Treating mild gingivitis

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Catfan5
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Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Catfan5 »

Hi, two of our cats had boosters and checkups today and they both have some inflammation on part of their gums. Beaker has just one tooth at the back where the gum looks red along the edge, the other teeth look ok. Bailey has a little redness on both sides of her mouth on the gum line. The vet suggested dentals for both of them but now I'm wondering if there's anything I can do or give them that would help the gingivitis and avoid a dental specially if Beaker only has one affected tooth..?
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lilynmitz
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by lilynmitz »

Go with what the vet suggests I'm afraid. He needs to remove the gunk and clean out the gums. Cat tooth brushes will help a bit for general maintenance, but they're not enough at this stage, even if your cat will let you do it (I know none of mine would!). There are also dental treats which help break off plaque, but again, it's a maintenance thing rather than an appropriate treatment to current infections. And there's an argument that dried food cat be worse than wet, as the bits get stuck in their teeth, and some cats swallow them whole anyway.

So off to the dentist with him, and don't leave it too long or the tooth will get infected and need removal rather than just a clean up, and it will probably be pretty painful by now too. Cats just don't show it.
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Catfan5 »

Thanks Anna. I took another of our cats for a checkup yesterday, he also has mild gingivitis but the vet said to keep an eye on it and watch out for any signs of discomfort in the meantime. This is different advice to the previous vet but will be booking dentals over the next few weeks. I suppose with Bailey, our female ragdoll who is stressy and temperamental, I was hoping to delay going back to the vets for a while. She's been through a lot health/vetwise recently. Re the dry food, both vets recommend dry as being better for teeth than wet but I've read it's a myth. Our cats eat both and swallow the dry pieces whole!
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Crewella »

I've stopped doing it since we moved to this house and everybody goes out hunting a lot more, but I used to give my lot raw chicken wings every now and again to help keep their teeth in good shape. Daz and Merrick, who hunt the most (and eat their kill), had lovely teeth at their last check-up.
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lilynmitz
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by lilynmitz »

Unhelpful advice from your vet "look for signs of discomfort", I've heard of cats with tooth problems that would put us in hospital but the cat was still eating normally. They're so robust, cats usually don't show pain or discomfort until it's really bad, and by then it will go from a dental clean to extractions. Better to get them cleaned up before decay sets in IMHO.
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Crewella »

I absolutely agree with that, having just had a cat in for a dental with several infected and broken teeth, who was eating his biscuits like there was nothing wrong. You'd never have known.
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Catfan5 »

Thanks ladies for the advice. First cat in next week!
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Cussypat1974 »

Yep, I agree and would do the dental so long as there are no major anaesthetic risks involved. I have never actually had a dental done on any of my own animals, but I did have a 28 year old with SEVERE gingivitis. If he had had dentals then maybe he woildn't have had all the problems he ended up with! He was too far gone for a dental by the time I got him. We considered removing all his teeth but due to his age opted for medical rather than surgical treatment. It worked but wasn't much fun for him or me.....
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Catfan5 »

Hi Cussypat, wow, 28! That's a great old age. Can you tell me what medical treatment he had? All my cats are between 7 -8 years and all showing signs of tartar on their teeth. One of them has hcm so would be interested to know what I can do for him as a ga will probably be ruled out. I've started them all on rc oral care dry, but not sure if it will really help. They like their wet food and wonder if there is one that is better for teeth?
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by catsrmylife »

Hmm, sorry to play devil's advocate but I recently took my 2 FelV cats to have their teeth checked as their breath was malodorous. The 1st vet told me that Jess had no dental problems and that H needing some teeth extracting. Having already lost 1 FelV cat a few weeks after having teeth extracted, I was a bit dubious about going ahead, so I went back to my vets of long ago who I loved, one of whom is a dental specialist. He only saw H and said he has gingivitis but did not need teeth removing at that stage. He also explained that gingivitis is a disease of the gums not the teeth and that all extraction would do at that stage would leave cavities for bacteria to build up in. He suggested using things like vet aquadent, plaque off, logic oral hygiene gel etc. Now Jess (who supposedly had no dental problems!) has shed 3 teeth since seeing the first vet!

It's very difficult to know who to trust when it comes to vets and if you are doing the right thing :(

How old are you cats?

My Devon Rex had severe gingivitis and over the years had all of his teeth extracted. He is 17 this year and I do think it has helped him to get to this age as any bacteria to affect the kidneys.

My suggestion would be to find a vet who is a dental specialist and see what they say.

It's one thing to have a scale and polish at the vets but obviously extractions mean they have to be under for longer.

Good luck with whatever you decide and hope all kitties are well.xxx
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis - Cruella

Post by catsrmylife »

Oh and Cruella, the raw chicken wings are great for their teeth - same with my old GSD, used to buy proper meat bones and his teeth defied his age! I get my cats raw chicken necks instead of the wings and they love them. Can't give them to my FelVs/FIV though as they are immune compromised :(
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by booktigger »

Buster has severe mouth ulcers (possible calici carrier ), at one point this year we couldn't open his mouth fully. The vet suggested Logic Gel and they are miles better, it has a nozzle to get directly onto the gum. He is the second cat with little or no teeth that still suffer with mouth ulcers, so removing teeth may not solve the problem
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Cussypat1974 »

Jimi's gingivitis was treated with liquid metronidazole (flagyl). It reduced inflammation and killed off any bugs that were causing it. it made no difference to the tartar of course. his gingivitis was likely caused by exposure to the panleukopenia virus as a youngster. He wasn't our cat then, so we had limited history on him. he had no bad teeth, so the vet reckoned any extractions would just cause more problems. My point was simply that dentals at the early stages of gingivitis can prevent real problems and severe pain later on. tartar build-up DOES cause gingivitis, as the toothpaste adverts keep on telling us!

i fed Jimi quite a bit of raw food. when he couldn't eat anything else, he could eat beef mince. wet food seemed to sting him, and he swallowed dry nuts whole, so they certainly didn't help clean his teeth.

for teeth health, I do thing raw chicken wings or necks are best, as they most closely resemble mice. i never see necks here though, but do feed raw whenever I can. I also give it to FIV+ cats, as they hunt anyway and the chicken I buy from tesco has a FAR smaller bacterial load than the rats and mice in the garden!

if cats are indoor only they won't have the same resistance to bugs in general, so feeding raw may have some risks. it is really a decision to make based on the individual cat I suppose.

i have never heard of logic gel! sounds like mighty stuff! what is in it? the reason we used the liquid metronidazole on Jimi was to squirt it all around his mouth and gums. he hated it!
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Catfan5 »

I bought chicken wings for all my lot to try and they took one sniff and walked off but they've never had raw food before. Even our latest ex stray who lived on mice etc, wasn't interested!
Beakers teeth looked okay apart from one tooth at the back where the gum line looked very inflamed around it, another two had dark pink lines along the gum line on both sides of the mouth and the third has pinkness on one side. They are 8years old. We are both unsure of our vet practice as all the old familiar vets have gone and been replaced by new french ones almost overnight! Bailey had been diagnosed with bronchitis by one of the old vets and the new vet referred her to a specialist vet who said the same thing and prescribed steroids which she was already on. Now three cats need dentals which hadn't been suggested before so we weren't sure if the old vets had missed it or the new ones are on a dental drive! Anyway we are taking their advice as we have no choice but to trust them, I'd hate to think we're putting them through unnecessary procedures..
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Re: Treating mild gingivitis

Post by Cussypat1974 »

A routine dental shouldn't involve extractions at all. The only point in extracting a tooth is if it is rotten, or broken and painful. The idea of it is to keep plaque at bay to AVOID inflammation of the gums, same as us brushing our teeth really!
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