Bad teeth are fixable!
(though occasionally they’re only fixable by becoming no teeth. Cats with humans who feed and protect them can manage fine without, though.)
Yep, bad teeth could explain everything. Good luck to you both!
Did you find out anything at the vet this week?
On Monday Irving’s appetite came back. By the time he went to the vet on Tuesday, he seemed like his old self. The doctor said his teeth aren’t looking bad yet. So Irving must have gotten a bug or something last weekend.
The vet’s office is supposed to get me an estimate on doing a full lab work and dental check. Hopefully by this Monday. Unless the cost is outrageous, we’re gonna do it.
At least he’s feeling better!
Was this a new vet.?
– also glad he’s feeling better.
– maybe he’s got the medical version of Mechanic’s Syndrome. (Car does not exhibit symptom when within the presence of the mechanic.) Cat does not exhibit symptoms when within the presence of the vet.
I once had a cat come in from outside staggering; he could barely stand up, and was putting no weight on one leg. I thought he’d had a bad fall or been hit by a car and feared internal injuries. I made a phone call, got an emergency appointment, put him in the carrier, and took him to the vet – at that time in my life about a 45 minute drive. Got there, opened carrier – cat walked out, on all four legs, perfectly fine. The vet did appear to believe me, at least; said maybe he had fallen and knocked the wind out of himself, but had mostly gotten over it in the time it took to drive there.
The cost was, indeed, outrageous. Like $2500. So we didn’t do it.
I have an update to all of this, though!
I’ve been giving Irving Lysine powder and Forti-Flora every day for months. He has good days and bad days, but overall he’s still snotty and sneezy.
We switched vets, to a local place that gets nothing but rave reviews. And they have been awesome. When we took Irving in for his vaccines this past May, we mentioned his respiratory problem. But, he happened to be having a good day - his eyes weren’t watery, he wasn’t all snotty or sneezing. So the vet said yeah, probably feline herpes, all you can do is keep giving him the powders. They also advised us to move away from the raw diet to a good canned food. Once we did that, Irving’s food issues went away. Apparently he just didn’t like the raw food.
I also did finally wean him off the Fluoxotine. No change to his respiratory issues. He seems to be doing ok so far, though, so we haven’t put him back on it.
So… last night I was sitting at my desk with my ear buds in, and I heard a thunk behind me. I turned around and Irving was sprawled out on the floor, at the foot of one of our cat trees. He got up and was limping, and hissed at me when I tried to help him. There’s a 24-hour emergency vet right across the street from our condo complex, so off we went.
When they asked about any other issues Irving has, we mentioned the respiratory issues. They took a bunch of x-rays, of his chest as well. His back hip was injured, but not broken. And they think the respiratory issue is either feline asthma or chronic bronchitis. Both treatable. They gave us some antibiotics to give him for a week, and we are to coordinate with our regular vet from there.
So hopefully we are finally seen a light at the end of this tunnel!