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Krista has just a few teeth left due to resorption and multiple rounds of extractions. One of them is a single canine. The others are whatever incisors she still has. The molars and premolars are gone now, some incisors, and the other three canines. Since the last round or the one before it when they took her other canines and left her with one, she went from an avid licker to a cautious licker to almost no licks at all. Sometimes she'll lick and then wince. Sometimes she'll stop grooming or stop eating midway like it just hurt too much. I keep trying to explain this to the vet but I'm afraid they've been too focused on her teeth and gums.
The other night, I plated her food. She came over and looked at it. Then she walked away. So I mixed another smaller portion with her favorite turkey meat stock. That got her to the plate. About 1/4 of the way into it, she hit a chewy bit and jawed at it (she doesn't have chewing teeth left), dropped it, jawed a few more times like something was bothering her, then walked away from the whole eating endeavor. She climbed onto the bed and looked at the food with a forlorn expression like, "I wanted to eat that." I booked her dental for yesterday right after I saw that. After the call, I gave her some transdermal buprenorphine and not five minutes later, she finished the meat stock plus food portion and then visited her regular food. Aha! That's pain of some sort holding her back.
The vet said the dental went fantastic yesterday. Her remaining teeth look good. No root fragments. Gums look good. Gums and teeth are good. But something is still holding her back.
She looks at food. She even visits the plates or does her feed me song and dance (though admittedly it has lost enthusiasm lately) but then doesn't want to take more than a few bites if I can even get her to take that much. I don't think there is any issue with her appetite or nausea. I definitely believe that she waits until she absolutely cannot hold out any longer and then only eats as much as she can tolerate the pain, if it is pain, wherever that may be. If gums and teeth look good, it must be her tongue?
I'm waiting for the Dr to call back from yesterday to let me know if he inspected her tongue during the dental.
I don't think it's a mouth cancer because her appetite has been strong until very recently and she has been regaining lost weight this whole time since the last round of extractions (also until very recently.) If it was a cancer, I would have expected a weak appetite and weight loss.
Has anyone else had a cat with mouth pain that wasn't teeth or gums? What kinds of things should I be asking the vet or looking for at home? Any other suggestions besides buprenorphine and an appetite stimulant? I would give her every meal with meat stock mixed in but there's definitely an upper limit of how much stock this cat can tolerate per day. As for changing food or offering treats, both are made complicated by her multiple food sensitivities. She has well-managed IBD that can easily turn into a pancreatitis flare-up if she's allowed to eat the wrong food for too long. I can bribe her with fish flakes but that would turn into a flare-up. I would like to fix this at the vet's office than work around it at home. We're just both at a loss for what it might be.
Thanks in advance!
The other night, I plated her food. She came over and looked at it. Then she walked away. So I mixed another smaller portion with her favorite turkey meat stock. That got her to the plate. About 1/4 of the way into it, she hit a chewy bit and jawed at it (she doesn't have chewing teeth left), dropped it, jawed a few more times like something was bothering her, then walked away from the whole eating endeavor. She climbed onto the bed and looked at the food with a forlorn expression like, "I wanted to eat that." I booked her dental for yesterday right after I saw that. After the call, I gave her some transdermal buprenorphine and not five minutes later, she finished the meat stock plus food portion and then visited her regular food. Aha! That's pain of some sort holding her back.
The vet said the dental went fantastic yesterday. Her remaining teeth look good. No root fragments. Gums look good. Gums and teeth are good. But something is still holding her back.
She looks at food. She even visits the plates or does her feed me song and dance (though admittedly it has lost enthusiasm lately) but then doesn't want to take more than a few bites if I can even get her to take that much. I don't think there is any issue with her appetite or nausea. I definitely believe that she waits until she absolutely cannot hold out any longer and then only eats as much as she can tolerate the pain, if it is pain, wherever that may be. If gums and teeth look good, it must be her tongue?
I'm waiting for the Dr to call back from yesterday to let me know if he inspected her tongue during the dental.
I don't think it's a mouth cancer because her appetite has been strong until very recently and she has been regaining lost weight this whole time since the last round of extractions (also until very recently.) If it was a cancer, I would have expected a weak appetite and weight loss.
Has anyone else had a cat with mouth pain that wasn't teeth or gums? What kinds of things should I be asking the vet or looking for at home? Any other suggestions besides buprenorphine and an appetite stimulant? I would give her every meal with meat stock mixed in but there's definitely an upper limit of how much stock this cat can tolerate per day. As for changing food or offering treats, both are made complicated by her multiple food sensitivities. She has well-managed IBD that can easily turn into a pancreatitis flare-up if she's allowed to eat the wrong food for too long. I can bribe her with fish flakes but that would turn into a flare-up. I would like to fix this at the vet's office than work around it at home. We're just both at a loss for what it might be.
Thanks in advance!
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