We pray that will be the last vet visit for a very long while. Things will be better soon and Waffles will realize it's his Katie. Purrs,love best wishes to you all. x😻💞🐾🐾🐾

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad Katie is recovering well, and hopefully, Waffles will settle down completely very quickly. That's a lot for you to deal with - sending good thoughts your way!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dentals seem to bring out a little bit of non-recognition behavior here, too. We think it's also because the cat who gets the dental smells so much more like the vet than from a regular checkup. It never occurred to us that it takes longer to smell right again because of not bathing as thoroughly after a procedure until you mentioned it! We hope Katie feels -- and smells -- like her old self soon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We are sure happy the procedure went well and we know Katie will feel much better when the recovery is over. Gentle hugs from all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We are so glad all that is behind you all and that Katie and Waffles will soon forget what they went through. I've lost a few teeth myself, but I manage to keep my mancat dignity. That is, except when I slobber a little. The housekeeper pretends not to notice. It's weird to find your mouth kinda empty and your tongue doesn't know what to do. ~ Tom

    ReplyDelete
  12. Katie, Waffles, I am so glad to read this today. I am happy that you are recovering so well, Katie and Waffles, it will all be alright very soon. Maybe even today. And Mom, I know that feeling about wishing you could hold and tell them what happened, why, and reassure them. Hardest part of it, to me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hugs for Katie and Waffles.
    Sue B

    ReplyDelete
  14. we hope everyone is feeling better soon. it is so very hard that people can't explain everything to them to make it a little easier.

    ReplyDelete
  15. We're glad all went well for Katie and we purr she makes a full recovery. She won't even miss those teeth. And we purr Waffles settles down too. We know from experience how stressful this all can be.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Glad everything went well! It's amazing how quickly we can adapt to the loss of teeth. My angel sissy Cinderella had to have *14* teeth pulled once. Momma thought she'd have a really hard time with it, but she was back to normal in just a few days!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Katie girl! We are so happy this procedure is in the rear view mirror and that you no longer have problem teeth!! And Waffles, just wait—Katie will smell like Katie soon enough and you will both feel better very soon! To Glogirly, Z -girl says she can understand how much you want to wave some magic dust and make the pain go away. It sounds like each day is better. We are all thrilled to know Katie is purring. Take care of each other. Sending warmth to all! The Squeedunk gang...

    ReplyDelete
  18. We are so happy that Katie is on the road to recovery and everything went well. I too went through this with Grandpaw Greyson when he was with us. He had 4 extractions as well. It was so hard. Thankfully times goes by quickly.Waffles will be back to his normal self in no time. You all are in my prayers. Purrs

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jenna is sending lots of purrs. She had to have a canine removed some time ago. She also had to recently have all of her molars and premolars removed due to stomatitis. We are glad to hear Katie is recovering and hope Waffles will chill soon.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sounds like Katie is recovering well, and without the pain those bad teeth were causing! And we never found a trick that worked with the vet smell...Angel ALWAYS hissed at Chuck. We tried everything...even taking her along!...but that didn't work either. Only time, and she hissed at me too, for smelling like the vet!

    ReplyDelete
  21. We send Katie lots of healing purrs and wish her a good recovery. You take such good care of Katie and Waffles, he will know that everything is back to normal very soon. Purrs

    ReplyDelete
  22. Glad it went well and purring she completely recovers quick!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am glad that Katie is recovering well that poor baby. I know what you mean, it is so hard when we can't communicate in language that they understand. But they DO understand your love and gentle touch......and poor Waffles! Hoping things are back to normal soon! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  24. despite being in pain from the removal, I am sure she is already feeling better than she was thanks to the removal of the issues and the pain meds..

    Purrs you return to a peaceful home quickly and that her health issues resolve.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Bless you pretty Katie girl...Waffles...the Boss will be smelling like herself in no time...and Debbie...I know just how you feel about wishing they could understand what you try to explain to them...it is so frustrating..Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am glad all went well and hope Katie is soon feeling chipper again.
    Flynn used to be horrible to Eric when he had to got to the vet for anything. He would hiss, growl and swat at him. Poor Eric used to looks so sad wondering what he had done wrong. This would go on for a week or more.
    The Meezers mum, Mary, suggested putting baby powder around both of their back ends which would make them both smell similar. She said it worked with Sammy and Miles so I tried it.
    Flynn still hissed a bit but only for half an hour or so. It made a huge difference. It may be worth trying next time either Katie or Waffles has to go to the vet.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Happy Katie came through everything and is starting to feel better. And Waff … get yo' act together, bro!

    ReplyDelete
  28. It always amazes me how quickly they heal or adapt to new situations. Removing the teeth was the right thing to do. Can't have infectious bacteria flooding her bloodstream! So happy she came through like a champ - but there was no doubt she would.

    ReplyDelete
  29. A bit late but lots of love and purrs of recovery for all

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for your comment. We LOVE hearing from you!

LATEST POSTS