CXXXVII: Nurse Giosy

For about a month, I've had this nagging guilt in the back of my mind regarding my dear cat, Chiara. I took her for her first vet appointment under my ownership in April and did not get the best news. And on top of that, I wasn't a fan of this vet. Something about her rubbed me and my mom the wrong way. Sure, her office was walking distance from my house, but I decided that next time I would take her where her old owners did.

But it would be worse of me if I ignored what she said completely, so last Wednesday, after Nicky left my house, I decided to sneak a peek and look at Chiara's back teeth to allay my fears. Instead I was faced with real evidence that she does indeed have a problem with her teeth and gums (severe gingivitis). And it sounds so stupid that I'm ranting about a cat's teeth (it sounded even more stupid when I whined about it to some of my coworkers today)...but when you're as inexperienced as I am in pet care, a general worrywart, and mindful of a looming vet bill, these things take centre stage in your otherwise temporarily dull life.

I quickly made an appointment for her to see her old vet on Saturday morning. The verdict was that she did need a dental cleaning and possibly extractions as well.

I drove her to the vet's this morning at 8:00am, went to work, and then picked her up at 5:00pm. Sometime during the morning they phoned me at work to tell me that she would definitely need to get a few teeth extracted. When I came by to get her, the vet told me that he had to take out most of her teeth - now she is only left with her front teeth and canines. Upon looking at the bill I realized that she had had to say goodbye to thirteen teeth. And this vet didn't charge me nearly as much as the other one would have; plus, he seems to be a very caring and sympathetic vet.

Now I am armed with homecare instructions and medicine to get Chiara to heal faster. She's been very good (as usual) and has eaten quite a bit. It reminds me of yours truly when I got all my wisdom teeth taken out (I started eating bread that evening)!

I swear I will not be the woman on Jeopardy who talks about her cat during the interview segment.