We had a terrible event over Thanksgiving weekend. My darling Sophie (my precious black kitten) got her tongue burned very badly. We were having TG on Friday due to schedule issues with our boys. We made spaghetti on Thursday night and put the can of hot grease from cooking the hamburger in one of the sinks to cool. We’re thinking Sophie must have gotten into it. She had kept a low profile over the weekend – which was uncharacteristic of her – but , with all the people in an out, I, frankly, didn’t pay much attention. Bad mommy.
It was not till Sunday afternoon, when things were quiet, that I looked for her. I found her high up on top of a bookshelf and she wouldn’t come near me. Very unlike her. Now paying attention, I could tell something was very wrong with her demeanor. When I finally got hold of her I found that her mouth area was very wet with saliva and she kept wiping at her mouth with her front paws. She didn’t want to be messed with and basically kept as far away from everyone as she could. I left her alone for that evening but pursued investigation the next morning. I found she was still wet around the mouth and oddly opening her mouth as if she had something stuck in her throat. I opened her mouth – much to her displeasure – and noticed that her tongue was dark on the outside edges, forming a perfect “V”. However, still thinking she had something wedged somewhere, I tried to stick my finger in and around to see if I could feel something foreign. The only result of that exercise was making Sophie mad. Her coat hair was all separated, as well, so it appeared she had a fever (goose bumps will create that effect). Whatever was wrong, a burned tongue never crossed my mind.
It was obvious that Sophie had to go to the vet. Surprisingly, I was able to get an appointment within a few hours and the diagnosis was “severely burned tongue” with slight fever. The vet said it was possible that the burn injury went down her throat some but she didn’t think it had reached her stomach. In any case, Sophie had to go on antibiotics for 14 days. The vet also prescribed a liquid for pain – to be squirted over the gums! Oh, please, surely you jest. I did try a few times but…!
Now, antibiotics were critical but the vet failed, I think, to discuss fluids – also critical. It dawned on me Tuesday morning (day after the vet visit) that if she wasn’t eating she wasn’t drinking, either. I pinched her skin and even through her thick coat I could see that her skin did not bounce back – definitely dehydrated. So, I got a 12 cc syringe to administer water, squirting 8 cc of water down her throat every 45 minutes for the next two days (except over night). She hated it…oh, how she hated it. But it was vital.
After about 3 days on antibiotics, Sophie was showing an interest in food but couldn’t eat. She’d try but it appeared difficult for her to open her mouth. I beat up raw eggs for her and put out milk. She would drink some of the milk but usually all the egg. Wanting to know she was getting calories, I moved to canned food, adding water to make it soupy. Her primary food source is crunchy food, however, that was out of the question at that point in time.
My precious Sophie finally got well and back to normal. She was mad at me for administering the water and antibiotics…sleeping in my husband’s lap at night instead of mine – for like 3 weeks! But that was ok. (I am forgiven now!)
We will certainly be more mindful about cans of hot grease in the future. We don’t know that that was the culprit but it fits. I also learned from the vet that a common burning agent for pet’s tongues, throats and stomachs are the leaves of poinsettias! Very caustic! The first thing the vet asked was if we had poinsettias in the house. I had no idea. We have never had a pet that would eat them but it is something for all of us to be mindful of during the Christmas season.
And always remember that if you are treating a pet at home that has difficulty eating, you must be sure the pet is getting ample water! A pet can live for a number of days without food but not without water!