Bad Teeth And Heart Murmurs

[sylorna]

My cat Chester has had a grade 4 heart murmur for many years. He recently was taken off his heart meds because they have damaged his kidneys enough that his blood pressure dropped too much and he was fainting. He's never let me brush his teeth, but the vets never seemed too concerned. Today he yawned while looking at me and I noticed blood in his mouth. He definitely needs at least one tooth extracted, and appears to have had a hard time eating his wet food tonight....made easier with some warm water on my part.
I know what the vet will say... That he's 14, with a heart murmur, has past thyroid issues, and probable kidney problems, so I guess I'm not looking for advice, but rather some support while I wait to make the appointment. I'm hoping she can come up with a pain management plan for awhile, as he's of a healthy weight right now and is happy enough that I didn't notice the pain earlier.
I knew in my heart that this would happen by not brushing his teeth, but everyone expected him to die years ago, so the focus was on his heart. I guess we all have regrets

 

[Lalexa67]

Fingers crossed - hoping for the best outcome for you and your kitty.

 

[Furballsmom]

So, you're going to have extraction(s) and continued monitoring/treatment?
I don't know, the situation may end up surprising you in a good way, at least that is my fervent hope and prayer!

 

[sylorna]

So, you're going to have extraction(s) and continued monitoring/treatment?
I don't know, the situation may end up surprising you in a good way, at least that is my fervent hope and prayer!

I don't know if you can do extractions without having anesthesia, and I highly doubt he'll survive it. I'll know more once the vet sees him of course. I thought he was for sure dead last year when he was fainting, so maybe I'll be surprised.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[sylorna]

I have an appointment for this afternoon. The receptionist says at least they can put him on some pain meds. I feel awful, and fully blame myself for not forcing him to brush his teeth regularly.

 

[Furballsmom]

It could be genetic as well, there's no real way to know, so ease up on yourself

 

[sylorna]

So, the doc said that he can't hear his murmur anymore, which is strange because I had to take him off of his heart meds about a year ago due to fainting. Theory is that his kidneys just weren't processing them as well. Anyway, the doc said that either he could still have heart disease without a murmur, OR in some cases the heart heals itself...which would be strange, but given this cat, I wouldn't be completely surprised. He also said that he didn't think that my cat was in pain at that given time, and watched as he ate some hard treats (which he chewed on the side of the giant black cavity).
He gave 3 options:
1. Gold standard: full cardio and blood workups and surgery
2. Medium: Small blood panel and surgery
3. Palliative: Accept that he's an older cat and that dental problems are part of that and do nothing.

I agreed to doing the small panel just to see where the kidneys are at, because if they're toast, we're not doing surgery anyway. Unfortunately neither the tech nor the vet could get any blood drawn. This isn't the first time this has happened, his veins collapse pretty easily it seems, just thought it wouldn't be a problem this time around because he isn't on his heart meds anymore. Vet says to bring him back in 2 weeks for strictly a blood draw, in hopes the taking away the exam beforehand will lower his anxiety and make it easier.

He sent me home with 7 days of antibiotics to help clear up the gum infection, and a sample of some green stuff to put in his water that breaks down the tartar (or plaque, I can never remember which is which). He said that brushing couldn't make things worse, so I got a brush.

I was expecting a quote of $1200+ for the surgery, and he quoted $600-900 including extractions, pain meds, and any follow up we may need, which I think is pretty decent in this city.

 

[Furballsmom]

Wow
Here's hoping for the best!!