So, the cats had to go and get their teeth cleaned. This is unpleasant enough for humans, but cats have to be anesthetized and so it's kind of a big production. A big, expensive production.
One of our cats is missing his two top fangs. One of them was broken very soon after we got him, in a furry-feet-on-slippery-wood-floor incident. He had a root canal, and a crown; but after several years the crown was getting iffy, and the dental specialist said it ought to go. And that oh by the way the other fang was on its way out too.
We opted to have them both removed at the same time, because the whole process is so stressful that we didn't want to put the cat through it twice. Now his upper lip gets snagged on his bottom fang from time to time, which gives him a sneer, which is not at all in opposition to his general attitude.
Our other cat is missing two premolars, which were extracted a couple of years ago. She is hanging onto her fangs so far (which is good, because she has a slight overbite which means her fangs are on view much of the time, which gives her a hilariously vampirish expression).
I haven't had dental maintenance done as often as recommended, because it's (as noted) really expensive, aside from being hard on the cats. This time around, the procedure was done on Fangless* at my old vet, and Vampire* was moved to a new vet who charges a lot less. The cats are both now around 12 years old, and I want to start doing this annually ... so they will both be with the new vet next time around.
Vampire came home Thursday night from her procedure woozy, restless, hungry, and full of justifiable resentment.
Fortunately, she is essentially a very sweet cat and once she gave up on blackmailing me for extra food, went to sleep purringly by my head as usual.
*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Give Vampire & Fangless a squeeze for us!
Posted by: Nativebackyard | January 06, 2013 at 10:13 AM