The De-Vamping of Fang

When we got Fang, one of the first things we did was take her to vet. We wanted to make sure that we understood what was involved with having an older cat. That was when we learned first that she was much older than what the adoption place told us. And second that her cute Fangs would probably have to come out.

We made sure to take lots of pictures the night before her surgery.

It turns out that the reason Fang's teeth hang so low are because they are abscessed. Her mouth was full of black teeth, and the vet was surprised to find out that she could even eat hard food. He warned us that those teeth might be affecting her sinuses, and were probably giving her a lot of pain. Oh yeah, and that the price to get all of this done would be around $400.

Well at the time, that just wasn't an option. We had just gone through a month of living in a new state without having any jobs. And while I had just landed a pretty great gig, we were trying to pay down all of the credit card debt that had accompanied our move. I knew that Fang certainly didn't seem in pain. She was happy as could be, and had no problems eating hard food. I resolved that we would wait until we had a little more money to spare, and would just keep an eye on her eating.

Well three years later, we figured it was about time to get it done. February is pet dental health month, in case you didn't know...and our vet had a 10% off dental work promotion. Not to mention the tax return had just come in. So this Tuesday, Fang went in to get her teeth cleaned/pulled.

I was pretty nervous about it all day. She got dropped off early in the morning, and of course they make you sign paperwork that warns you it is possible for death to occur. (gulp!) But our vet is wonderful and he kept assuring me that this was necessary and should greatly improve her quality of life.

All in all the old girl had four teeth removed. 2 of course, were her signature fangs. I suppose now her name is more of an ironic name. Like when people name Great Danes Tiny. But she truly does seem to be happy. The vet gave us pain killers, but said she might not need them at all. Just having the teeth removed should be making her feel better. He also said that clearly her teeth and mouth disorders were genetic and somewhere along the line may be linked to being a carrier of feline herpes. To be honest I wasn't really paying attention, I was just so happy to have my kitty safe and sound.

Her eyes are still pretty dilated in this picture, and she kept poking that tongue out.

So that was the De-Vamping of Fang. I feel pretty guilty for waiting so long to get it done. There were definitely some selfish elements to my waiting....I never did get that picture of her in a vampire cape. But I have to say, even without the fangs...she's just as cute.