We've created a monster

Merus's gingivitis came back with a fury.  The previous vet (Dr. O), who did her extractions in June, was either unable or unwilling to figure out why the screams and food sensitivity and weight loss secondary to not eating were occurring again.  So she's seeing a new vet (Dr. P).

The difference is significant.

Instead of limiting the evaluation to a 2 second glimpse in her mouth that sends her screaming off into the corner in pain, Dr. P sedated her to get an actual and thorough look at the entirety of her mouth.  Findings: continued raging gingivitis and some ulcer-like lesions on her gums secondary to infection, weight had dropped to 6.8 pounds (she was 9 pounds when first adopted in June 2011, 7.5 pounds after her extractions in June 2012), and significant dehydration (skin tenting! gah!).  She got an IV while she was out to rehydrate.  Instead of a pain med via oral liquid 2 to 3 times per day (buprenex, which makes her live in an opioid fog, not to mention is time sensitive and thus lapses with pain breakthrough because of being gone at work and/or from her hiding where I couldn't find her - can you tell I wasn't a fan?) on top of an oral antibiotic, we now have a long lasting pain shot performed in office and a once daily oral antibiotic.

I never knew a 30-day lasting pain shot existed.  I would have laughed in your face if you had claimed such before this.  But it works.  Magnificently.  It's not meant to be a human convenience.  Rather, it makes SO much more sense in terms of maintaining good pain control for an animal.  They don't understand the idea of a medication schedule, or the importance of consuming the entire therapeutic dose.  Now instead of 4 or 5 oral affronts per day to allow her to eat, Merus has only one antibiotic dosage per day.  BIG difference when their mouths are the source of pain and the method of medication administration. 

The other difference is Dr. P's office recommended using baby food so that it is super smooth.  I'd been mashing wet food to smithereens with water added to try to make it easy to lap up, but with mixed results.  Baby food is ridiculously smooth.  And our cheap-and-crusty-but-nearby grocery stores carry a few meat in meat gravy purees varieties.

The combination of everything has worked so well, in fact, that it has created a monster.  Sadie will start meowing for food within an hour or so of feeding time.  Now Merus will meow all day long.  Walk by the kitchen area?  Mrrrowww.  Stand up from the bed (the farthest away you can be in this apartment from the kitchen)?  Mrrrowww.  Change out laundry loads from the washer?  Mrrrowww.

Look up from your computer?  Mrrrowww.  

Phone rings?  Mrrrowww.

Pick up your soup spoon while eating lunch at work 1.2 miles away?  Mrrrowww.

Turn over in your sleep?  Mrrrowww.

Her meals are ~150 calories per meal since she is underweight.  For reference, an 8 lbs cat needs ~115 per meal to maintain weight.  And yet no matter the calories or the volume consumed she is friggin' insatiable.  The litter box is all kinds of extra stinky these days.

After dinner last night I heard glass clinking while in the bedroom.  Investigation found this:

Nathan has pulled her out of the bin not five minutes later.  Cute that he thought placing a towel over the top would deter her.  

We are just starting the second week of the two-week antibiotic course.  We go in for a check up on Monday so see how things have progressed and to decide what the next course should be.  My guess is significant interventions will be needed, because while she was sedated at the first visit Dr. P did the blood work necessary prior to surgery.  But that will be determined in time.

For now I just have to deal with having two Bad Cats....