Indy Goes To The Vet (mouth Ulcers)

For the past ten days or so, Indy had been showing symptoms of gum problems. He would be eating and all of a sudden, he would jerk away, run off and spit out thick saliva.

It reminded me of Vincent’s exact symptoms in 2016 when it was diagnosed as stomatitis. We tried various treatments for Vincent’s case and it eventually led to two tooth extractions. There is no cure for stomatitis as the gums are just too reactive (for Vincent’s case), so we have been managing his condition for the last two years. Once in a while, Vincent still drools and that’s when I would give him Plague Off. We’ve been managing it so far and as long as Vincent can still eat, it’s good enough.

So, when Indy started displaying the same symptoms (the jerking and running off), I thought Indy had stomatitis as well. Indy has always had some gum problem, even years ago.

For Indy, it has been on and off. Some days, he is okay and some days, he displays the symptoms.

Yesterday, Indy didn’t want to eat his home-cooked or canned food anymore.  I gave him blended raw food (Cubgrub) and thankfully, he licked it all up. At other times, he wanted kibble. This is rather surprising as one would think kibble, being hard, might irritate the gums even more? But Indy could eat kibble. I thought he just swallowed it whole, but no, I heard him crunching the pellets.

Strange…

Licking up raw food. I laced it with Plague Off hoping this might help.

Eating kibble during snack time.

Other than the eating problem, which is probably due to his gums, Indy seemed okay in other aspects.

Normal behaviour.

In any case, we didn’t want to take any chances, so we made an appointment at the vet’s. Before that, I searched through Indy’s medical history. Besides being rescued in 2008 in a critical condition, Indy was also critically ill in Dec 2011, resulting in being hospitalised. He fell sick again in Apr 2012 (same symptoms but not so critical) and he had fevers in May 2014 and Aug 2015. Each time, the vets didn’t really know what was wrong specifically. He was treated with antibiotics and recovered.

This time, it appears to be a gum or mouth problem. I could only hope that that’s all it is, and not some “mysterious” condition…again.

So, off we went to the vet’s this morning. Upon examining him, the vet said both his lymph nodes (at the throat) were enlarged. The vet also found an ulcer located just above the teeth, on the gums. So, Indy has an ulcer. The treatment for ulcers is to go on antibiotics so the vet prescribed Stomorgyl (specifically for infections around the teeth sockets (periodontitis)).

Indy was nervous at the clinic.

And he was also whining all the way in the car.

Since Indy isn’t exactly easy to pill, I requested help from the vet to give him the first dose. The half tablet was quite big and as the vet tried to pill Indy, he saw more ulcers and these were located at the back of Indy’s mouth. These ulcers looked pretty bad too.

So, it is primarily an ulcer problem.

Poor Indy…no wonder he hadn’t been able to eat. It must hurt quite bad when he swallows, and yet, our stoic masked hero tried to eat whenever he could.

The first attempt at pilling Indy failed as he spat out the half pill. Along with that, he gagged as well.

So, we attempted again, and this time, the vet used the pill popper.

It worked.

I have not used the pill popper before.

If anyone has any tips on how to use it effectively, would deeply appreciate your sharing as Indy is a very crafty cat who is known to “hide” the pill and go spit it out somewhere else…later.

The vet also suggested that perhaps Indy has associated the taste of the home-cooked and canned foods with his ulcer pain, so that is why he chooses not to eat it.  I think this is very true as he would sniff at the food and turn away.

So for now, he is still okay with kibble and the vet said to give him any type of food that he wants and is able to eat.

We came home and I decided to try Primal, just for some variety. I soaked some Primal in water and offered it to Indy.

Yes, he ate it all up – two helpings!

So, at least we have options now – kibble and Primal.

We hope this first round of antibiotics will resolve the problem. If not, it’s either another round of antibiotics or steroid therapy.

Let’s hope this first round of treatment works.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2018/07/14/indy-goes-to-the-vet-mou..

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