Cat People - let''s discuss gingivitis, please!

[Lynn B]

The vet says Boo has just a wee bit of the start of gingivitis

and I was wondering what you guys know about this?

And what do you think of drinking water additives? I found these ones at PetFoodDirect:

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=20598301&mscssid=GE31H5L9PE329NDDXMJCJUCBQCSHFAM9

Then there's also this one:
http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=30510311&mscssid=GE31H5L9PE329NDDXMJCJUCBQCSHFAM9&dept_id=172

He doesn't have bad breath AT ALL, just a sllight start of some darker pink on his gums along his tooth line. See photo!

I will admit that I have gotten lazy with the toothbrushing

but I am trying to be better!!!

Soooooooooooo... advice? Input? Experience? Suggestions???!

Thanks!

Lynn

ETA: WHOA! That's a VERRY BIG photo!!!! Sorry!!! (I'm just NEW around here, you know!!!

)

 

[Lorelei]

It doesn't look too bad Lynn, I have had this a lot in kits, one poor chappie in particular I was back and forth to the vets and he needed antibiotics all the time. I think there was an underlying cause in his case( which was about 20 years ago when FIV FelV were not well known).

But Boo's looks like it is very treatable or reversible if you can get him onto a good tooth cleaning routine.

 

[Lynn B]

Hey, thanks for chiming in, Lorelei!

I am hoping maybe this thread will also raise some awareness for keeping a close eye on our kitties' teeth. Hopefully even others will post photos. I'd love to see what other cat's teeth/gums look like.

What got me really thinking about this is that I found out that Oliver, Boo's littermate, has been diagnosed with *stomatitis*, which is an autoimmune disorder; and can be very serious. Oliver has sores all through his mouth, and is almost unable to eat. He is on steroids and antibiotics, and may have to have all his teeth extracted. When I heard about this, I looked in Boo's mouth right away. Then at his check-up last week, I asked the vet about it.

OY, how we pet parents WORRY!!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/20/2009 9:20:03 AM
Author: Lynn B
Hey, thanks for chiming in, Lorelei!

I am hoping maybe this thread will also raise some awareness for keeping a close eye on our kitties' teeth. Hopefully even others will post photos. I'd love to see what other cat's teeth/gums look like.

What got me really thinking about this is that I found out that Oliver, Boo's littermate, has *stomatitis*, which is an autoimmune disorder; and can be very serious. Oliver has sores all through his mouth, and is almost unable to eat. He is on steroids and antibiotics, and may have to have all his teeth extracted. When I heard about this, I looked in Boo's mouth right away. Then at his check-up last week, I asked the vet about it.

OY, how we pet parents WORRY!!!

Most welcome!

I seem to recall stomatitis was mentioned with my Thomas James, the one who had the very bad mouth. It was terrible, he would drool, breath was awful and when it got really bad he would have pus in his mouth where the sores got infected. After a few months of back and forth to the vet, antibiotics, trying to make him eat, I asked the vet to take out all his teeth except for the canines. His teeth were being cleaned and removed anyway and I was so worried about repeated anaesthetics, that we had the teeth out. It really helped and he had a good couple of years relatively pain and infection free until Dec 1998 when he went to eat, cried and hit his mouth and ran away to hide. Something in me knew this was serious, although he had hit his mouth and cried before when his mouth had flared up, I just knew something wasn't right. Took him to the vet and he had a squamous cell carcinoma in the back of his mouth which had manifested as a horrible hole in his tissue along with an infected, ulcerated tumour. We took him home and then to a reseach veterinary hospital nearby ( we are very lucky to have super small animal and equine facilities in the area), but we decided not to put him through the treatment as it would have been very hard on him. The following week I knew it was time, and gave him back to God.

But things have moved on a great deal and treatment so no reason why Boosie's sib shouldn't be fine!

 

[Matata]

Date: 6/20/2009 9:08:18 AM
Author:Lynn B
The vet says Boo has just a wee bit of the start of gingivitis

and I was wondering what you guys know about this?

Soooooooooooo... advice? Input? Experience? Suggestions???!
Thanks!
Lynn

Whole prey raw diet, quails ''n mice ''n rats, oh my!

I''m not gonna give up on you sweetie, I can nag & nag & nag furevah.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/20/2009 4:35:26 PM
Author: Matata

Date: 6/20/2009 9:08:18 AM
Author:Lynn B
The vet says Boo has just a wee bit of the start of gingivitis

and I was wondering what you guys know about this?

Soooooooooooo... advice? Input? Experience? Suggestions???!
Thanks!
Lynn

Whole prey raw diet, quails ''n mice ''n rats, oh my!

I''m not gonna give up on you sweetie, I can nag & nag & nag furevah.

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 6/20/2009 4:35:26 PM
Author: Matata

Date: 6/20/2009 9:08:18 AM
Author:Lynn B
The vet says Boo has just a wee bit of the start of gingivitis

and I was wondering what you guys know about this?

Soooooooooooo... advice? Input? Experience? Suggestions???!
Thanks!
Lynn

Whole prey raw diet, quails ''n mice ''n rats, oh my!

I''m not gonna give up on you sweetie, I can nag & nag & nag furevah.

Haha, Matata!!! You ARE persistant, girl!!! ( <-- Please read with the utmost of affection!!!

) But that''s OK with me, I like it and besides, sometimes I NEED nagged!!!

I know you want me to buy whole little mousies

... but hopefully you''ll be proud to know I got a bag of Nature''s Variety Instinct Raw (48 frozen one-ounce medallions, chicken and turkey)! But so far, the little snort won''t even TRY IT!!!

I cannot believe it!!! All of a sudden he began boycotting ALL his wet food, so I can''t even mix the raw in with that.

I am a bit at my wit''s end with him, actually. He''s fairly FUSSY anyway, but through much trial and error (and great expense!) I found three wet foods (2 Wellness and one EVO) that he seemed to LOVE. He ate them HAPPILY for MONTHS, now ALL of a sudden, he won''t eat ANY of them! I even thought maybe we got a bad can, so I opened another one. NOPE. Maybe a bad CASE??? Bought new at the store. NOPE!!! Ack. I have about 4 cans of opened cat food in my fridge (several CASES in my basement!) and a big 3# bag of raw in the freezer, which are NOT getting eaten. All he will eat is his dry mix.

Any ideas what happened??? Has this happened to anyone else??? I thought once you found something they liked, they pretty much liked it forever?!! Any ideas on how to fix this???! Help!!!

 

[loriken214]

Our Coco is a special needs kitty, she was born without a certain enzyme in her colon that helps with digestion, and she needs prescription wet food from the vet. This stuff isn''t cheap and she is supposed to be eating a can a day with prescription lactulose mixed in with it. Well, she is very picky and will only eat a small portion of the food and when she''s in the mood she seems to really enjoy it. We waste more canned food and I tried putting a lid on it to save it....no way, she won''t touch it if it isn''t fresh. Some days, she won''t touch it at all.

The vet said we could give her dry food in between the canned food. We feed her Science Diet Hairball Control Formula and she loves it. Long story short, if she eats too much dry food, she will throw it up or get constipated. I''m constantly trying to watch her diet so she won''t get out of balance. This is a daily issue.

We adopted her from the Houston SPCA in February, 2008 and the poor thing kept throwing up when we got her home. I took her to our vet and the x-rays showed that she was impacted with feces....LOTS of it! She was miserable! Nobody at the SPCA knew it because they said to feed her dry food only.

Also, we have her teeth cleaned once a year. With all of that stomach acid coming up, I''m afraid her teeth might be affected. She''s 5 years old.

Our two mini dachshunds are special needs now and they get their teeth cleaned annually, too. They are 10 years old.

Good luck with Boo!

Lori

 

[Maisie]

Gracie is my first ever cat and I didn''t know you are supposed to brush their teeth! I doubt she will ever let us close enough for that. She lived in a cattery for 4 years. She is ok with us stroking her but I think she would freak if I approached with a toothbrush.

 

[loriken214]

Maisie, Coco won''t let us brush her teeth, either. Our vet does it.

Lori

 

[Rock_of_Love]

I have used this product on my cats (and dog)...all natural and seems to help, I think???

http://www.petzlife.com/category/OralCareProducts

This was before I started using the product, but one of my cats had to get one of her front fangs removed! I feel so bad, she looks a little silly.

 

[Matata]

Lynn...try ordering Feline Instincts chicken liver powder to sprinkle on his wet food. It may take a time or two for him to try it. It works on most finicky eaters. The only way I could get Taji to try mice was to use the powder. Keep trying the NV. Mix it into the kibble, small amounts at a time sprinkled with the liver powder. And try not to get mired in the finicky eater game. Choose a variety of quality foods to feed, rotate the varieties and if he doesn''t eat, he doesn''t eat. Monitor weight, poop, coat and overall condition and eventually he''ll retrain to eat what you offer.

 

[dendon]

Rock of Love, which one do you use for your cat? There were a lot on that page. Thanks!

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Date: 6/22/2009 6:08:24 PM
Author: dendon
Rock of Love, which one do you use for your cat? There were a lot on that page. Thanks!

I use this one with the wild salmon oil - maybe it tastes better to the cat?? I attached the product page because some people I know use the spray, too. They say it is easier to apply, but I haven''t had any problems with the gel. All in all, they are great, all-natural products.

 

[chrono]

My old kitty goes to the vet for professional cleaning.

 

[beechezz]

LYNN! It is so interesting that you posted this, because I just took my Ragdoll to the vet yesterday (annual checkup-he is now 16 months old) and the vet wants to do a professional teeth cleaning!!! Sebastian''s gums are not pink, but RED along the gum line. I''m soooo upset because they won''t do it until I do a repeat Echocardiogram first (he has a heart murmur, a 2 out of 6). This little teeth cleaning will be very expensive....because they do the echo first, then blood work, then tooth cleaning (plus the anesthesia charge). What am I going to do? I purchased the toothpaste, but I don''t even know how he is going to handle all of me doing that to his gums! Anyway, just an FYI....Sebastian is 12 lbs, 10 oz. and my vet doesn''t want him gaining anymore weight, he says he is purrfect (lol) at his weight right now!

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 6/23/2009 6:37:22 AM
Author: beechezz
LYNN! It is so interesting that you posted this, because I just took my Ragdoll to the vet yesterday (annual checkup-he is now 16 months old) and the vet wants to do a professional teeth cleaning!!! Sebastian''s gums are not pink, but RED along the gum line. I''m soooo upset because they won''t do it until I do a repeat Echocardiogram first (he has a heart murmur, a 2 out of 6). This little teeth cleaning will be very expensive....because they do the echo first, then blood work, then tooth cleaning (plus the anesthesia charge). What am I going to do? I purchased the toothpaste, but I don''t even know how he is going to handle all of me doing that to his gums! Anyway, just an FYI....Sebastian is 12 lbs, 10 oz. and my vet doesn''t want him gaining anymore weight, he says he is purrfect (lol) at his weight right now!

Oh Beechezz, I am SO sorry to hear of Sebastian''s troubles. I didn''t know he had a heart murmur, either. It does sound worrisome (and expensive)... I can well understand your concerns. What have you decided to do?

Your sweet baby is awfully young to be needing his teeth done already, it seems to me. ???

Can you take a picture of his teeth/gums? I would really like to see that.

PS IMHO, forget what the vet said about him not gaining any more weight, BTW. He sounds like a vet who does not know or understand that Ragdolls continue to grow and mature until they are 3 or 4 years old!!!

 

[beechezz]

Lynn,

I am going to wait to talk to my friend''s brother. He just graduated from Vet School a few weeks ago. Unfortunately he doesn''t live here on the east coast, but on the west coast. I will see what he recommends, and then continue on from there. If I decide to do the cleaning I will wait until September since I just started my summer vacation, and won''t get paid again until then! My little guy is such a loving, cuddle bug and I will do anything for him! I will try to get a picture tomorrow during the daylight and post a pic, OK? Thanks for your kind words, I have to tell you it is really nice to talk to another Ragdoll FurMOM!!!

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 6/23/2009 7:43:28 PM
Author: beechezz
Lynn,

I am going to wait to talk to my friend''s brother. He just graduated from Vet School a few weeks ago. Unfortunately he doesn''t live here on the east coast, but on the west coast. I will see what he recommends, and then continue on from there. If I decide to do the cleaning I will wait until September since I just started my summer vacation, and won''t get paid again until then! My little guy is such a loving, cuddle bug and I will do anything for him! I will try to get a picture tomorrow during the daylight and post a pic, OK? Thanks for your kind words, I have to tell you it is really nice to talk to another Ragdoll FurMOM!!!

Yes, I totally agree! I always love talking to other Raggie moms, too! Have you ever checked out www.ragdollcentral.com ? It''s a GREAT forum for Raggie parents.

Please keep me posted on what your friend''s brother says. I am interested in his opinions and suggestions.

And thanks for offering to take some photos of Sebastian''s teeth and gums... I really appreciate that.

Lynn