Fred’s Blog

Betty had surgery today to have three teeth extracted. She was suffering from a pretty bad gum infection; two of her molars were discolored from tartar and were loose to the touch. The vet noticed this two weeks ago when I took her in for a skin problem (we discovered she’s allergic to flea bites, and even though I keep the cats indoors a flea seems to have gotten in somehow). So she had a week of antibiotics to help with the gum inflammation (amoxicillin trihydrate, a.k.a. Clavamox, liquid, mixed with food, 2 x 15 mL daily) and two weeks of a steroid to lessen the skin irritation (prednisone, pill, crushed in honey and spread on her paw). We would have had the tooth extraction done right there, but the skin allergy had to be ameliorated first and the vet wanted her off the prednisone before surgery.

This morning she went in for her surgery, so no food or water after midnight… for EVERYONE, a fact which disgruntled the other 4 cats. She had pretty much recovered from anaesthesia by the time I picked her up but she was still woozy from the pain killer. I had planned to keep her isolated in the bedroom for a while but she insisted on being let out to patrol the premises and re-exert her authority. She wasn’t shy about digging right into a good meal, either.

The vet had given her more Clavamox and a 3-day supply of pain-killing pills (Torbutrol, 2 x 1mg daily), as well as an anti-plaque rinse. We’ll see what she thinks about that…