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Posts: 4
From:
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 08-12-2003 02:54 PM         

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My 21 year old Calico is losing weight, from
9 to 7.0lbs, one lb in two weeks. She is eating soft food, won't touch dry food anymore. Was vomiting almost daily until 5 days ago. Now she wants to eat every 2 hrs. Drinks some water. Not using the litter box as much. Her molars don't look good, have never been cleaned. I plan to have her checked tomorrow for thyroid, kidney and liver and dehydration, but the poblem may be her teeth. My question is: Is this cat too old to risk anesthetic for teeth cleaning/extraction, especially in her weakend condition? How big is the risk?

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Posts: 139
From:UK
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 08-12-2003 04:46 PM         

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Personally I would say it isn't worth the risk to your cat. She is a good age and an anaesthetic would unfortunately probably send her to meet her maker.
If she is suffering or n discomfort I think you should be considering your options very carefully.
Good luck and I hope your cat does get better

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Posts: 1591
From:NY, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 08-12-2003 08:33 PM         

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I agree with Isis...I would not take the risk. I beleive someone in here once mentioned non-anthestetic teeth cleanings could be done. I could'nt find anyone here that performed them but maybe that is something you can ask your vet about.

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Posts: 4
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Registered: Aug 2003

posted 08-12-2003 11:19 PM         

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Thanks Isis and nern. So far the vote is 2-0,
so I guess anesthetic is out. Cat has no visible signs of pain nor discomfort, just weight loss.
She seems to have stabilized with 2hr feedings of soft food and is otherwise normal. This is one tough cat, having survived a laundry dryer cycle, loss of 1/2 the tail and a piece of ear before I got her. I'll ask about alternative teeth cleaning, but she most likely will need an extraction.

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Member

Posts: 141
From:Nova Scotia, Canada
Registered: May 2003

posted 08-13-2003 04:03 AM         

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Your cat got stuck in the laundry dryer while it was running???

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Posts: 4
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Registered: Aug 2003

posted 08-16-2003 09:36 AM         

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21 yr. old Marigold is going to be around for a long while. Total blood workup showed everything in normal range except T4 was twice the upper limit. She is on Tapazole for her thyroid, has perked up and doesn't need to eat so often. Pill feeding is an experience, isn't it? Now, how am I going to get her teeth clean?

(To "Cat": Yes, they said she went through an entire drying cycle when she was young! Burned off her eyebrows.)

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Member

Posts: 85
From:Hamilton, ON, Canada
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 08-16-2003 12:59 PM         

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They have all sorts of cat treats (soft and hard) that are designed to clean teeth, check them out.

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