The Cat's Whiskers.....Teeth.....Ears.......Claws....and Eyes

Today was a mammoth day in our feline care. Today was our double-header vet's appointment. Both Pandora and Charlie had checkups today.

They have so many niggles at the moment, I have to make a list, so I remember what to say/ask/purchase.

Pandy's List (pink for a girl!)
Check Eyes (she has a blue caste on her aged eyes now, so that is checked quarterly)
Clip claws (she bites!! - and Tim is quicker than me!)
Check tummy (old cystitis problems)
two vials of Feliway (more on that later!)
repeat prescription of Cystaid (one a day keeps her cystitis at bay - mostly!)
Well, she got a clean bill of health, nothing much wrong with her - and she purred at Tim through most of the appointment!

Charlie's List (Blue for a boy!)
Check Eyes (he has PPM - see below)
Check teeth (why aren't his teeth growing?)
Pre-neutering check (woo hoo! nearly time!)
Blood test (diabetes is always a worry with cats)
Earmites (shudder)
Charlie is not quite so straightforward as the Old Woman above!
He has PPMs - Persistent Pupillary Membranes on his eyes.
During the embryological development of the eye, the iris initially forms as a solid sheet of mesodermal tissue. This is called the pupillary membrane. Later on, some of this mesodermal tissue dissipates, and this results in the formation of the pupil.
Sometimes, after birth, a few of these fine strands of pupillary membrane remain. It is not unusual to see such pupillary membrane remnants in 6-to-8 week old puppies, however, if they persist beyond this age they are then are described as persistent pupillary membranes (PPM) and are considered to be defect.
The most common manifestation of Persistent Pupillary Membrane is a fine strand of pigmented tissue which arises from the iris collarette and attaches to another spot on the iris. Sometimes the strand will cross the opening of the pupil. In more serious cases, the PPM arises from the iris and attaches either the the lens - where it may produce a cataract, or to the inner surface of the cornea - resulting in corneal damage, scarring or persistent corneal edema. In the latter cases, impairment of vision may occur.
Charlie has one of the former and one of the latter - so he gets regular eye checks. As you can see, PPMs are mostly found in dogs (basenji, mastiff, corgi and chow chow predominantly) but sometimes in cats.
Teeth - wow, yet again we have had to reassess Charlie's age! At five months (latest guesstimate) he should have his adult teeth coming through, but he has lots of gaps, lots of baby teeth and no adult teeth - so he is no more than four months old. Tim says he is MASSIVE! Gonna be a big old ginger puss at this rate. It also explains his erratic behaviour, he must be in agony....
Diabetes - Charlie's fluid intake and output is prodigious, even by kitten standards (their kidneys are rather small and kittens do drink/wee a lot!). He is drinking at least half a pint of water a day. He is too young for an accurate blood sugar reading, so they will do a test when he goes in for his neutering.
Neutering - he is overall healthy and will be neutered next month as planned if he weighs over 2kg! I pointed out to Tim that he already exceeds that!
Earmites (everyone still shuddering?) - Charlie is a martyr to earmites. He was given ear medicine, but we found out today it only kills the mites, not the eggs. A dose of Stronghold (crap on fleas, excellent on mites!) should sort out the eggs, and he got another batch of ear medicine tonight.
Tim was peering into Charlie's ears with his auralscope with intent.

"Tim..." I said........

"Tim?" I repeated a little louder........

"Tim! You are showing an unhealthy interest in earmites!"

"But we don't get to see them that often" came a mumbled voice "they're fascinating!! You can see them wriggling and stuff........"

"ok" says I "I think you've seen enough. We'll take it on good authority Charlie has earmites"

Tim reluctantly straightened up, while HWMBO and I struggled to keep straight faces.

Upshot - Charlie is still a baby, he has an infestation, but when he's all growed up he's gonna be a giant. :-) That's my boy!
Here is my tuckered out Little(!) Man after the vet marathon....
















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