*Sighs*...Roo Again

[Tambrey]

Well, Roo is getting an all expenses paid (by me) rest in the luxurious kennel at our local veterinarian for the next 24 hours....

He started in with that darned ear again lastnight...the one he ended up with a hematoma on from scratching at it...by this morning the best way I can describe his behavior is that he was trying to run away from himself...

no earmites before, or this time, but there is a buildup that keeps coming back...he kept taking swabs and looking again and again under the scope...both ears...nothing except gunk...so he is going to treat as a bacterial problem and has had to order in a medication and darned if I can remember now what it is...he said it is expensive so he does not normally keep it on hand, but it is also the only thing that he found to keep the bacterial infection out of his own cats ears...
I remember that he said it has gentavid in it, but there is something else which is the main ingredient...if I read or heard it, I would know right away....does it begin with an M?!....

Roo also had SEVEN bad teeth, so they got removed while I was there...

The vet had to put him in a twilight sleep just to look in his ears, as it took me a 20 minutes bloody hand battle to get him into the carrier....
So he decided that after seeing the teeth, to just go ahead and take them right away....

I guess I will be buying another weeks worth of canned food for Roo...I swear, my pantry shelf has more canned cat food now than human food!!

Traci....any ideas on WHY it seems that the cats are all having bad teeth?! I only feed dry kibble...once they reach adult, I do feed Purina Indoor Only...I know it is not the best, but it is what we can afford for 10 cats at this time...and it si better than some, unless you can recommend something comparably priced for them....
Elsewise, we are stumped as to why within the last 6 months or so, 4 cats have had teeth pulled....true...Gypsy is OLD, Gump is getting there, so is Cuddles, but Roo is only about 5 years old...

[Traci]

Did the vet rule out food allergies? Or pseudomona?

[Tambrey]

No, we did not talk about food allergies...I can ask when I pick Roo tomorrow afternoon..gotta go look up pseudomona!

[Traci]

A pseudomona is like an infection within an infection, they are very hard to treat and resolve. It could also be a yeast infection or inner ear infection.

In addition to type of food, hereditary factors, age, and stomatitis (infection and inflammation or viral cause) can lead to decay...ideally, they should be getting yearly oral exams and cleanings once a year if necessary. Regular cleanings help slow down plaque and tarter and decay. Isn't it Roo who has the sinus problems/tooth formation problems?

Purina isn't a bad food per se, but if you've seen more dental problems since you started feeding it, then it would of course be more cost effective to choose a more quality diet (feeding better quality food with regular dental care would keep the dental/extraction costs down considerably).

[Tambrey]

I would not say I have seen a decline since I have used it...this is all I have fed for probably 4 or 5 years now, without change...yet it is within the last 6 months that suddenly I have 3 cats that need teeth extracted...

I did not pick up the ear meds that the one doctor prescribed, because I was looking at the box to see how much to put in...the drops came in while both vets were out and the office girl had no idea how much....and I noticed it had printed on it, "For Dogs Only" so she took it back and was going to ask the other vet why this would be prescribed for a cat...
It is momenticin, or something like that?....

Yes...Roo is the one who had the extra fangs and ongoing sinus issues...I did talk some with the vet about that as well...right now he wanted to get the bad teeth out....get the ear under control/tolerable...then do whatever we need to do from there to figure out what it is...

But in the meantime....I have Gump acting the same way with his ear....AARRGGHHHHHH....I can see a trip to the vet hospital in the city with at least one of them to figure out WHAT is going on with ears....it is definitely NOT mites...that has been ruled out for sure...so earmite medicine will not work on whatever this is, and no sense putting it in if it will aggravate the issue....

[mamabear]

Hugs for Roo and possibly Gump

[Marty]

Tambrey, I just looked at the insert that comes with mometamax, and even there it doesn't say anything about cats, so you were right to question it. But I just wanted to say that we have been dealing with pseudomona in Biscotti (dog) for a long time, and I think we finally have it controlled. Her new Vet said that after the initial treatment, to continue using the drops once a week, and it seems to be working. No goopy, smelly ears for almost a year now! You might want to ask about that if the infections seem to be recurring.

[Tambrey]

I am so glad Biscotti has her ears finally under control....

Thank you for the correct name....I knew I was close!!...I was able to google it and came to petmeds.com...not that I could buy from there....but I wanted to see what IS available for cats to ask the other vet about....
There is quite a list of meds to choose from....I don't know why this one for dogs only was recommended....

Zymox otic looks like it covers a variety of things related to ears...but not knowing WHAT it is exactly...I would like to get a swab in to a lab somewhere and find out just what we are dealing with....it seems to be "catching" since Gump is now showing the same symptoms as Roo....

[Tambrey]

Roo finally forgave me....he just crawled from the desk into my arms and curled up like he does, nuzzling his nose in my ear and under my hair....

[kehorner]

It's always good when they forgive you for such an egregious offense as taking them to the vet. Hope you can get them healthy soon!