Hello senior kitties crew! I have been a long time reader (and crier) looking at the photos and reading the stories on here of our beloved senior companions. I’m very anxious writing this and any words of advice or comfort very welcome. My girl (Puka) is booked in for a tooth removal tomorrow. She is 17ish. She has been clanking and grinding her teeth and pawing at her mouth after eating recently and in the last few days has eaten much less and is more grumpy than usual. Vet confirmed tooth is decayed and needs to come out. She had this same procedure in April 25 and when I collected her post op the vet said ‘struth it was touch and go there for a minute with those old lungs of hers’. Obviously that rocked me to my core but she recovered perfectly and has been running around happy, eating, engaged and lovely since last April. A different vet is doing her surgery tomorrow, I told him what the other vet said about the lungs and he said he has read her notes and will use a different anaesthetic this time around. I am just so so worried she will not make it, she is my beloved Puka girl and I love her with all my heart. The vet said yes there is risk with old cats but what is the alternative ? You let her just slowly decline from pain? That would be cruel (he is very direct lol) He said there is no antibiotics that will make any difference and pain meds not recommended for her. So I guess it’s for the best she has this surgery but I am petrified she will not cope with the anaesthesia. I will be dropping her off at 9am and picking her up at 3 and I just know tomorrow will be awful and I will be glued to my phone waiting for a call- what should I do tomorrow to keep myself occupied!? We live in New Zealand so it is summer at least. Please pray or manifest a smooth recovery for this beautiful senior girl who has given nothing but love and kindness to everyone she has met, she’s one of those cats that heal parts of you that you didn’t know needed love. Thank you for reading.

Tooth extraction for my 17 year old darling Puka girl