Rags' Dental on September 23, 2008

On September 23, 2008 Rags went in for yet another dental. I say this because he just had a dental on April 22, 2008.

I had called Claudia Barton of Texas A&M University last week to thank her for her help in developing a chemotherapy protocol for Rags’ Lymphoma. In December 2005, the doctors had only given him 4-12 months to live if he had chemo (only 4-8 weeks to live if he didn't) and it’s been nearly three years—so she must have done something right! So I called to thank her and then told her about him pawing at his mouth (you can watch the you tube video where he does this) as I wondered if it was a side effect of the chemo drugs at all.

She said that is was probably Feline Oral Resorptive Lesions (FORLs) that were causing him to do this and cause this discomfort.

So I got in contact with Rags’ vet, Mariposa Veterinary Center . Dr. Chappell recommended that I call Companion Animal Dentistry of Kansas City and talk to Dr. Susan Crowder. Dr. Chappell recommended a specialty clinic for Rags because of his age (he’s 19), his problem and because Dr. Crowder uses a gas anesthetic to put animals under, which is a much safer anesthetic than other ones (because it is easier to bring them back if something should go wrong). Dr. Crowder was kind enough to let me come back in the back and watch some of the procedure and take some photos. She was also kind enough to send me the jpegs of the x-rays she took, showing his lesions. Thanks to Dr. Crowder for making this webpage a bit more interesting with pictures!