# And down the snake we go...



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Pippin-cat has had a snuffle for a couple of months, never quite getting better, never quite getting worse. He went through a few days of feeling very poorly at the start, but a thorough vet examination and blood tests found nothing significant. When the sneezing got worse he had a course of antibiotics, but the one sided slight snuffle continued. This weekend I went away for a few days on a long planned trip to see my sisters - you can imagine my horror when I got back today to be met by Pippin dripping blood from eye and nostril! The vets managed to squeeze us in almost immediately, and the probable diagnosis is a tooth abscess that has ruptured into the sinus below the eye. Poor Pip must have been in a lot of pain, even with his daily metacam, but he has been behaving very much as usual and eating reasonably well, and there really haven't been any signs that even I, a confirmed catastrophist, could get worried by.

He has had a long lasting AB shot so I don't have to hurt him by opening his mouth for tablets, and will get a check later in the week when we can discuss the next steps. It will be a complex extraction, even if only the one tooth is affected, but knowing how much dental surgery can improve quality of life I'm hoping there won't be any reasons not to do it.

And Poppy slipped on the steps from my sister's back door and ricked her shoulder, so is back on minimal walking for a while. She was weight bearing almost immediately and has recovered considerably in the last 24 hours, but in the game of snakes and ladders that is caring for ageing animals I feel we have slid back several dozen squares!


----------



## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Oh no! Poor guys!


----------



## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

I hadn't framed what Mia is experiencing in terms of Snakes and Ladders, but it does have that feel... elation when she pounces on my shoes with a playful smile, sorrow when she looks sore and unsettled, but mostly gratitude that I can still offer comfort in the form of massages, tasty food, lie-downs in the shade, and best of all, working from home.


----------



## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Wishing your pups well


----------



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

(((((gentle hugs)))))) I hope all is well with everyone soon.


----------



## Porkchop (Sep 2, 2019)

That would be very alarming to come home to. Yikes. I’m sorry you’re having a snakes (chutes?) moment right now with your animals. I hope you have a nice long ladder coming up soon.


----------



## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Ohhhh noooo  What a shock that must have been. Poor Pippin. Maybe Poppy will share her yummy chicken with him? Hope the coming days are better.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

It certainly was a shock, like something out of a horror movie - and I felt horribly guilty about how much pain Pippin must have been in with an abscess forming all these weeks, but there really weren't any symptoms until this weekend. He's getting lots of small bowls of yummy food, trying to find the best balance between low phosphorus for his kidneys and high palatability.

Poppy is still rather lame - the tricky bit is stopping her jumping down when something interesting happens and jarring her shoulder. I shall have to go back to keeping a leash on her in the house for a while. There's not much point in taking her to the vet at this point - she can't take pain killers and doesn't seem to be in any pain most of the time in any case, and operating is out of the question for anything that is not immediately life threatening, so the prescription would be rest and slowly increased exercise.


----------



## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Another day in the life...hoping for 🌈's soon.


----------



## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

fjm, I am sending you lots of hugs. Cats teeth are a tricky thing, bleeding eye and nose are horrifying, I hope they can get Pippin sorted quickly without issue, I had a few elderly cats that managed to fly through dental without issue. I have a soft spot for older kitties and have had more than a few, kust realize cats hide any illness and injury, so don't worry you might have missed something they are masters of mystery.
As for Poppy, fingers crossed she mends quickly.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I took Pip for a follow up at the vets this morning - they are rather concerned at the continued swelling and discharge, and have given me another AB for 8 days. If it is an abscess it should improve pretty quickly; if it does not it indicates something more sinister. Fortunately the new tablets are palatable enough he eats them like treats, and he is reasonably OK in himself. He has bounced back so often that I am hoping it is readily treatable but his quality of life is not brilliant even without this, and if it is a tumour it is going to mean hard decisions sooner rather than later. We will see whether the new ABs work, and take it from there.

One bright spot was a carful of the most gorgeous 8 week old golden retriever puppies in for their first vaccinations. I couldn’t cuddle them of course but talked to them through the window and they were sheer delight!


----------

