Stopped Grooming, Slight Drooling

[MsPrudence]

Hi everyone,

First off, right off the bat, I have a vet appointment for Friday. I can't do before then between work and pay-day being Friday. I just want to try and figure out what's wrong to be a bit more prepared for the vet and what I might have to spend.

Minerva has stopped grooming herself to my knowledge. She used to groom herself all the time, but I haven't seen her do it for a week. She's also been drooling a bit in her sleep, and drooled a good bit on me one evening after some intense cuddles and cheek rubs. She's still eating, although I don't think she's been touching her dry food to my knowledge. She usually gets 50/50 wet and dry, and wasn't eating all of her wet, but I bought some new flavors/brands yesterday (Weruva) and she ate that with so much gusto that I gave her an extra wet meal. She'll also eat her dry if I put warm water on it and let it soak.

I noticed a few days ago that she had something matted to the underside of her tail that smelled bad. She's a short hair and is usually meticulously clean, so this was a surprise. I gave her a bath by wiping a warm, wet washcloth all over her and she tolerated it, and maybe even appreciated it as she laid on me purring/napping for a couple hours after.
She's been drinking water and urinating/defecating as normal.

My first guess is the obvious one of dental disease. She's 5 years old and when I adopted her a year and a half ago, she already had signs of dental disease but I couldn't afford a cleaning. I still can't afford a cleaning but might have to bite the bullet and take a hit on my credit to pay for it. I guess my question is, how bad/expensive does this all sound? Is it something other than gum/tooth disease? I purchased a kitty toothbrush and paste on Amazon and am starting that once I get a go-ahead from the vet.

 

[MsPrudence]

Anyone have any idea what's wrong? She pooped outside her litter box today, which she hasn't done since she was constipated. She just seems overall unhappy but is still eating and drinking.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

My first thought was dental issues as well. Brushing her teeth will be good, however, if she already has issues, they will need to be addressed, then brushing may help stop any future issues. But once you have gingivitis, say, brushing won't reverse it...that requires a deep cleaning. She may even need some teeth pulled. Mine had some FORL's this year that had to be removed. That's tooth resorptions, which are very painful

As far as costs for a dental, call around once you find out if that's what it is. The cost varies from Vet to Vet. A LOT!

 

[MsPrudence]

My first thought was dental issues as well. Brushing her teeth will be good, however, if she already has issues, they will need to be addressed, then brushing may help stop any future issues. But once you have gingivitis, say, brushing won't reverse it...that requires a deep cleaning. She may even need some teeth pulled. Mine had some FORL's this year that had to be removed. That's tooth resorptions, which are very painful

As far as costs for a dental, call around once you find out if that's what it is. The cost varies from Vet to Vet. A LOT!

Thanks for the tip! Hoping the vet I'm taking her to tomorrow can do it for a decent price since they're so close to my house. I just want her to feel better, it's so hard watching her be unhappy.

 

[MsPrudence]

UPDATE: Minerva has started acting jumpy at noises. She's blind so she's always been sensitive to sounds, but this is different. She used to associate crinkly bags with her treats until I trained her to associate her treats with the hard plastic jars I started buying them in. She would still perk up at the sound of a chip bag opening, but less so. I have a particularly crinkly bag of dog treats left over from my dog who passed two weeks ago, and when I picked it up tonight, Minerva's ears started going crazy twitching at the noise. Her eyes also got wide and she seemed startled instead of excited, but calmed down as soon as I put the bag down. This is not normal behavior from her. She also seems off balance at times and I've noticed her stumble a couple times the last 24 hours. I have a vet appt in 16 hours but I'm starting to freak out and worry that this goes beyond just dental issues. Could it be neurological? It's possible she hit her head when no one was around since she's 100% blind, but she doesn't seem to have any sensitivity to having any part of her head touched and no obvious wounds. I'm so so scared at what this could be, does anyone have an idea?

 

[Purr-fect]

Please let us know what the vet said.

 

[Pjg8r]

Did these symptoms start after your dog passed away? Were they good friends? It’s possible the dog was her “eyes” and she is struggling.