Little Fred

We are having trouble with Fred's gums again. I was confused after he got some of his teeth pulled, thinking this problem was solved for good. But just after our Padre trip he started eating less and acting really skittish again, and sure enough the vet said his gums looked awful and he needed a steroid shot. Jav and I decided we'd start taking him again every 6 weeks to get a shot. His gums must hurt him really badly, because he stops taking care of himself - no grooming or anything.

Well, he didn't even make it a whole month. The week before last he just stopped eating. It was too painful. He didn't even try a couple of times, and I knew it was really bad this time. I took him in and he had a low-grade fever along with awful looking gums. I asked the vet (a wonderful man named Dr. Robert Norris-we've practically become family because I'm in there so much), what kind of damage the steroid shots could possibly do, especially having them so often. He said eventually Fred could develop liver and heart problems because of them. Sigh. So then I asked about whether pulling out all of his teeth would be psychologically hard, and he told me that because the gums are still really red even where his other teeth were pulled that pulling out all of his teeth wouldn't really make any difference. Sigh. Sigh. (with a few tears at this point). So Fred is pretty much screwed, I asked (not in those words). Yes, there's really no other treatment possibilities for him. More tears. Plus I was supposed to try and give him antibiotics to get his fever down. Good luck with all that!

The next day was Sunday, and I tried to crush the pill and mix it into Fred's food. He took two bites and walked away. I tried a couple of hours later to just poke it in his mouth and rub his throat so he'd swallow it. I thought this worked, but then Molly walked in the room and ate something that must have been the pill. And Fred was terrified and hiding under the bed. At this point I was so despondent I became hard to live with. My Mom helped me by suggesting that I forget about the pill for now and just make sure he starts eating again, and maybe nature will take care of itself and his fever will go down. I calmed down and Fred ate and ate.

Monday I was able to cut the pill in half and sneak it into two servings of Fred's food. And that worked all week long. He's had a great week. We've seen more of him than usual, and he's been playful. His coat looks wonderful too. I have to just take it a day at a time, and be glad that he's feeling good right now.