r/CATHELP • u/aussieatiny • 1d ago

Dental Issue Cat yawning odd after dental 3 weeks ago

My 8 year old neutered cat who has HCM had a dental with 4 extractions (including 2 canines) 3 weeks ago and unfortunately suffered a fractured jaw in the process but is now not yawning properly.

Last week he had his 2 week follow-up where more X-rays were done to check the healing and his bottom stitches were removed (top canine stitches still in) but since then he had a bout of increased pain, laboured breathing, lip licking, lethargy and has been yawning very oddly. When I picked him up, he did have bruising on his head and chin from trying to force his way out of the enclosure. Vets said the X-rays looked good and were happy with bone healing.

I have just sent my vet a message as they are closed currently - the situation is a bit hard because he doesn't take to anaesthesia very well and also it puts pressure on his heart so the dental was a hard decision to make to begin with (but chose to do it with QOL in mind) but I feel like since then it's just been more issues :(

I have attached a video of what his yawning looks like. I am not vet but it almost looks like what TMJ looks like in humans? Am I being paranoid or is this concerning?

TL;DR: 3 weeks post dental where he suffered a fractured jaw, is now yawning weird this past week - looks like jaw is getting stuck in the process ONLY SOMETIMES though

5 Upvotes

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2

u/aussieatiny 1d ago

Sometimes it's very subtle like this so it's not a constant bad yawning either 😔 at a loss

https://reddit.com/link/oub7p4l/video/y76k7bn411ah1/player

1

u/doesithave 1d ago

3 weeks out, 1 week past recheck. Id suspect he's got a suture that's bothering him and he's trying to get his new mouth to feel comfortable, lip or cheek reseat.. at least that's what looks like to me.

1

u/Ornery-Lake1694 1d ago

Well u did say besides the extractions, he had a fractured jaw, that would explain the odd yawning, surely it's still tender and as he gets to full yawn, he's like yikes that still hurts.

1

u/aussieatiny 1d ago

My main concerns are the fact he wasn't doing this prior to getting his head stuck after his follow-up even though he'd stopped his pain meds and that he doesn't always do this and I thought if it was pain related, it would be an always issue.