Rescue Journal

i still feel like shit...

Carol · Aug. 13, 2011

but i think i might feel a bit less like shit then i did yesterday...i am trying to decide.

i am so worried about monty..i am so afraid i might have to euthanize. we have done 3 different surgeries, all of his teeth are gone. we have done the steriods, the long term antibiotics with zithrowmax and now we are trying convenia injections every two weeks and daily pain meds and anti-inflammatories. he still has intermittent daily bouts many times a day of unbearable pain. he is fine inbetween the attacks but he is losing weight because he is afraid to eat.

i had a brain storm last week and asked the vet if maybe ongoing cartophen injections would help..he didn't think so, he said we would probably be just tossing out more money without any result. i have finally realized that we are now at that no longer ignorable crossroads...either we find some way to successfully manage his mouth or we put him down. we are at the end of the road of options, there is little else left to try.

i briefly saw the vet yesterday for discharge orders on kristy and i said i know it is probably a waste of time and money, but could we try the cartrophen injections as the very last resort. if i am going to have to make the decision to end monty's young life (he is only about 6) i want to know that i grasped at every straw before i take his life. even tho it is not what cartrophen is made for, our vet is willing to give it a shot.

i have a very special bond of responsibility towards monty. when i left my home and family and began the journey to saints...i saw a young and half grown monty hanging out in the backyard one day. i told my ex that i had seen a young possibly stray cat out in the yard...he said he thought the cat belonged to a neighbor. three years later my daughter calls and tells me there is a beat up, sketchy and thin street cat coming around to the yard that she was trying to befriend. i took a trap over and saw it was the same cat i had seen several years before. it took several weeks before she was able to catch him and get him into the vets for me and when monty was finally neutered, he also tested positive for FIV.

lindsey called him "mycat" and i changed his name to "monty." and i have always felt so guilty that for three long unnecessary years he lived all alone on the streets and backyards of my previous home. i should have just grabbed him the first time i saw him.

his mouth has been an ongoing problem for over 2 years now..it is part of the things that can happen with FIV's altho it happens with non effected cats like marvin as well.

monty is a great cat...and he deserved a life loved and cared for and protected from the moment of his birth. but that didn't happen for him...from his youth until today...his life has been difficult.

spay and neuter all cats, keep them inside where they are safe from being lost, alone and afraid. and don't make them live an unnneccessary difficult life by conveniently turning away.

i love you monty...please god let the cartrophen be the unlikely miracle that we both so desperately crave.

Comments

Lindsey

Not Mycat! That's so sad. I know you'll do whatever you feel is best, Mom.

Carol

and thank you colin for your very kind and compassionate heart.

Carol

the real issue here is that we can no longer orally medicate monty or marvin...if we force the meds in their mouths, it causes them excrutiating pain...if we rely on meds in their food...they are only good if they feel well enough and will actually eat that day.

so we have resorted to sc injectibles..the cats don't mind them too much and we are not continually traumatizing their poor painful mouths.

i actually have a pretty good gut feeling about the cartrophen in conjunction with the long term convenia...both are injectible and the cartrophen will hopefully help reduce the inflammation and increase the mucousal coating inside his mouth both of which will hopefully decrease his pain.

in any case i REALLY appreciate the suggestions and will talk to the vet about them next week on marvin's and monty's recheck appointments...maybe they come in injectibles which would be totally great.
oh and yes monty and marvin have been xrayed that's how we know the problem is now in the fossa (the hinge joint between the upper and lower jaw) and not in the gums.

eleanor

I have 2 cats with stomatitis - 1 FeLV and one non FeLV. The FeLV has had molars and premolars removed with no fragments remaining. Longterm Zithromax did NOTHING. She is now on liquid Doxy. The inflammation is now minor and she eats well now and has regained her lost weight.
The other is classic LPS. He is 3 yrs old and has had full mouth extractions by Dr. Legendre. It didn't help. A dental surgeon in the US recommended Triamcinolone. He got 1.5mgs daily for a few days backed off to every 2nd then every 3rd day. The tablets can be crushed to powder and mixed with a little food or placed in a Pill Pocket. I have the liquid compounded. This has finally worked and he's pain free. There is also a stomatitis cocktail developed by a vet dental surgeon in the US which will soon be available in Canada. My vet is in the process of getting it.

Colin

For someone I have never met you have made me cry continuously. There is a place in heaven for you.

Thank you for taking care of these creatures!

vicki

Did they do do dental x-rays to make sure they removed all the root tips? Any left behind will cause problems. Poor Monty :(

Cam

I'll be sending positive thoughts Monty's way. Don't beat yourself up Carol, it's not your fault that cats have been treated like second class pets, or worse, vermin, since the beginning of time. We just keep spreading the gospel...