teeth/gum issues
 

I have 2 but only the Torti is having a bad time with dental and gums. I didn't know about the issues until after I adopted her.

She has inflamed red gums that are getting worse, one chipped fang and at least 5 teeth that the vet wants to remove.

She is about 9, maybe 10 years old. She will not eat the dental kibble the vet recommended, she only likes the small kibble and she has cut back on that recently. She hates having her teeth brushed so have given up on that.

With the reality of infection already there or about to be, I don't see many options.

The cost of surgery is close to 2,000, with no guarantee of how many problem teeth would be removed. I have been told at least 5, maybe more depending on the problems they may uncover during surgery.

I see her quality of life going downhill fast. She wont eat the kibble that is meant to help her dental issues and will only eat 1 or 2 Feline Greenies dental treats.

I have no idea if you can give a cat a salt water rinse, and if you can how do you avoid losing your own skin? Would it help or make matters worse?

Thanks in advance.

[QUOTE=brynriley;1064512]I have 2 but only the Torti is having a bad time with dental and gums. I didn't know about the issues until after I adopted her.

She has inflamed red gums that are getting worse, one chipped fang and at least 5 teeth that the vet wants to remove.

She is about 9, maybe 10 years old. She will not eat the dental kibble the vet recommended, she only likes the small kibble and she has cut back on that recently. She hates having her teeth brushed so have given up on that.

With the reality of infection already there or about to be, I don't see many options.

The cost of surgery is close to 2,000, with no guarantee of how many problem teeth would be removed. I have been told at least 5, maybe more depending on the problems they may uncover during surgery.

I see her quality of life going downhill fast. She wont eat the kibble that is meant to help her dental issues and will only eat 1 or 2 Feline Greenies dental treats.

I have no idea if you can give a cat a salt water rinse, and if you can how do you avoid losing your own skin? Would it help or make matters worse?

Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]

Hello,

I know of a product that is supposed to be really good at removing plaque on pets teeth. It comes in a gel that you can apply directly on or a water additive that you can add to their drinking water. They claim it will remove 85 -88% of the plaque within a few days.

[url]https://petsdrugmart.ca/product.aspx[/url]

Three of my cats were found along the roadside, and each had serious dental problems. Two had to have all their teeth pulled after two attempts at saving them, and the other cat has only a few teeth left. All three get along fine, and eat canned food. They price they want to charge you seems really high, I never paid over $400 for each of my cats,( although they were already missing teeth before they were taken to the vet.) I think the quality of your cats life will stop going downhill after the dental work, I know mine did. One of my cats teeth were so bad when I found him that he no longer wanted to clean himself, I had to wash him just to be able to take him to the vet. The day after extractions, he began cleaning himself again. What type of kibble did the vet recommend for dental issues, I didn't know there was any?

If it's a canine that is needing to come out it'll be a costly one, as well if it is molars. Reason being is that they are much more difficult and they take a lot of time to extract them safely. Any tooth brushing, rinsing, dental treats will not be helpful at this point. Unfortunately they are meant as more of a preventative, not a fix.

February is dental health month, as least in Saskatchewan. I am just assuming that most places would have something similar at some point in the year. During this time it is cheaper to have a dental performed.

In response to lindapalm, there is a feline dental food... Hills T/D maybe? I can't remember off the top of my head if it's hills or medi-cal. Some cats seem to have a genetic predisposition to poor dental health. So it may be an ongoing issue, no matter the type of food.

My last piece of advice is go to a clinic that does full mouth xrays with their dentals. If your kitty has teeth that visibly need to be removed there will most likely be more that are in trouble below the gum line. Shop around, you'll find a great variety in quoted price. Most clinics will do complementary dental exams, which is nice :)

Does she have an unpleasant odour in her mouth?

Not sure why your vet would suggest dental kibble or any type of kibble for your cat when she has red and inflamed gums. Anything hard against her gums will injure them more. At this point I would suggest wet food and steer clear of anything that she has to crunch.

I don't understand the logic of pulling 5 teeth and leaving the rest. That is what the vet did to my Papillon.....they left 3 teeth. Within one year of the first surgery, the remaining 3 teeth were removed to the tune of $900. The vet that did her first surgery offered to do the second for $400 but he wasn't my vet and I didn't feel comfortable with him.

Definitely shop around. You can call a few vets and just ask over the phone for an estimate.