random amusements

"Why did Dr. Halaburt give me a pink bandage?!"

Thumper and the vet

I just want to remind everyone that although being a very "pretty" cat, Thumper is a BOY.

And I found out an interesting fact yesterday, when we picked Thumpy up from the vet. The tech told us that the pain medication we've been forcing down his throat with a syringe is chicken flavored.

Think about that. Chicken-flavored pain medication for cats. On the one hand, it's brilliant. On the other hand, this could very easily lead to kitty addictions. Of course, this was where my imagination took it and ran…

Thumper: Hey, I think I need more of that chicken liquid…
Me: No, you're only supposed to have it every three days.
Thumper: Hasn't it been three days already?
Me: Nope.
Thumper: Are you sure?
Me: Yes.
Thumper: But I really think I need some chicken liquid…
Me: Not yet.
Thumper: I want the chicken liquid!
Me: No.
Thumper: Give me the chicken liquid!!!
Me: No. Not yet.
Thumper: Mrrrrrrr!!!!!! Rrrrowr!!!!



The full history behind this is that I've had Thumper for 12 years—it'll be 13 this August (happy anniversary, kitty!)—and although he is still not acting his age, his teeth were starting to go bad. For the past few years, we've been taking him to the vet to have a kitty dental cleaning once a year, but recently, that has not been enough to keep his gums healthy.

Since I found him as a stray, he has had some digestive issues which prevent him from eating any dry, crunchy cat food. As a result, he gets tartar build-up on his teeth, his gums get irritated, and he gets infections. Similar to how people can get gingivitis and/or abscessed teeth. But you can't tell a cat to brush and floss. Well, not successfully, anyhow.

The only real solution has been to have his bad teeth extracted. So over the past, oh, five years or so, he has had to forfeit teeth in order to stay healthy. This time, recognizing his age and increased risk with anesthetic, we decided to have the majority of his teeth taken out. That may sound like a drastic move, but for a strictly indoor cat who can't eat crunchy food anyway, it's the most logical way to prevent dental problems and infections.

Maybe I'm just writing this to convince myself because I have been a freakin' nervous wreck since last Friday night when I saw a little drop of blood on his lip and thought his jaw looked swollen…but now that he's eating so much more than he had been, I think it was definitely the right decision.

When I first rescued Thumper, I made him a promise that I'd always take care of him. I intend to keep that promise forever.




Thumper in the "meatloaf" posture.