Today we had a vet appointment for Sydney. I found a new vet out here and I really rather like her. This was his annual (though now that he's 12 it will probably be every 6 months) check up and FVRCP shot.

Sydney hates leaving the house for anything and absolutely hates the vet's office. He spent the entire time growling, shaking with fear, and trying to burrow into me. My poor little fur baby.

Gabriel was a total spaz during the vet appointment. He kept bouncing around the room and any time the vet or a vet tech left a drawer open he would bounce over to close it. Towards the end of the appointment, Rob had to take Gabriel out to the car because he was being too much of a spaz.

So, offhand most things look good with Sydney. He seems to be in very good health for a 12 year old cat (though for an Abyssinian 12 is still a very active age). Everyone there loved him and one of the vet techs came into the room just to see him because she loves Abyssinians. They all thought his red coat was gorgeous.

While I said that most things look good with Sydney, one thing did not and they were worried about another.
The thing that doesn't look good with him is one of his teeth. It's very badly infected and painful and is "reabsorbing" into his body (which can be bad and cause severe organ damage if left untreated). So, he's going to need a tooth cleaning and that tooth needs to come out. They took some blood and are doing a blood panel to make sure everything is fine with him so that they know he's healthy enough to undergo the tooth removal (he'll be under anesthesia for it). I'm going to try and get him in for that procedure as soon as possible, hopefully before the new year. I just need to wait to hear back that the blood panel was normal and he's good to go.
The other thing that worried them was his weight. He's dropped down to 6 pounds, 14 ounces. He's normally in the mid 7 pound range. While this could be due to him eating less because of the tooth, they also said older Abyssinian's are prone to thyroid problems (hyperthyroidism) which can make them lose weight. Since he's so small to begin with, weight loss is not a good thing for Sydney. So, they're also checking out his tyroid and will let me know how that is.

So, he has a bad tooth and might have a thyroid issue. If the blood panel comes back good, the tooth will come out and he'll feel a lot better. If there is a thyroid issue, it's controllable by daily medication. All things considered, I think I can deal with those problems. While Abyssinians are usually one of the longer lived breeds, I know that other cats don't fare so well health wise when they're 12.

After the vet appointment we headed home and chilled out around the house for awhile. Sydney headed into the bedroom and curled up on our bed to get some sleep. Whenever he gets his FVRCP vaccine he gets very sleepy for the rest of the day.

We headed out later on to grab food and make a quick stop at the grocery store. We also picked up a burger for Sydney. He's been through a lot today (being scared to be at the vet, a painful tooth, a thermometer up his butt, a shot, a blood draw, etc.) and I thought he deserved a burger. He seemed very happy about it. He came out to eat most of the burger and then headed back onto our bed to go back to sleep. Those shots really kick his ass.

Tonight we finished wrapping up the rest of the Xmas presents (the items we got at the mall yesterday). Now everything is wrapped. Phew. Rob gave the Poopchuck a bath.

So, last night before bed I took my usual daily prescription allergy pill. This morning, before heading to the vet's office, I took an OTC allergy pill. Even now my nose is stuffed up and runny, I keep coughing, and my eyes itch. Vet offices make my allergies go through the roof. As much as I'd love to be one, maybe it's for the best that I don't work as a vet. I still want to be an ER doctor though.

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