Poor Loki! We were having a cuddle on Sunday evening when I noticed Loki’s mouth looked a bit strange on one side. So I had a look inside his mouth and – eek! – his upper left incisor was all bloody. And so it was off to the vet’s yesterday. Always so stressful. I can never tell who gets more stressed out, me or the screaming cat – or the taxi driver who has to drive us (I always tip well) – but omg it’s awful.

Once we got to the vet’s Loki calmed down and, being the good boy he is, let Eva give him a check over and even pry his mouth open without making a fuss. And well, it’s not as bad as I had feared. The enamel on the front of his incisor has broken off but, aside from being a bit inflamed (not bloody) Eva says it should heal over. Which is GOOD NEWS as the only cat orthodontists in Spain are in Málaga and A Coruña. So Loki is taking anti-inflammatories for three days and after that I’ll keep an eye on him, with another check up in a month’s time.

As to how he came to break his tooth, the only thing I can think of is the hoisin chicken I made on Christmas Eve. I had put the bones in the rubbish but forgot to put the bag out on the balcony until I could take it out in the morning. When I went to bed that night it looked like a murder scene in there with the duvet covered in bones and hoisin sauce. Fucker had got into the bag while I was watching It’s A Wonderful Life and had a messy feast on the bed. I mentioned this to the vet and she said OH NO NOT CHICKEN BONES, THEY’RE THE WORST FOR CATS as if I had given them to him on purpose. Anyhow, our boy is eating well, so the tooth is apparently not causing him much pain, and he’s loving the drug-infused paté treats, so hopefully he will be better soon.