Billy-Bob was bought as a pet. The family that raised him hung in there for nine months. He no longer fit in with their lifestyle and that is when we got him. He had been neutered, declawed, and his canine teeth had been filed and filled. He has had continual dental problems and is scheduled for surgery again soon. The dental plugs that filled in the exposed roots were placed too early. His adult teeth had just come in and grew larger. The roots expanded and the plugs fell out one by one. He had been in constant danger of needing four root canals or four extractions. Dr. Bruce Muff, DDS, and Dr. Tom Sheriff, DVM, thought that they had corrected the problem when Billy was three years old. Dr. Muff found a lot of decay in three teeth, cleaned inside the roots, repacked, and refilled all four canines. However, when Billy reached six years old these four teeth had turned black, having no blood supply any longer due to the pulpotomy. They also became very brittle and an upper one broke off in May, 1997. Dr. Sheriff extracted that tooth.
Billy-Bob had yet another dental surgery in November, 1998. This time he had the attention of an entire team of specialists near San Francisco, CA. Many thanks go to Dr. Robert Turner, D.D.S., Dana Keiles, D.D.S., endodontic specialists Dr. Paul Brown, D.D.S., F.I.C.D. and Dr. Mehran Fotovatjah, D.D.S, Dr. Robert Yelland, D.V.M., Dr. Christina Heffner, D.V.M. and also an endodontic specialist. During the nearly five-hour surgery he received x-rays that discovered abscesses at the base of all three canine teeth. One was draining and could have become quite serious. He received three root canals and then steel posts were placed in each core for strength. These posts were cemented in and then casts were taken for crowns to be formed. Due to these posts, Little Bill actually now has taller teeth, which took some getting used to for him--and our volunteers! We drew blood for Dr. Jenni Spencer's immunology research and Billy recovered quickly.
His crowns were put in on December 6, 1998, in what was (we had hoped) Billy-Bob's last surgery. Unfortunately, one of his three cemented posts from the previous surgery, broke in the last week while waiting for the crowns to be cast. Dr. Robert Turner and Dr. Tom Sheriff were able to save the root by trimming the tooth to gum level and filling it. We put the crowns on the two remaining teeth.
Billy lost one of his crowns and had to go in for another surgery on August 30, 2002. Dr. Tom Sheriff had to extract one lower root that was over an inch long. Apparently, the part of the canine tooth that we can see above the gumline is only 1/3 of the length of the entire tooth, 2/3 more is under the gumline as a root. Miraculously he did it without breaking Billy-Bob's jaw.
Unfortunately, the last remaining tooth that had a crown then gave him trouble. In 2004, poor Billy endured yet another dental surgery. Dr. Sheriff skillfully removed the other root in his lower jaw, again without breaking the jaw. Thank goodness! Now Billy-Bob has no canine teeth, with only one upper root (under the gumline) remaining. H has adapted well and has no need for the canines, as cats use them only for killing prey.
Thank you so much to a private foundation for the generous grant to pay for all of Billy-Bob’s medical expenses. And to Dr. Tom Sheriff for donating his expenses for all eight dental surgeries. And a big "head-butt" from Billy-Bob! This little guy has suffered more than any cat or human ever should as a result of this unnecessary practice. It was completely avoidable, due to the unfortunate recommendation of the breeder. If anyone feels the need to dissarm a wild cat as a pet, hopefully they will think of Billy and re-evaluate if they are qualified to handle that cat.
Billy-Bob was a very popular exhibiting cat in local schools and nature centers and has a large fan following. He is now retired from the outreach educational program. At about three years of age, he no longer enjoyed going out and about, as commonly happens with wild cats when their natural instinct to become solitary takes over upon maturity. He prefers the comfort of familiar territory in his enclosure and on attended walks around the property.
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