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Update on Challa's dental surgery (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/cat@lemmy.world
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Hi everyone,

I made a post several weeks ago regarding my brother's cat Challa, who needed major dental surgery. I posted my brother's go fund me for the surgery and I want to thank everyone who donated, it was very helpful. Challa had his surgery on the 23rd and thankfully, they only had to remove 7 teeth. He was able to keep his canines which was a relief. He has been recovering well and is feeling much better, but still grouchy. Here are some pics of him! Thanks again everyone!

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[–] [S] 2 points 1 month ago (7 children)

I would definitely get a full dental exam. We had another cat who also had chronic inflammation of his gums which caused them to bleed often. Similar to what you experienced, we found blood on his mouth and the walls cuz he would shake his head. He ended up getting some teeth removed and didn't have any issues after that. And as for the bad breath, that usually is an indicator of bad teeth hygiene, cavities or possibly rotting teeth. They can even have broken teeth that food gets stuck in which causes issues. I hope they can find the issue and fix it!

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (6 children)

    Yeah I also found splatters on the wall. He's such a tough little guy, he never acts like anything is wrong.

    I watched him eat a few times since, to see if he tilted his head to the side or gave any indication of discomfort.

    Nope.

    And still has a hearty appetite. But he has an unusually high appetite in general. I think its from being literally skin and bones when I found him. So I think maybe that experience is motivating him to eat even if he's in pain from it.

    Essentially masking symptoms.

    It's so hard to tell when animals can't communicate these things.

    He's also black and his lip and inner mouth area is dark skin. It makes it harder for me to tell if it's inflamed.

    I'm just feeling like this needs professional attention.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago* (5 children)

    Good news. The vet had a cancellation so I was able to get an appointment for day after tomorrow. Fingers crossed it goes well. Hopefully nothing too serious.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    Thats good! I hope it goes well

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

    Hope your fur baby nephew is recovering well. Does he seem like he's adjusting?

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Thank you! And yes, he is still grumpy, but he is feeling better.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (1 child)

    Got good and bad news.

    So Noir has Feline immunodeficiency virus. Basically kitty HIV.

    Good news is that it's not developed into the AIDS form. So at present he's in relatively good health. Though he does have a chronic runny nose. Which I had taken him to the vet for before but they couldn't do much except offer some suggestions that haven't resolved it.

    Vet said it looks like maybe one of his back teeth broke off but it was very hard to tell and even harder to tell if it was recent or not. But she suggested a tooth cleaning. Doing that next week. Which will also involve dental X-rays.

    They are also going to take chest X-rays while he's knocked out to check on that upper respiratory problem a bit more now that we know he's FIV positive. And it doesn't seem to be allergies as he got a steroid shot during last visit and it didn't help much.

    When I took him in , back in April, he had a very nasty bite on his back side. And another older scar from a previous one. This is the primary way FIV is transmitted. So honestly it's not surprising but it definitely saddens me that his life might be pretty short. Some cats never become symptomatic. But most do at some point.

    I'll just cherish the time I have with him.

    Another concern is my other cat is fiv negative.

    Just like with HIV, just living or being around someone with it doesn't really put you at risk.

    It's spread in specific ways. Mostly blood to blood or saliva to blood contact. Meaning a wound is needed to receive infected body fluids of an infected cat.

    My cats aren't friends. And they are kind of hostile with each other but not actively fighting. For a while they were hissing and growling and trying to get a slap in when they could but never any extreme fighting. Never any biting. But now it's just my old cat hissing and growling when the other cat is semi near. But otherwise hostilities have chilled. Finally.

    So I'm not super worried about the risk of deep bites that could infect my older cat.

    And also what can I do about it anyway?

    Give up Noir to a shelter where he will probably be euthanized ?

    To me that's not an option. Even if it puts my other cat at risk. To me it's a small risk vs a certain death of one of them.

    Some might not agree but we all have to weigh our options. And that's the one I'm going with.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 month ago

    Oh no. I'm sorry to hear that. Thats good it hasn't developed into AIDS yet. I agree, giving up the cat or euthanizing isn't an option for me either. Hopefully he doesn't feel too bad and can live a happy life.

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