feeling sad

I have been holding out hope that the Zithromax would work on Cali's juvenile gingivitis. Sadly, after 2 weeks, it doesn't seem to have made a difference. She is maturing into such a beautiful cat. The thought of having to pull her teeth makes me incredibly sad. I'm also sad that she will be gone for a short time back to her breeder to have the procedure done (but grateful the breeder is taking care of it!). I will miss our sweet girl while she is gone. I think Cali is the sweetest cat I have ever known. She has gotten so good about taking her pill every evening. She will even come in the kitchen to remind me to give it to her. I just open her mouth and put it in and she swallows it down. I need to take some new pictures.

Son tries to hold on to an armful of Maine Coon

Heath is doing well

Coon Care

It's been a lazy Sunday morning. I didn't make it to church. I've been watching and playing with the kitties. One of the things I do with the Coon kitties is to fit in grooming as fun time. I will generally try to keep claws trimmed about once a week. I do it when they are asleep. Okay, they start out asleep. Cali particularly likes to to chew on the toenails scissors that I use, which makes the actual trimming kind of tricky.  Brushing is also a game. They play with the brush while I try to actually get some brushing done. This does lead to pleasant associations with grooming. They think all my grooming tools are toys! Heath is willing to stand on the grooming table and let me groom him for treats. I think his new nickname is Hobbit. For his eating habits, not his size. He likes breakfast, and second breakfast, and elevens, brunch, lunch, second lunch....

Cali's dental issues are still unresolved. This situation is causing me quite a bit a stress figuring out what to do.  The breeder will take care of things if it comes to having extractions done. The problem is that I'm not at all sure the current gingivitis warrants extracting all her teeth. I've decided to have my local dental vet specialist take a look this week and give a second opinion. Meanwhile, it is obvious that dental care for both Coons needs to be a priority. Both kitties are learning to get their teeth brushed. Cali is much more tolerant of the process than Heath is! Right now I'm still trying to get them used to handling around their mouth and just letting me put some oral cleaning gel on their teeth with my finger. My vet shared some great info with me on dental issues like Cali is having. I'm just going to share these links for anyone interested in more information.

Here is a general article on dental care. This Canadian vet has written many articles on dental issues and care and has a great website. This is the article my vet shared with me. For a video on teaching your cat to accept tooth brushing, Cornell University has a good site.

It's hard to get the computer away from mom so I can watch my videos!