Tilda
Active Member
Hi everyone,
I've been watching quietly here since Tilda went into remission over a year ago-- we are still so thankful for all of your help. I posted this today in the CKD Facebook group but trust you all so much that I'd love any advice.
We're trying to make the right decision for our girl but I think we know the answer is doing the dental ASAP if it's possible.
Last weekend Tilda (16 years old) had sudden bad mouth pain and after watching her for a few hours decided to take her to the emergency vet since she was reluctant to eat. I caught it because I heard her gag after eating and saw her frantically pawing at her mouth, using her tongue to push food bits out.
Two vets looked in her mouth and we all didn't see anything (but the usual tartar). In hindsight I noticed she ate less 48 hours before the pain started, her breath has smelled bad for the last 6 months, and she has been dropping food more often. She has had off and on soft stool for a few weeks (we balance constipation with miralax and psyllium). Her kidneys are currently 3.9 creatinine and 54.9 BUN -- creatinine was 3.4 in November, 3.0 in April, 3.4 the prior year...so up and down a little and the vet says "stable". BG has been under 100 except once at the vet during stress.
She's now on bupe every 12 hours and is eating very thinned food which I'm tracking closely-- I believe she's getting enough calories but a little less than she usually eats. Other than the occasional pain when eating (she tilts her head, moves her tongue as if she's moving food away from her molars, grinds her teeth) she is acting herself-- no loafing, chirping, grooming.
We were fortunate to see a dental specialist for a consult on Thursday and are waiting to hear back from the Dr. and anesthesiologist to see if she's a candidate for anesthesia. They are ok with us waiting a little longer to monitor her and I feel she would be in good hands there. We cannot let her be in pain or not eat. But I'm obviously terrified.
She had a dental two years ago (and one prior) and has a history of needing teeth removed. She did well last time.
Pending approval for anesthesia, we have a few options:
Do the dental ASAP and hope it resolves the pain and hope that it doesn't damage her kidneys further.
Postpone the dental (months? they said 6 months would be OK) with pain management and watch her closely. We'd redo bloodwork then. Obviously we risk her kidneys getting worse with this option.
Do a sedated CT as a low risk option to see what's happening before jumping into anesthesia.
Thank you all
I've been watching quietly here since Tilda went into remission over a year ago-- we are still so thankful for all of your help. I posted this today in the CKD Facebook group but trust you all so much that I'd love any advice.
We're trying to make the right decision for our girl but I think we know the answer is doing the dental ASAP if it's possible.
Last weekend Tilda (16 years old) had sudden bad mouth pain and after watching her for a few hours decided to take her to the emergency vet since she was reluctant to eat. I caught it because I heard her gag after eating and saw her frantically pawing at her mouth, using her tongue to push food bits out.
Two vets looked in her mouth and we all didn't see anything (but the usual tartar). In hindsight I noticed she ate less 48 hours before the pain started, her breath has smelled bad for the last 6 months, and she has been dropping food more often. She has had off and on soft stool for a few weeks (we balance constipation with miralax and psyllium). Her kidneys are currently 3.9 creatinine and 54.9 BUN -- creatinine was 3.4 in November, 3.0 in April, 3.4 the prior year...so up and down a little and the vet says "stable". BG has been under 100 except once at the vet during stress.
She's now on bupe every 12 hours and is eating very thinned food which I'm tracking closely-- I believe she's getting enough calories but a little less than she usually eats. Other than the occasional pain when eating (she tilts her head, moves her tongue as if she's moving food away from her molars, grinds her teeth) she is acting herself-- no loafing, chirping, grooming.
We were fortunate to see a dental specialist for a consult on Thursday and are waiting to hear back from the Dr. and anesthesiologist to see if she's a candidate for anesthesia. They are ok with us waiting a little longer to monitor her and I feel she would be in good hands there. We cannot let her be in pain or not eat. But I'm obviously terrified.
She had a dental two years ago (and one prior) and has a history of needing teeth removed. She did well last time.
Pending approval for anesthesia, we have a few options:
Do the dental ASAP and hope it resolves the pain and hope that it doesn't damage her kidneys further.
Postpone the dental (months? they said 6 months would be OK) with pain management and watch her closely. We'd redo bloodwork then. Obviously we risk her kidneys getting worse with this option.
Do a sedated CT as a low risk option to see what's happening before jumping into anesthesia.
Thank you all
