Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
Marlene, I have no expertise on dental work in kitties, but am offering prayers for your sweet Pekoe. I hope all turns out well for him. Please keep us posted on his progress. :) Wendy --- Marlene Chornie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello All, First of all, my condolences to all of you who have lost a beloved furbaby, and my best wishes to all who are caring for ill ones. I haven't posted in many months, since we lost our sweet little Digby to FelV last May. I mostly lurk and have kept up with the posts on a daily basis. Since last May, Pekoe (FelV+) has been doing wonderfully well - until this past weekend. Just to refresh, Pekoe is a little over 2 yrs. old, and was diagnosed with FelV almost a year ago at the age of about 15 mos. At that time, he was anaemic from Hemobartonellosis and was successfully treated with Doxycycline. This past weekend, I caught him licking the concrete floor in the basement, and - you know what I thought/suspected!! Everything else about him was completely normal - appetite, litter box habits, activity level. We took him to the vet clinic this morning (his regular vet was off). They ran a PCV (Hematocrit) and it was 30% (Normal reference range 24 - 45%). They also sent off some blood work to their Animal Health Lab and the results will be back tomorrow. They'll be checking for Hemobart as well. Fortunately, we took Pekoe last June to have some baseline blood work done (everything was pretty good), so they'll at least have something to compare his recent results to. The vet today checked him out - Temp. was normal, etc. When she checked his mouth/teeth, she noted that a couple of teeth may have to be extracted - a tiny incisor on the upper Rt. beside his fang tooth, and a larger tooth on the upper Lt. side 2nd from the back tooth. He'll also need a dental cleaning. We questioned starting on Doxycycline anyway, but she didn't seem convinced (and frankly neither was I) that this is Hemobart related. He isn't acting at all the way he did when he had the Hemobart before. We even discussed the possibility that there might be something on the concrete floor that he may be attracted to, because he only licks in a certain area and no where else. To be honest, I'm a little baffled? We have an appointment with his regular vet on Thurs. to discuss everything pertaining to the dental work. Of course, my first concern is with him being under anaesthetic, and what that might trigger. I know that our clinic uses Isofluorane. It's been quite a while since we've had any experience with a cat having dental work. The last time was with our Casper who was 16 at the time, and developed CRF shortly after a dental. He lived to be almost 20 1/2 yrs. old with our treatment of his CRF. Needless to say, I have a multitude of questions for our vet with regard to dental surgery on a FelV+ cat. I've already compiled a list of questions, but would invite everyone's thoughts/questions on the matter. Marlene (Pekoe Angel Digby) __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
Marlene, Also, this week someone posted a great article on a medical study regarding the use of Vitamin C (certain types, not all types) on FeLV kitties. I can't remember the name of it or who posted it (Belinda maybe?), but it's very interesting. Can someone repost the link to the article for Marlene and any other newbies? Thanks! Wendy --- catatonya [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Marlene, In the past when I've had to deal with this it really just depended on what was worse. Yes, the dental could cause problems due the fact that Pekoe is positive. But yes, so could bad teeth if an infection develops. In these cases I have always just had to talk to the vet and then make a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' type decision. As far as anemia, I would be concerned about Pekoe licking the concrete whether or not it shows up in the bloodwork. If the bloodwork showed nothing at all I'd at least get Pekoe on a good multi-vitamin (if you're not already doing supplements). Let us know how the bloodwork turns out. tonya Marlene Chornie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello All, First of all, my condolences to all of you who have lost a beloved furbaby, and my best wishes to all who are caring for ill ones. I haven't posted in many months, since we lost our sweet little Digby to FelV last May. I mostly lurk and have kept up with the posts on a daily basis. Since last May, Pekoe (FelV+) has been doing wonderfully well - until this past weekend. Just to refresh, Pekoe is a little over 2 yrs. old, and was diagnosed with FelV almost a year ago at the age of about 15 mos. At that time, he was anaemic from Hemobartonellosis and was successfully treated with Doxycycline. This past weekend, I caught him licking the concrete floor in the basement, and - you know what I thought/suspected!! Everything else about him was completely normal - appetite, litter box habits, activity level. We took him to the vet clinic this morning (his regular vet was off). They ran a PCV (Hematocrit) and it was 30% (Normal reference range 24 - 45%). They also sent off some blood work to their Animal Health Lab and the results will be back tomorrow. They'll be checking for Hemobart as well. Fortunately, we took Pekoe last June to have some baseline blood work done (everything was pretty good), so they'll at least have something to compare his recent results to. The vet today checked him out - Temp. was normal, etc. When she checked his mouth/teeth, she noted that a couple of teeth may have to be extracted - a tiny incisor on the upper Rt. beside his fang tooth, and a larger tooth on the upper Lt. side 2nd from the back tooth. He'll also need a dental cleaning. We questioned starting on Doxycycline anyway, but she didn't seem convinced (and frankly neither was I) that this is Hemobart related. He isn't acting at all the way he did when he had the Hemobart before. We even discussed the possibility that there might be something on the concrete floor that he may be attracted to, because he only licks in a certain area and no where else. To be honest, I'm a little baffled? We have an appointment with his regular vet on Thurs. to discuss everything pertaining to the dental work. Of course, my first concern is with him being under anaesthetic, and what that might trigger. I know that our clinic uses Isofluorane. It's been quite a while since we've had any experience with a cat having dental work. The last time was with our Casper who was 16 at the time, and developed CRF shortly after a dental. He lived to be almost 20 1/2 yrs. old with our treatment of his CRF. Needless to say, I have a multitude of questions for our vet with regard to dental surgery on a FelV+ cat. I've already compiled a list of questions, but would invite everyone's thoughts/questions on the matter. Marlene (Pekoe Angel Digby) __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
I don't remember Pica being a symptom of IBD. It certainly is of anemia. I'd be very interested to know if it is of dental problems as well. When Gracie would lick cement, I'd stick her back on Dox. I always worried about continually treating her with Dox, but it did seem to get rid of the anemia, (we suspected Hemobartinella, even though the tests were neg). Prayers for Pekoe, Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You know, I seem to remember seeing somewhere, when I was researching dental problems in cats, that it can cause pica, which is the licking concrete thing. I am not sure, though-- I have researched so many things lately that it could have said IBD or something else other than dental problems is a cause of pica and I am remembering it wrong. But it is worth doing a search on cat, dental or teeth, and pica. Michelle In a message dated 1/23/2006 6:40:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: As far as anemia, I would be concerned about Pekoe licking the concrete whether or not it shows up in the bloodwork. If the bloodwork showed nothing at all I'd at least get Pekoe on a good multi-vitamin (if you're not already doing supplements).
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
Bailey had a dental last year and the one thing I would ask them to do is give fluids while under, this seems to help alot. Bailey didn't have any problems other than the associated pain and he got pain meds for that, ask for pain meds also. He was eating with in a day or so. -- Belinda Happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties ... http://www.bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candle Light Service http://www.bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com (affordable hosting web design) http://HostDesign4U.com --- BMK Designs (non-profit web sites) http://bmk.bemikitties.com
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
Marlene,In the past when I've had to deal with this it really just depended on what was worse. Yes, the dental could cause problems due the fact that Pekoe is positive. But yes, so could bad teeth if an infection develops. In these cases I have always just had to talk to the vet and then make a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' type decision. As far as anemia, I would be concerned about Pekoe licking the concrete whether or not it shows up in the bloodwork. If the bloodwork showed nothing at all I'd at least get Pekoe on a good multi-vitamin (if you're not already doing supplements).Let us know how the bloodwork turns out.tonyaMarlene Chornie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello All, First of all, my condolences to all of you who have lost a beloved furbaby, and my best wishes to all who are caring for ill ones. I haven't posted in many months, since we lost our sweet little Digby to FelV last May. I mostly lurk and have kept up with the posts on a daily basis. Since last May, Pekoe (FelV+) has been doing wonderfully well - until this past weekend. Just to refresh, Pekoe is a little over 2 yrs. old, and was diagnosed with FelV almost a year ago at the age of about 15 mos. At that time, he was anaemic from Hemobartonellosis and was successfully treated with Doxycycline. This past weekend, I caught him licking the concrete floor in the basement, and - you know what I thought/suspected!! Everything else about him was completely normal - appetite, litter box habits, activity level. We took him to the vet clinic this morning (his regular vet was off). They ran a PCV (Hematocrit) and it was 30% (Normal reference range 24 - 45%). They also sent off some blood work to their Animal Health Lab and the results will be back tomorrow. They'll be checking for Hemobart as well. Fortunately, we took Pekoe last June to have some "baseline" blood work done (everything was pretty good), so they'll at least have something to compare his recent results to. The vet today checked him out - Temp. was normal, etc. When she checked his mouth/teeth, she noted that a couple of teeth may have to be extracted - a tiny incisor on the upper Rt. beside his "fang" tooth, and a larger tooth on the upper Lt. side 2nd from the back tooth. He'll also need a dental cleaning. We questioned starting on Doxycycline anyway, but she didn't seem convinced (and frankly neither was I) that this is Hemobart related. He isn't acting at all the way he did when he had the Hemobart before. We even discussed the possibility that there might be something on the concrete floor that he may be "attracted" to, because he only licks in a certain area and no where else. To be honest, I'm a little "baffled"? We have an appointment with his regular vet on Thurs. to discuss everything pertaining to the dental work. Of course, my first concern is with him being under anaesthetic, and what that might "trigger". I know that our clinic uses Isofluorane. It's been quite a while since we've had any "experience" with a cat having dental work. The last time was with our Casper who was 16 at the time, and developed CRF shortly after a dental. He lived to be almost 20 1/2 yrs. old with our treatment of his CRF. Needless to say, I have a multitude of questions for our vet with regard to dental surgery on a FelV+ cat. I've already compiled a list of questions, but would invite everyone's thoughts/questions on the matter.Marlene (Pekoe Angel Digby)
RE: Pekoe - Dental Work
Hi, Marlene, I know that dental work is one of those things that we often have to think about to balance out the benefit and risk of having it and not having it. There is always risk with anethesia - ever since I lost my baby suzi to spaying surgery to anethesia, my fear is alwasy real when I have to put my babies under anethesia whatever reason. Whenever I ended up doing with dental work (I only do when absoultey necessary - like they can't eat food anymoe due to the pain), I ask them not to use any injectables which can cause more complication for recovery -- ask them to use the lightest amount of anethesia they can use and ask them to put sub-q fluid during the surgery - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of catatonyaSent: Monday, January 23, 2006 4:41 PMTo: felvtalk@felineleukemia.orgSubject: Re: Pekoe - Dental Work Marlene, In the past when I've had to deal with this it really just depended on what was worse. Yes, the dental could cause problems due the fact that Pekoe is positive. But yes, so could bad teeth if an infection develops. In these cases I have always just had to talk to the vet and then make a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' type decision. As far as anemia, I would be concerned about Pekoe licking the concrete whether or not it shows up in the bloodwork. If the bloodwork showed nothing at all I'd at least get Pekoe on a good multi-vitamin (if you're not already doing supplements). Let us know how the bloodwork turns out. tonyaMarlene Chornie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello All, First of all, my condolences to all of you who have lost a beloved furbaby, and my best wishes to all who are caring for ill ones. I haven't posted in many months, since we lost our sweet little Digby to FelV last May. I mostly lurk and have kept up with the posts on a daily basis. Since last May, Pekoe (FelV+) has been doing wonderfully well - until this past weekend. Just to refresh, Pekoe is a little over 2 yrs. old, and was diagnosed with FelV almost a year ago at the age of about 15 mos. At that time, he was anaemic from Hemobartonellosis and was successfully treated with Doxycycline. This past weekend, I caught him licking the concrete floor in the basement, and - you know what I thought/suspected!! Everything else about him was completely normal - appetite, litter box habits, activity level. We took him to the vet clinic this morning (his regular vet was off). They ran a PCV (Hematocrit) and it was 30% (Normal reference range 24 - 45%). They also sent off some blood work to their Animal Health Lab and the results will be back tomorrow. They'll be checking for Hemobart as well. Fortunately, we took Pekoe last June to have some "baseline" blood work done (everything was pretty good), so they'll at least have something to compare his recent results to. The vet today checked him out - Temp. was normal, etc. When she checked his mouth/teeth, she noted that a couple of teeth may have to be extracted - a tiny incisor on the upper Rt. beside his "fang" tooth, and a larger tooth on the upper Lt. side 2nd from the back tooth. He'll also need a dental cleaning. We questioned starting on Doxycycline anyway, but she didn't seem convinced (and frankly neither was I) that this is Hemobart related. He isn't acting at all the way he did when he had the Hemobart before. We even discussed the possibility that there might be something on the concrete floor that he may be "attracted" to, because he only licks in a certain area and no where else. To be honest, I'm a little "baffled"? We have an appointment with his regular vet on Thurs. to discuss everything pertaining to the dental work. Of course, my first concern is with him being under anaesthetic, and what that might "trigger". I know that our clinic uses Isofluorane. It's been quite a while since we've had any "experience" with a cat having dental work. The last time was with our Casper who was 16 at the time, and developed CRF shortly after a dental. He lived to be almost 20 1/2 yrs. old with our treatment of his CRF. Needless to say, I have a multitude of questions for our vet with regard to dental surgery on a FelV+ cat. I've already compiled a list of questions, but would invite everyone's thoughts/questions on the matter. Marlene (Pekoe Angel Digby)
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
Marlene, My Patches, who is positive, just had 3 teeth out. I had the same concerns you have, and so refused to get the teeth out when the vet first told me to about 4 months ago. But then she started having trouble eating, so I did it. I went to an actual veterinary dentist, and I recommend doing that. They are supposed to be better at dental work, since they specialize in it. I have heard that regular vets sometimes do not get all the roots out, etc. This dentist said one of Patches' canines was so hard to get out that he had to cut through bone to get all the roots out, and then reshape her gums there. I am not sure a regular vet could or would have done that successfully. This dentist, who is at an animal hospital, also has done a lot of FeLV+ cats, because they tend to have dental problems and there are only a few dentists in the state so they all go to him. He did not use any injectable anesthesia, only the iso gas, kept her on fluids and a heating pad the whole time, gave her novacaine for post-surgery pain prevention and also sent her home with pain meds, and let me drop her off right before her surgery (he did her first) and pick her up as soon as she was awake. It worked out well, knock on wood. I recommend trying to find someone like that to do Pekoe's teeth, even if your vet is really good, because of the specializing and because dentists, I think, tend to be more state of the art in terms of the dental surgery. By the way, when Pekoe had hemobart, how low did his HCT get before the dox made him better? Michelle In a message dated 1/23/2006 4:54:08 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: We have an appointment with his regular vet on Thurs. to discuss everything pertaining to the dental work. Of course, my first concern is with him being under anaesthetic, and what that might "trigger". I know that our clinic uses Isofluorane. It's been quite a while since we've had any "experience" with a cat having dental work. The last time was with our Casper who was 16 at the time, and developed CRF shortly after a dental. He lived to be almost 20 1/2 yrs. old with our treatment of his CRF. Needless to say, I have a multitude of questions for our vet with regard to dental surgery on a FelV+ cat. I've already compiled a list of questions, but would invite everyone's thoughts/questions on the matter.
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
You know, I seem to remember seeing somewhere, when I was researching dental problems in cats, that it can cause pica, which is the licking concrete thing. I am not sure, though-- I have researched so many things lately that it could have said IBD or something else other than dental problems is a cause of pica and I am remembering it wrong. But it is worth doing a search on cat, dental or teeth, and pica. Michelle In a message dated 1/23/2006 6:40:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: As far as anemia, I would be concerned about Pekoe licking the concrete whether or not it shows up in the bloodwork. If the bloodwork showed nothing at all I'd at least get Pekoe on a good multi-vitamin (if you're not already doing supplements).
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work, heating pad?
great idea, plus the fluids and iso. very important.Michelle, Anyone. Do your vets use a 'bearhugger' device with surgery and charge you extra for it??? It's supposed to be something so much better than a heating pad that they charge me extra. I just smile and 'charge it'!!t[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Marlene, My Patches, who is positive, just had 3 teeth out. I had the same concerns you have, and so refused to get the teeth out when the vet first told me to about 4 months ago. But then she started having trouble eating, so I did it. I went to an actual veterinary dentist, and I recommend doing that. They are supposed to be better at dental work, since they specialize in it. I have heard that regular vets sometimes do not get all the roots out, etc. This dentist said one of Patches' canines was so hard to get out that he had to cut through bone to get all the roots out, and then reshape her gums there. I am not sure a regular vet could or would have done that successfully. This dentist, who is at an animal hospital, also has done a lot of FeLV+ cats, because they tend to have dental problems and there are only a few dentists in the state so they all go to him. He did not use any injectable anesthesia, only the iso gas, kept her on fluids and a heating pad the whole time, gave her novacaine for post-surgery pain prevention and also sent her home with pain meds, and let me drop her off right before her surgery (he did her first) and pick her up as soon as she was awake. It worked out well, knock on wood. I recommend trying to find someone like that to do Pekoe's teeth, even if your vet is really good, because of the specializing and because dentists, I think, tend to be more state of the art in terms of the dental surgery. By the way, when Pekoe had hemobart, how low did his HCT get before the dox made him better? MichelleIn a message dated 1/23/2006 4:54:08 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:We have an appointment with his regular vet on Thurs. to discuss everything pertaining to the dental work. Of course, my first concern is with him being under anaesthetic, and what that might "trigger". I know that our clinic uses Isofluorane. It's been quite a while since we've had any "experience" with a cat having dental work. The last time was with our Casper who was 16 at the time, and developed CRF shortly after a dental. He lived to be almost 20 1/2 yrs. old with our treatment of his CRF. Needless to say, I have a multitude of questions for our vet with regard to dental surgery on a FelV+ cat. I've already compiled a list of questions, but would invite everyone's thoughts/questions on the matter.
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work, heating pad?
No, never heard of it. What is it? Michelle In a message dated 1/23/2006 7:24:45 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Michelle, Anyone. Do your vets use a 'bearhugger' device with surgery and charge you extra for it??? It's supposed to be something so much better than a heating pad that they charge me extra. I just smile and 'charge it'!! t
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work
Thanks to all who have responded so far. I have pretty much the same thoughts/questions as you have suggested. Obviously, a factor will also be if his blood test results are satisfactory to be able to go ahead with the dental. Michelle: Unfortunately, a dental vet is not really an option here (rural area) - the nearest one would be probably 2 hrs. away. I will discuss this with my vet though, because when Casper was going to have to get a canine extracted, we had to take him to a vet 1/2 hr. away because he had the necessary equipment needed to perform such an extraction. That's when he was diagnosed with CRF, so the surgery couldn't be done. Quite a while later, that tooth fell out on it's own without any problems. I do trust our vet very much. She does the surgeries at the clinic, and she is more well versed on FelV than the other vets - in fact, she did her thesis on the subject when she was in University/Vet College. When Pekoe had Hemobart before, his PCV (HCT) was down to 17% (Normal range 24 - 45%). After 3 weeks on Doxycycline, it came up to 38%. When he had the baseline blood work done a month later, it was 41% (Normal range for the different lab was 28 - 49%). Marlene (Pekoe Angel Digby)
Re: Pekoe - Dental Work, heating pad-bear hugger device
No. I just always get an explanation with my bill about how wonderful it is along with the special charge for having such a special device, designed for babies I think.Remember I also have the vet who's checking blood pressure on my cats nowt[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:No, never heard of it. What is it?MichelleIn a message dated 1/23/2006 7:24:45 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:Michelle, Anyone. Do your vets use a 'bearhugger' device with surgery and charge you extra for it??? It's supposed to be something so much better than a heating pad that they charge me extra. I just smile and 'charge it'!!t
