Advice about my furbaby *** update

themuffinman16

My cat is a fatty. He would eat a Buick if I put it in his food dish.  This cat, usually, has insatiable hunger.  Friday, I noticed he wasn't eating a lot.  It is hard to tell because my FI feeds him after I feed him. this cat mooches off the both of us and pretends he is starving.  My FI has not been home a lot and I don't think he had time to feed the cat. I have, but it seems like he is not eating. 

   Today, I told FI to not feed the cat, anymore. I will be the only one to feed him to check and see if he is eating enough.  I was gone all day.  He has barely touched his food. When  got home, I gave him wet food, and he ate that, almost instantly. Unfortunately, I know what this means.  He probably has a bad tooth that he needs pulled.  My cat finally, let me look in his mouth and his one tooth is red at the gum line. Should I bring him in to the vet on Sunday, or do you think this could wait until monday.  I don't want him getting sicker, but I don't even know that a cat that specializes in dentistry is available on the weekend (yes there is such a thing.)  I don't want my cat in pain, and I do not want this probably getting worse, but it will cost thousands more to treat him if I go to an emergency appt.

  Do any of you knotties have advice you can give me? I am hoping someone here is in veterinary studies or has had personal experience. This cat is my world.

MamaAlly89

I think you cat would probably be ok until Monday, but I am not an expert. Whenever our furbabies have something wrong with them we usually just call the vet and ask their opinion on the situation. They are usually pretty straight up with us about things. I would try calling the emergency vet and see if they think you need to bring him right away.

Ven&Radio

I think you're good to wait until Monday.  One of our cats recently had gingivitis that required oral surgery and the vet even told us it didn't need to be treated immediately (they actually suggested we wait for their "dental awareness month" for a discount on the procedure).  I'd just make sure your kitty gets some extra wet food today if that's what he can eat comfortably (you could also try moistening dry food to soften it up). 

charlottesmom0626

Wait until Monday. You can give him baby aspirin for the pain... The recommended dosage for cats is 5 mg per pound of body weight every 48 to 72 hours. A baby aspirin given every three days is a typical safe cat dose. It should only be given with food and not on an empty stomach.

RebeccaFlower

Do you have an emergency call line? I called ours once and they told me to wait until Monday and it didn't cost me anything. 

Hope he's feeling better soon!

emmyg65

I'd wait till Monday. I've spent way too much money on vet bills to rush to the vet anymore.

pinkshorts27

taylorann0626 said:

Wait until Monday. You can give him baby aspirin for the pain...

The recommended dosage for cats is 5 mg per pound of body weight every 48 to 72 hours. A baby aspirin given every three days is a typical safe cat dose. It should only be given with food and not on an empty stomach.

As the fiancee of a family of veterinarians, please don't self medicate your animals, especially your cats, unless you are told by a vet that you can. Animals, and for some reason especially cats, metabolize drugs differently and some human pain killers are poisonous to them and they obviously have much smaller doses than humans. If you think it needs pain killers, call a vet office and ask what is ok to give your cat and what dose. FI has seen way too many poisoned animals from owners thinking ibuprofen, Tylenol, and aspirin were fine to give and not paying attention to doses for me to not say something about that.

I just tried to get ahold of FI and couldn't, but I think you are good until Monday. Just feed kitty wet food. When my dog cracked her tooth, we had to wait a week for the surgery.

beethery

As long as he keeps eating wet food, just take him Monday. If he stops eating, then you have an emergency.

what PinkShorts said is right too.

pinkshorts27

beethery said:

As long as he keeps eating wet food, just take him Monday. If he stops eating, then you have an emergency.

what PinkShorts said is right too.

This too. Cats can be affected by lack of food a lot quicker than other animals, if I remember what FI told me.

jnrsgirl

I would not recommend giving the cat pain killers. I have had too many pets come into our vet office sick from overdoses or being given meds that are not ok for pets.

If you have to wait for the vet, you can always get a little clove essential oil and rub it on the cats gums. It is a natural antiseptic and will help with pain. It won't taste good though. The cat will likely hate it.

LabLove86

As a Vet Tech I can tell you that PP are correct - as long as he is eating the canned food then that is a good sign and I would generally tell someone who called during emergency hours that it would be OK to wait until monday. Cats do get some crazy dental disease and it is possible that he may need some dental care but as someone who works on Emergency hours at an animal clinic we will ALMOST never do an emergency dental. I have done one - and it was a unique case. Most of the time the vets actually like for the patients to be on some antibiotics and/or pain meds for at least 2-3 days before treating anyway - of course every case is individual. 

If he is eating his soft food then he might be in a little bit of discomfort but not unbearable pain. Is he drooling or dropping his food?? If either of those are happening then I might call one of the clinics around us (you're in the Buffalo area right? If you PM me I can give you the clinics we generally recommend on weekends in your area) and see about getting some pain meds/abx started - but as @pinkshorts27 said I wouldn't self medicate your cat without talking to a veterinarian - preferably his veterinarian about this for the correct dose.

As far as the eating goes - I would be more concerned if he wasn't eaten the canned food at all - especially for an overweight cat. Cats in general develop liver issues quickly (fatty deposits in the liver that essentially make it impossible for the organ to function correctly - hepatic lipidosis) if they are not eating AT ALL. It happens much quicker in overweight/obese cats - but they would have to not be eating at all for 2-3 days before this would happen, generally anyway - so like I said - if he is eating the canned food still I would think from what I've read that he would be ok until tomorrow morning when you can call your vet. 

If he stops eating or changes his behavior at all otherwise though I would take him in today. The teeth may be the primary issue, or it may be secondary to something else happening that you would would only know about after a checkup from your Veterinarian. 

Good luck! Keep us updated! 

themuffinman16

Crisis averted. It turns out my cat just did not like that batch of cat food.  I don't know if it was bad lighting but his gums do not seem red at all, today. I saw an ant crawl in his food dish, and I think he lost his appetite over it. I washed out his dry cat food dish and threw away the old cat food, and killed the couple of ants I saw. He is now shoving his face at the bottom of his food dish that says "FAT ASS."  I will monitor him closely to make sure he is all right. I will take him to the vet, anyway, to get his teeth cleaned. Thank you all for your support. Finickiest cat ever.. but I love him to pieces!

theartistformerlyknownas

themuffinman16 said:

Crisis averted. It turns out my cat just did not like that batch of cat food.  I don't know if it was bad lighting but his gums do not seem red at all, today. I saw an ant crawl in his food dish, and I think he lost his appetite over it. I washed out his dry cat food dish and threw away the old cat food, and killed the couple of ants I saw. He is now shoving his face at the bottom of his food dish that says "FAT ASS."  I will monitor him closely to make sure he is all right. I will take him to the vet, anyway, to get his teeth cleaned. Thank you all for your support. Finickiest cat ever.. but I love him to pieces!

He also might have tried to eat an insect and gotten bitten or stung on his gum, but it's healed by now. Glad he's ok!