Sometime last week I began to notice Gus wasn't eating very well. He took treats and chowed down on them but he ignored his dinner bowl. However, by morning the bowl would usually be empty, so I assumed that he was getting up at night for a leisurely snack. Evidently, however, Little Itty Bitty Fritty had been enjoying two dinners for some of that time.
Gus' behavior became lethargic and periodically he would whimper just a bit, so I finally gathered him for a hug fest and noticed that he seemed very sensitive around his beard. Opened up his mouth -- and his lower teeth had fallen out and his gum was a bloody mess.
How could we not have noticed that his teeth were rotting right out of his head?
Into the vet he went first thing this morning. He has a gum infection, a least one of his upper teeth is also loose but because he now hurts so bad, the vet wasn't into poking him anymore than necessary. She felt he was having some bone loss in his jaw, however, besides the rotting, falling out teeth.
Poor little mite. He's never snapped at us or his housemate but he must have been in misery for some time. Awful misery, actually. I can't imagine what he has been feeling -- but my own jaws ache in sympathy.
We have to clean up some of the infection before he can have a full dental exam done under anesthesia. We have doses of pills -- not easy to get him to swallow what with his extremely sore mouth. Tonight we gave him pancakes for dinner and he gobbled them down so happily that he never noticed he was swallowing antibiotics, too. Clearly soft food was a delight -- and he was very hungry.
We'll be paying through the nose, of course, for our lapse in health oversight. Today's vet bill was $73. Next week's is probably going to be in the four figure zone. Added to my own recent -- and ongoing -- dental woes, 2007 has been the Year of the Tooth!
1 comment:
Oh Gussie, you poor baby. Hope you feel better soon.
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