After a tumultuous month filled with alarming and rapidly mutating symptoms, Pandy is now officially recovered. The vets in our office are wonderful, and were determined to help her. The next available surgery slot wasn’t until the 17th, and there’s no way Pandy could wait that long. So, one of our vets saw the patients of the other (I’m pretty sure it was on her day off) so that he could perform Pandy’s surgery, which he did last Monday. Although her teeth appeared healthy, the dental X-rays revealed a root abscess below the gumline. Not only that, it turns out Pandy has a condition where the roots are absorbed by the body (they dissolve, in other words), so several of her teeth had to be extracted. There was no way to know they needed to be, not without dental X-rays, and I’m really thankful our vet has the machine to take them. I’m really thankful he didn’t blow off the possibility of an abscess (as the ER doc did), despite her teeth showing no sign of decay.
Pandy’s doing great now, and back to her old self. Last night was her last dose of antibiotics, which was a relief to both of us! She’s missing a little fur along the side of her nose due to the severe swelling that occurred, and grooming herself for the first time in about a month resulted in a sizeable hairball, but otherwise it’s safe to say this is all behind us. She’s eating great, and will no doubt regain the weight she lost.
Star on the other hand, is not eating well and is losing weight. Otherwise she’s behaving normally, but when a nine pound cat drops to eight in two months’ time, it’s cause for concern. I’ll be making an appointment for her in the morning. I hope her teeth aren’t causing her problems, but suspect they may be. We know she has a condition that causes enamel to dissolve (whether it and Pandy’s condition are the same, I don’t know), and that could be making it painful for her to eat. So, she needs dental X-rays to determine if that’s the case. She also needs bloodwork to re-check her creatinine level, as kidney disease can also cause weight loss. I think her teeth are more likely to be the problem, but we shall see, and deal with it accordingly.
Not to be outdone, Arctic managed to get hold of a tiny bit of the stitch used internally to close the area where a cyst was removed over a month ago. He yanked the stitch out, which didn’t cause any real damage, but he did bleed a little bit. And then, he decided to lick the area until it was chapped and raw 😑. Bitter Apple spray may deter some dogs, but either it’s no deterrent to him whatsoever, or he likes it. Next I tried using an ace bandage to mummy wrap him, but ultimately switched to two giant bandaids that criss-cross the site of the incision. So far, that’s working. I think once all the shaved fur grows back in, he won’t be tempted to mess with it anymore. If he is, then he can just keep on wearing bandaids.
Despite the fur family health issues, Reclamation is coming along. Right now I’m working on a conversation that has a lot of significance for the main character. Once that’s finished, the rest will be easy. I can’t say when it will be out, but—as always, barring unforeseen circumstances—it will release sometime this year.