Roodles Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 In November last year my 16 yr old cat had dental work done, he needed 2 back teeth removed and at this time had blood tests done, all came back negative, no viruses, no organ problems. In April this year he started showing signs of suffering with his mouth again and since then has been back to the vets every 4 weeks for an anti-inflamatory injection, towards the end of the 4 weeks he shows signs of his mouth bothering him but with in a couple of days of having the injection it eases. Since April he refuses to eat out of his bowl and I have been hand feeding him, he's raw fed, the vet thinks this is due to him associating the bowl with pain in his mouth although he will chew on a raw chicken wing as long as I hold it. In July I had his kidneys tested again and the results where within the normal range but the higher end of normal, after our recent visit this week, the vet has suggested I try him on fortekor 2.5mg for his kidneys although in this case she doesnt think its the kineys causing his mouth problem and I've been given Virbac Vet Aquadent to put in his water. She has suggested that he's having a reaction to tartar (although his teeth are quite clean) and to have a think about having all his teeth removed as this will help the problem but not cure it completely. I'm at a loss what to do, it just seems so drastic to remove all his teeth when they are still ok and for it not to completely cure the problem, not to mention the risk of poor Oscar having an op at his age. At the moment he's still active and there is no smell from his mouth. Has anyone had any experience of this, any advice would be much appreciated. Di x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collies r best Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Have you been able to look in his mouth to see where the soreness is?. My Tiger has terrible mouth problems and regulary needs courses of antibiotics [and steroids occassionally] to clear it. That sorts it for a month or so then it flares up again but all his tests have come back fine so we still dont know whats wrong.Tiger has had all but two teeth removed as when i took him on his mouth was such a mess there was no choice but it hasnt stopped the flare ups, it just means he hasnt got painful teeth.Hes around the 14/16 yrs old and some days hes as rough as hell and i'm on the verge of phoning the vets to make a final visit then a few hours later he'll be much better, i'm sure he does it to wind me up To be honest i'm just letting him enjoy life while he can as he also has a growth but your boy sounds much better and fitter than Tiger so hope it'll get sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smirnoff Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 My Sparky has the same problem. Had a dental and partial extraction and it only sorted him out for a couple of months. Now he's on monthly treatments of antibiotic but the relief doesn't last a month so I do them a bit closer together. He eats mostly eggs mixed with milk but now I also liquidise him cat food with cat milk and tins of fish. And yet sometimes he'll steal chunks of dog food and have a good chomp. And sometimes he'll only eat outside. Our vet told me that gingivitis is an absolute bugger to deal with. Protocol says that you extract all teeth, follow up with antibiotics adn then anti viral injections over 6 weeks. At that point Sparky still belonged to my (ex) partner who wanted him put to sleep because he's too old to be worth the money (note that he's now my EX partner!). I don't want him to have the extraction because he's about 14 and I feel that it's too major but at the end of the day I'll be guided by the vet. Most of the time he's a happy cat and I don't feel the time's come yet but I would love to find a way to make him pain free. I've also tried putting a tiny bit of aloe vera toothpaste on his paw so that he licks it off and I'm sure that helps to reduce infection. He doesn't like it so I have to sneak up on him though. The one I use is from a company called forever living and it's very high in aloe content and perfectly safe for animals. (I use it too and I haven't had an abscess since I started which is very good for me!). Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roodles Posted August 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 to you and Tiger. I have managed to have a good look in his mouth and the flare ups are in different places and not always where there are teeth, usually its the curve at the back of his mouth, just where each line of teeth end, although this time it was over one of his fangs aswell. The patches are not raw and they are just a deeper pink than the normal gum colour, they are about finger tip size and there is no reddness where the tooth and gum meet. Apart from a bit of weight loss, his condition is good and he's still ruling the roost over 4 other cats and 3 dogs and leaping up on walls when he goes out. Di x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roodles Posted August 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 to you and Sparky I just don't know what to do for Oscar for the best, if I was 100% sure that having all his teeth removed would resolve the problem then I wouldn't hesitate but my vet can't tell me how much of an improvement there will be and I'm worried about the risk at his age. Thanks for the toothpaste advice I will give that a go Di x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smirnoff Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Thank you, Roodles My vet said that if we did the removal of all teeth and the retro viral injections he had about an 85% chance of getting rid of the problem. But I don't want Sparky to have another operation at his age. It's so hard to know what to do, isn't it? Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenOldie Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 My very old cat. pts last winter at 19, had extensive dental surgery at the age of 17 and recovered very well from the surgery and happily lived on for another 2 years, having a huge appetite and continuing to hoover up dry food as well as her normal favourite pouches, cooked chicken, tuna and salmon! I have recently adopted another elderly cat, left outside the vets in a pet carrier with a very bad mouth (probably the reason for being left) and she had to have all her teeth removed. She is a lovely healthy old girl, again, with a huge appetite, and manages both wet and dry food with no problem. In my experience with older dogs and cats modern anaesthetic techniques do reduce some of the risks of surgery although there is always risk with any op. I don't know how your cat would manage raw food , interested to know. Would you need to mince the chicken for example. Whatever your decision, good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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