Cow Is FIV+, Needs Tooth Extraction

In 2016, during his FLUTD treatment, the vet noticed that Cow had a “very bad tooth” on the right side (upper palate). But he said that he would not put Cow under general anaesthesia just to remove the tooth.  He said if Cow had to go on GA for any other procedure, then that tooth should be removed.

I’ve remembered this, but Cow did not have any procedure that needed GA.

Now, with Vincent gone, I’ve learnt that tooth and gum problems can lead to kidney disease. It’s because the body would produce globulins, antibodies that fight infections, but globulins destroy the nephrons in the kidneys and that is how tooth and gum problems lead to kidney disease (and kidney failure and death).

For Vincent’s case, it was inevitable. He had extremely sensitive gums. He never had any tooth problems at all. His teeth were clean, strong and intact. It was his gums. Two-and-half years ago, Vincent went through two tooth extractions simply to “solve” the gum problem (the stomatitis) and the vet had warned that eventually, it would come down to kidney problems. And it did. There was nothing more we could have done.

So, today, I brought Cow to Vincent’s vet for an evaluation. Let’s see just how bad that tooth has become now. And we all know Cow is a warrior. He’s an armoured truck. He shows NO pain, absolutely. He eats very well, and there has been no indication of any pain from him. Well, cats are just resilient, and Cow is in the super tahan lasak category.

He is 13 years old this year.

Waiting for our turn at the clinic.

The vet examined Cow and yes, the tooth is very rotten. It has to be removed. Cow also needs scaling.

Cow weighed 5.7kg (his normal weight).

A blood test was taken and I requested for an FIV/FeLV test as well.

Thankfully, Cow’s kidney and liver readings are all within the normal range. As feared, the globulin reading is high. This is because the rotten tooth is already infected. And yet, our armoured truck shows NO pain.

Iron Cat.

And this was totally unexpected, Cow is FIV+. He is not FeLV+, but FIV+. I did not expect this. He’s been sick before but he recovered quickly. It was Bunny who used to have problems with poor recovery in the early years, but Bunny IS FIV+.

We won’t know if he was born with the FIV or he got it from one of his many street fights when he was a free-roamer in our old neighbourhood. Cow, Bunny and Pole were my first rescues and they were CNRM cats back in our old neighbourhood. Ever since moving here, we kept them totally indoors (since Jan 2012).

Bunny was tested way back because I volunteered him to be a blood donor for a kitten who needed amputation.

So, Cow is FIV+. And we didn’t even know.

An FIV+ Iron Cat.

The plan now is to put Cow on Metrogyl (antibiotics) for the infection for 5 days and the tooth extraction and scaling is scheduled on next Wednesday. Then, another 5 days of Metrogyl post-op.

The two brothers – they fight, but Cow cares for Bunny. He gets very worried whenever Bunny is not within sight.

Pilling Cow is going to be a challenge.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2019/03/21/cow-is-fiv-needs-tooth-e..

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