Creatures Great and Small

I've really been praying hard about our 13-yr-old gray tabby, Tigger. About 5 days ago, he came in around 4 pm, and kept pawing at the left side of his mouth. It was a strange action. He wouldn't let us open his mouth to look. For 24 hrs, he didn't eat or drink anything. That really worried us. However, we had no cash for a vet trip at that moment.

After the first 24 hrs, he seemed to feel like eating just a little. When he first came in that day, he had little "things" stuck to his fur, not more than half a dozen, and not real sharp like thorns, but sort of like soft thistles or something. We suspected maybe one irritated his gum or something.

Finally, we knew we'd have enough for a quick trip to the vet today and scheduled it. They were wonderful with him. He settled down really quick. Well, not that quick. They wanted to take his temperature. I asked, naively, "in his ear?" The young assistant said, very quietly, "We don't take it there." I decided I'd better hang on tight to Tigger at that point (LOL). Turned out he refused to have THAT done to him and to his dignity. We all felt, however, that there was no fever to worry about - he's been eating more this past two days, so that was a good sign.

The trouble with him, as it turned out, is that one of his eye-teeth, one of the "fangs" that hang down from the top, was gone. He normally looks like a saber-toothed tiger, but with four fangs, two top and two bottom. They even pulled back his lips and showed me the gaping hole that had not quite healed, and the swelling and beginnings of a minor infection. Poor little guy had really had a rough few days.

That trip was less than $100 and he ended up with all his shots updated, nails clipped, and made new friends and all that stuff. However, he must go back in on Thursday, for the whole day, for dental work, pain meds, antibiotics, blood work, urinalysis, ekg, and the whole thing. They will need to sedate him and want to be sure his old bod can handle it. We have to wait until Thursday, again, for money. God Bless these people - they are letting us pay part that day, and part the following week. Are there good people in this world or what?

The vet did say that after all this is done, I will need to brush his teeth (the cat's, not the vet's) daily. Now, that should be very interesting.

Bottom line: these little creatures which God entrusts to our care take hold of our hearts in a big way. It's heartbreaking, whether it's a furry creature or a human being, when we have to wait for medical care because of funds. I pray for everyone who has to face this type of hurt. But God was good and heard our prayers and kept the infection to a minimum.

Thank you, my Lord, for helping us to get care for this little one which you entrusted to our care; please help us to stay on track with him during these late years of his little life.