A Tough Call Tomorrow: Big Eyes Failing

A little way into this short vid you will meet Big-Eyes,(at 0:54 sec.) an ex-feral we rescued about 5 years ago but he came with a severe case of peridontal disease and we and our vet have been battling with it ever-since. He has had most of his teeth pulled over the years, and has been on un-ending regimins of anti-biotics and predizone and even steriod shots. Over the last couple of days he has taken a turn for the worse. Doc says she belives the infection has gone to the bone in his jaw and now is even effecting his breating (sinisus). His mouth is swollen to the point where he cant even close it no more and his tounge is sticking out. Hes drooling and mouth bleeding and now trouble breathing...Poor thing hasent eaten much at all in days...he tried, but cant seem to manage even liquids anymore without going into pain. Even pain meds dont help at this point. We have tried everything short of removing parts of his jaw. Trip to the vet in the morning for one more (final?) evaluation but it does not look good for him. I simply cannot stand by and watch him suffer and slowly starve to death. Tomorrow it will be tough-decision time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yCb-ts_FKk

RIP Big Eye
Humanely Euthanized and Passed Peacefully in My Arms as I Wispered Sweet Nothings in His Ear and Scratched Him Behind the Ears.

Someday I will tell you the story of what we went through with Big Eye's and his peridontal disease. We thought we were doing everything possible, extracting teeth, antibiotics and predisone everyday,...near the end we tried steroid shots but it didnt do any good...but what I am finding out through further research into this disease makes me wonder,...did we really do everything possible? Was there another course? Was there a better way? Was there something we overlooked in the way of treatment and/or prevention? I cant get this question out of my head, but the answer is a definate "I think so." I hate to say it...but I think we missed an opportunity to increase his chances of survival. For starters, waay back when the vets first started pulling his teeth, a few at a time cause they wanted to save the ones they could,.... I think, given his history and problems with peridontal disease, that ALL of his teeth should have come out...the hell with trying to save a few ... these are the ones that got re-infected and ulcerated. These are the ones that let the infection get to the bone, all the while on predizone....hummmm. I am SO sorry Big-Eye. In our ignorance and BLIND FAITH in our vets, we could have done better by you. You might have still been with us today. At least you are out of pain and for that I am glad. We miss you.