Poor little kitty!

Why does it seem extra heartbreaking when they suffer like this? Is it because cats are so stoic, and don't really express when they're in pain? That they're so dependent on us?

Regardless, you're doing everything you can to help him. He's lucky to have you.

I would also go straight to the dental surgery if they think he won't have a good quality of life without it. None of these are easy choices. And yes, donate to a pet rescue would also be my vote.

He sure is a cutie. Have you looked into dental cleaning without anesthetia? We did that with our last dog's senior years and our current one, every 6 months for the last 2 years. It is cheaper and safer. Hope it all turns out well.

NO REFUND! Use what you need for Elliot now, You do not have to pull all out. You can just pull a little along. He is so much better off with you than he was. He was sent to you, because you would help him and do what is needed.

Talk to your vet about what to do. Our little fat dog that I said just had his teeth cleaned, had pockets under the molars and under both fangs. We have had him at the vet every year, but he was one of the home bred crosses and no one took care of the baby teeth. She cleaned and put some kind of antibiotic in the pockets and he feels soooo much better. You may find out that with Elliot. Chopper was just gulping his dry. We also, are only feeding canned now.

You are feeding him canned with water and I am sure he is so happy that he can eat. He is beautiful. He came to you for a reason and although I believe everything will be fine, use all the money on Elliot. We gave it to him, but if not, donate to a rescue.

Sherry and Tom (yes both our names are the same)

ETA: MY cat Charley, who got his wings in July 2019, was sick on and off his entire life. He was 12 and I got him at 5 months. He was the best cat ever and followed me around all the time also.

It's a hard decision, but I would go with 2. Take the risk without the scan for confirmation. If it can help improve quality of life, then yes. And also if the scan is skipped, so is the amount of time it would take. So his dental can get scheduled sooner.

What meds is he on now? Anything for the dental? I know when human dental goes wrong, there is often antibiotics and antibacterial mouthwash involved. I don't know what cat dental does.

Sherry and Tom!! Wow! Hey, we're reincarnates or soul-mates or somethin' LOL

Beesneeds he's on antibiotic/anti-inflammatory and pain meds now. One is a cream that I rub on the inside of his ears, the other is a pill that I cut in half and put in his throat (carefully!). I don't want to hurt is mouth as you can imagine. Both twice/day.

Caflowerluvr.....his gums and teeth are too far gone to consider not using anesthesia. His gums are red and inflamed and that's why he sticks the tip of his tongue out sometimes.....it hurts when it presses against his gums.

The more I see him, the more in love I am with Elliot. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good outcome and restored health.

I agree with Nicole. I don't want a refund. If things don't know work out then get another cat to keep you company ( I am a widow and know how lonely it can be) or donate the money to a rescue. I'm not going to offer any suggestions as to a treatment plan. Do whatever seems best to you.

Signed in to make a comment about your furbaby. The heart murmur may be of long duration. This past year I finally had to make the decision on my oldest furkid. When we picked him up from the street in about 2000 the vet said he had a severe heart murmur. So severe that the vet told us he should never be given any of the normal shots. At that time a letter from a vet could get a waver for licensing. If the removal would affect the heart it would be no worse than what the infected teeth are doing.

Concentrate on reducing the inflammation before having his teeth removed. This may take some time and perhaps changes in medication. The inflammation will make the gums bleed more when they are touched. Ask if the vet's office keeps a blood donor cat as some do, some do not.

Not a veterinarian, but have spent much time as volunteer veterinary care mgr for feline rescue.

Heart murmurs are very common in cats. One site estimates 1/3 of cats have a murmur. The ability to hear/report a murmur varies among vets (& even human docs), some are skillful, patient, and listen carefully, others not so.

Murmurs may only occur when the heart rate is increased (e.g., stress from vet visit), some may be due to underlying conditions (e.g., hyperthyroidism, hypertension, anemia, heart structure).

Critical information is how is the cats activity, appetite, and demeanor.

My suggestion, take one step at a time.

Thank you for the GFM, that was a good idea. Best wishes to both of you. Please keep us updated.

I agree with going ahead with the dental work. How long does it take? What's the least amount of anesthesia they can use? Perhaps, as maifleur wrote, you can help his gums beforehand?

Jas my kitty died about a year ago and I still miss her. I got her as a rescue and she had a thyroid condition, a heart murmur and ended up losing all her teeth. I was so worried about her not being able to eat but she did and she only ate dry food. Wouldnt touch canned food or homemade rice and chicken. She was on meds twice a day for her thyroid , was never treated for the heart murmur and lived until she was 17. They are resilient. If Elliot is able to heave the dental work his other issues may be moot.

I have a week and a half of pills, and the cream is done tomorrow nite. I'm sure tha cream is the pain relief as I remember putting it on Smudge's ears after his dental surgery. So they will probably wait till after the pills are used up, based on the information I've learned here. So I'll be sure to ask tomorrow.

Ok, since he is on anti-inflammatory and pain killers... I would guess those are supposed to be used for a while to help reduce the area prior to dental being able to be done? In human, that happened to my brother. He got a bad tooth and had to take a-f for a bit to help bring the swelling down before the dentist could work on it well. And I would have to imagine it's good for other areas of his body that are flamed up.

Poor Elliott. I can't help to think of my brother, it's his name too.

I would also go with option #2. He needs his mouth cleaned up to have a pain free and

healthier life, and it is a risk worth taking.

I have had 6 cats over 40 years, and they are very good at hiding pain (which you probably know only too well).

I certainly do not want any of my donation returned....do the best for Elliott without concern for us!

Yes, I vote Option 2 as well and no money refunded. I think the antibiotics will go a long way in bringing him into shape to get the dental and it sounds like the heart murmur will either be one way or the other but that he should be able to survive with it. Hopefully the vet will agree with all of us. :) Keep us posted on how he's getting along. It's hard to believe he has any kind of issues at all when looking at that sweet little face. Hugs to you both.

Ditto with everything murraysmom just posted above me!

It's a gift, please don't return it. Mostly, I hope you get to use it, and he gets fully healed!

I agree with option 2 also. However, I don't understand why he was not put on antibiotics immediately as infected teeth (animal, human) are a danger to the heart. My son had a abscessed tooth and needed root canal. The dentist put him on antibiotics for 10 days prior to the root canal as the infection in the root can spread to the heart.

I would ask the Vet about antibiotics prior to the surgery on Elliotts teeth.

I am so happy you will give this beautiful kitty a shot at a happier life. He is truly beautiful and I hope removing his painful teeth with give him a chance for a better life.

I agree to use the money for Elliot or another rescue.

Jane

agree with murraysmom!!

Jane_ny, I've mentioned that he is on an antibiotic/inflammatory for his gums. He has some cream for pain that I rub on the inside of his ears. I have I think 10 days left of pills. So the surgery would be after those are done.

Jasdip, I am very sorry about Elliott.

I think that the ultrasound should be done before the dental surgery to make certain that Elliott can handle the dental surgery. The anesthetic vets use today can be very quick. From my experience, dental surgery on a pet has to be done within 10 days of the blood work - but these days, with Covid who the heck knows.

I am happy that your vet uses University of Guelph. We are very familiar with the small animal clinic at Guelph (I know that it is called something else now) - but we had to take our Dachshund there late at night (with a referral) many years ago.

Emergencies are not lower cost at Guelph - but I believe non-emergency care is. But not to the extent that mdln mentioned - we live in Ontario where vet care costs a lot. At least you live far closer to Guelph University that we do! But with Covid there is an issue. Our vet just started to allow one patient and one masked pet parent in with an appointment - door is locked. Same with the Emergency - the 24 hour one where the specialists work from. If you have an actual emergency as opposed to an appointment with a specialist (again by referral) they advise you to call first to advise if there is any hope that your pet can be seen.

I agree that Elliott should be given only wet food. It is finding one that Elliott likes that is the issue. Consider yourself lucky if he likes everything - or even 2.

I also agree that due to Elliott's age no rescue would do the medical procedures necessary. It is very sad.

We have 2 senior kitties, one is 16 and the other is 11. They will only eat one type of food - period. I have tried many different types - nope! It is psychological based on their terrible history. And there are many shortages which also scares me - and of course the eventual reformulation and/or discontinuation of the food.

I hope you keep up your spirits. It is so hard to see their little faces full of hope.

I will be interested to see what your vet says.

UPDATE

I just got off the phone with the vet and she understands not wanting to do the ultrasound first. But the other doctor does many more surgeries than she does, so she's going to run it by her.

Even if he survives the surgery there are risks when he comes home. Blood clot, etc. I believe these are side-effects, risks from any anesthetic, though.

When I'm finished the anti-inflammatory meds, we'll do another checkup where she'll see the state of his gums. And draw blood in case anything untoward were to happen in surgery.

She really really likes Elliott and mentioned again how good he was at the visit.

ETA Elliott does have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

My kitty’s ultrasound revealed her hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I’m so glad we did it, despite the cost. However, a trip to the vet and a standard blood draw 6 months later proved too stressful for her enlarged heart. I don’t know what to tell you, but knowledge is power.

Bpath, I updated my post to say that Elliott has the same thing. I didn't know that a blood draw would be a risk. It may be that poor Elliott may not survive the next checkup.

It wasn’t the blood draw, it was the stress of getting in the carrier and going to the vet. We didn’t do the carrier prep in the normal way, we ended up having to extract her from a basement hiding place, and we think it started to escalated with that. It was a fluke that we did it that way. She is usually okay at the vet, but doesn’t like the carrier and car.

My darling Wesley had Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. There are meds for it. Life is dangerous for them but what isn't? Wesley ended up with a Lymphoma that ended his life but his heart condition had improved amazingly with his meds. The medication wasnt expensive. He would have lived a normal cat life if not for the Lymphoma. He came from an inbred colony of too many cats. So it goes. I would not want to have been without him in my life. When we take on a pet we are likely to out live them. Hopefully because who will take them when we are gone?

@patriciae_gw This is so true. My 87 year old neighbor passed away with no plan for her pets, other than a handwritten note that her daugther would take them in. Her daughter who she hadn't asked and wasn't allowed pets in her rental. Anyway, long story short, an extra two cats and a dog have joined my household. I already loved them and my life is richer for it, but it could have ended badly.

@Jasdip I'm so glad you have a plan and my fingers are crossed for Elliott! He reminds me so much of my cat Leroy, aka Little Big Paw.

Jasdip, I have been thinking and I believe you have a great plan for Elliot. I just wanted to extend a third option. If they do not think they can clean his teeth. Could he go on antibiotics and a tooth gel or spray, and then have a good, or at least better, quality of life? For a while or until he could have his teeth cleaned?

This has been going on for years and he seems happy??? It is just a thought, and I am not there.

Sherry, he's such a picky, small eater. I'd love to be able to grind a pill into his food, but he eats so little. I tried it with half a pill, and he didn't touch his food.

It's a struggle to get his pills (1 cut in half) in his mouth. I get it, as I've had to give cats pills over the years, but with his gums being so sore, I feel especially bad for him. His tongue immediately sticks out afterwards. I give him lots of hugs and kisses, but damn it has to hurt.

I hope the anti-biotics help his gums enough that we can go ahead with the surgery. I wonder how many teeth he'll have to lose. But even with no teeth, cats can gum their food, as attested by some members here.

It seems that edits don't work now either. Tonite I put a few kibbles on the floor with 1/2 pill. He swallowed it all. So I did the same with the other 1/2 pill. Success!

I had a cat who developed tooth problems when he was 15. Over 30 years ago, we didn't get their teeth cleaned.

He had surgery, where they removed many teeth and treated an abcess.

When he got hone, he started eating immediately and gummed his (dry) food!

He lived 3.5 more happy years.

I have my fingers crossed for Eliott!

Jasdip, that is great news that he is eating and taking the pills. Maybe that means he is starting to feel better? Anyway, it's good news!! Good boy, Elliott!! We are rooting for you, big time!!

Jasdip, I suggest you look at the VEC South Emergency and Referral Clinic (the one on McMurrich St. in Toronto). Go to the Newsletter Heading at the top and click on it, then you will see a bunch of articles based on specialty - but you want to hit on the Click Here section on Dentistry and it deals with Senior Pets (and cats are most definitely highlighted) - some as old as 21 years of age - and younger of course but emphasis is on senior pets. But they do mention heart issues, diabetes, hyperthyroid etc. and the measures taken. Dr. French is the pet board certified dentist and apparently she is excellent.

If you do Google the clinic you will see a big notice dated as of March 7, 2022 regarding entrance (one pet parent is allowed - no cloth masks). But you only have to hit the notice again and it will take you to the rest of the pages. Referrals are definitely required to see a specialist.

I am going to keep this info just in case.

Best of luck.