sam

Sam is my cat.  I don't talk about him a great deal on here because he is usually off doing cat things--slinking about in the yard or sleeping in the sun--rather than hanging out with me.  He's actually the only animal in the house who truly belongs to me.  I adopted him while living in an apartment in college.  Soon after, I found a place on campus and Sam found a place in my folks' house, where he is quite content.

Sam's had a rough week so far.  On Monday, he went in for a dental cleaning he needed badly, and the vet discovered that 8 of his teeth had been struck by this and would need to be removed.  An x-ray, surgery, and a large vet bill later, he was home with us, drugged, starving, and pissed as hell.  AND we have the great pleasure of having to give him meds.  Orally.  Twice a day.  Sam reacts to this process by flailing his limbs wildly, and the first dose of his painkiller ended up all over me, rather than in him.  Today we tried a new method, with more success.  He actually let me get in his face with my big camera and take photos (he usually hates that camera), so I think he's feeling pretty pain-free.

The point of this post--other than to have an excuse to post photos of my cat, who is admittedly pretty awesome--is to caution pet owners to stay on top of their pet's dental health.  This thing hit us out of nowhere, but in retrospect, we really should have looked after his teeth better.  Dr. V of Pawcurious has devoted her last two posts to the subject, as February is National Pet Dental Health Month.  If you're worried about your pet's teeth, now is a good time to make an appointment for a cleaning, most vets have discounted dental rates during the month of February.

Sam's used to spending a couple hours a day wandering outside, and even with the snow he still likes to slip out and scout about.  However, he's housebound until he's fully recovered.  For the next month, if you go looking for him, you'll probably find him like this: wistfully gazing out the window.