...Piglet tales

I've been overwhelmed the last couple of days...
with "opportunities to trust God for everything"...
some I've shared...
some I haven't...until now...

most of you know that I have a family of aging felines...
with aging... comes challenges...
for human AND feline...
[but that's about 25 other posts...]

I love all my kitties...
but Fluff & Piglet share my bedroom...
so we have more "opportunities"...
to interact on a nightly basis...

cats can have immune system problems...
and Piglet has developed lesions in her mouth...
due to an immune system problem...

her mouth gets very sore...
she tries to eat...
but ends up crying & pawing at her mouth...
trying to stop the burning pain...
searing her gums and soft palette...

when it's bad, she gets very clingy, wanting to be held...
looking at me, her eyes pleading for relief...
so, of course I took her to the vet...
about a month ago, when it first flared up...

he gave her a steroid shot...
AND an antibiotic shot...
[the bacteria in her mouth cause the lesions to become infected...]
he also gave me antibiotic drops for her to take...

I wasn't looking forward to medicating her...
she is a terrible patient...
[he had to sedate her just to fully inspect her mouth...]
but she surprised me with her willingness to take her medicine...
and we went through the entire bottle...

she seemed much better...she was eating...
and her old self-centered, mouthy self again...

but only a few days after the medicine was gone...
I could tell that her mouth was hurting her again...
she was crying, pawing at her mouth...
and NOT eating much...

when she tried to eat... she'd take a bite or so...
then jump back, cry in pain & paw at her mouth...
so I went & got MORE medicine...
which at first she took without complaint...
then, it must have irritated the lesions...
because she would run from me when I tried to give her some...
and was eating less & becoming pitiful...

so, back we went...

I assumed that she would have to be sedated again...
[he had mentioned pulling some teeth...
to alleviate the bacterial problem...]
so I left her overnight...

when I went yesterday to pick her up...
I was surprised that he had not sedated her...
and pulled some teeth...
he had just given her another steroid shot...

after discussing her case with him...
I understood why he hadn't pulled the teeth...
he explained that his father was a dentist...
and since her teeth weren't diseased...
he just couldn't bring himself to pull them...
even though cats do just fine without teeth...

he's attending a seminar this weekend...
on cat immune system problems at UCDavis...
and if it seems that pulling her teeth...
to remove the source of bacteria which feed the irritations...
causing the lesions... is the only treatment...
then he has a friend who is a veterinary dentist...
who will come in and do all her extractions at once...

until then... every 2 to 4 weeks...
she'll have to have a steroid shot...
to reduce the inflammation of the lesions...
and take the Clindomiacin to keep the infection at bay...

what's bothering me the most is that there is no cure...
we can only try to slow the immune system breakdown...

not the prognosis I would chose for my silly friend...

but for now, I'm thankful for this much hope...

and am grateful for the relief Piglet is feeling today...
as she ate without pain... took her medicine...
and has been happily prowling outside all morning...

God is good...