Dental Surgery on Cat (called Mouse) - YouLookFab Forum

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Dental Surgery on Cat (called Mouse)

Sal

Veteran

We have two cats. I don't talk about them a lot, although one of them (Batman) has featured in a few pics. Batman and Mouse are both 10 years old, sisters, and I got them as stray kittens, so they are what I call a "Moggie".

Batman (a girl - didn't you know) is getting too fat, and is on a diet, and has had issues with crystals in her urinary tract, but it is Mouse (her sister) that is causing us some worry at the moment.

Batman crawls all over us, and is very affectionate.

Mouse is a very shy and anti social cat. As a kitten she refused to be petted, and scratched us a lot. She likes our home, and tolerates me, but spends most of her time outside or away from the family. She loves her food. This summer we noticed she was losing weight, and letting her sister beat her up. We tried to catch her, but she hates going to the vet, and I had to cancel two appointments. She then seemed to be eating again, and then last week I seized my chance to catch her, take her to the vet, clawing at the cage and unhappily meowing all the way. The diagnosis was severe gingivitis, and the prognosis, uncertain. She has been on antibiotics and Hypo Allergenic food which has been partly (but not very) successful, but the vet is recommending $1000 dental extractions, which have the biggest chance of success. I have booked her in next week. He has advised that it is a very tricky condition and it can be a case of just managing it, rather than curing it. She has also had some blood tests for FIV and other issues.

I wondered if anyone had had a cat with these issues. I have done some online research but some of the advice tends to be towards cats that live indoors only (cleaning their teeth with a toothbrush for example), rather than for a cat that we care for, but who spends little time with our family.

Thanks in advance

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29 replies

Latest reply was from LACeleste

pil

Veteran

Poor little kitty, maybe feeling poorly has something to do with her stand offishness? I've no experience with cats, but can feel your pain about the cost of the veterinary dental work.

Sal

Veteran

Thanks Pil. She has been stand offish since a wee kitten, she never likes to sit in your lap, and avoids most of the family. If we have guests she never surfaces at all. She comes into the house to sleep though, especially in winter. She is not a hunter.

We are happy to pay for the surgery as I don't want her to be in pain - but hope it has a good chance of success!

Anonymous

I've been through dental issues with two cats. One of them had severe problems, and had to have most of his teeth removed (which, surprisingly, didn't slow down his eating at all). The other one was less severe, but he still had to have a lot of extractions. It hit me in the pocketbook pretty hard, but I couldn't bear the thought of them suffering from their bad teeth and gums. One of them had been rather aloof before his surgery, but afterward, he seemed a lot more mellow and affectionate, I guess because he just felt better. It's tricky with cats, because nature designed them not to display signs of pain, so I was glad my vet picked up on the problem during a regular checkup. Good luck with your sweet kitty!

Laurinda

Veteran

My indoor-only but-not-a-lap-cat! senior kitty became reluctant to let me touch her mouth or jaw and ended up needing molar extractions, running about the same in $US. (It required surgery under anesthesia, which explains the cost). After a few days of wet food only she was back to chomping down her preferred dry kibble -- I'm not sure how. She seemed more comfortable afterwards and ate a little better but had other overwhelming health issues. The vet tech gave me a kitty toothbrush with tuna?-flavored paste to try out with her, but mentioned that it is a rare cat that will allow teeth brushing.

rabbit

Veteran

I'm kind of on the verge of having to deal with this in the future. Our boy is only three, and the vet said he had mild gingivitis and recommended a cleaning (which is not much less than the price of the surgery).

A vet I asked for a second option a little later said to try dental food, and that she wouldn't worry about it yet if it was her own cat. So we are feeding him dental food (along with wet food). I've tried the kitty tooth brushing but so far it's just been him licking the paste off the brush and pulling back if I try to put anything further in his mouth like my finger or the brush. I've been trying to acclimate him by brushing my fingers along his gum line and opening up his gums a little (also to check them out) if I can when he's sleeping on my lap, this is how I got my cats to be okay with having their nails clipped -- gently handling their feet and extending their claws while they were napping.

This only works when you have a lap cat obviously though. I have seen on the blogs where raw food advocates collect that they say that certain kinds of bones are great for cleaning cat teeth when they chew on them, and they show before and after pictures of their cats' teeth on raw diets. Where I live you can now buy raw food premixed (since the taurine levels and such are really important) and frozen. I don't know if that might be something to investigate.

Anonymous

Sally, our little Maggie has this issue and has had a few extractions. When they did the first round, the X-rays showed an extra tooth growing under her gum that the vet said was probably causing her a lot of pain. Our vet said the same thing that Xtabay says above about cats being conditioned not to show pain. Since that tooth came out, Maggie has gone from being a terrorising minx who bullied her 'sister' mercilessly to a sweet little snuggler. We wish Mouse an easy surgery and speedy recovery.

Anonymous

My older female cat had a tooth extracted a few years ago at great cost (under anesthesia) and I never really understood why it was recommended . Of course I paid for it willingly as I would do anything for her, but then when this same vet made an offhand comment about my little boy cat's teeth...I began to wonder if this wasn't some "vet thing" and was it really necessary. Clearly I have nothing concrete to contribute here ....it's always a tough call when faced with these expenses and knowing if they are real or not.

Anonymous

Hmm, our cat is an indoor only one (apart from outdoors excursions on a harness), but he has had issues with both urinary crystals and teeth. Also he's been on a diet for the last 18 months. He's a lovely size now. Last year due to heavy plaque build up he had to have four teeth out. His remaining teeth aren't great either and I suspect he may have to have the rest out at some point. I figure he'll still be able to eat though. We actually have our cat insured, but that doesn't cover all dental expenses, so it was a fair old bill to pay!

I hope Mouse gets some relief soon. Poor little mite. Gingivitis must be very painful, so you may get more cuddles afterwards.

Anonymous

Btw, I couldn't get near our cat with a cat toothbrush!

Helen11

Veteran

Sally, it's often hard to decide what to do for our animal friends! Especially hard when you don't see those early signs of illness or discomfort in cats.
I hope she recovers well. Good luck!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I have never owned a cat, but I am wishing you luck with Mouse. Much love to both of you.

Sal

Veteran

Thanks for the moral support. We are proceeding with the surgery - I just hope it is successful. Apparently cats don't need teeth to eat quite happily.

I do have a feeling of guilt as I think I left the vet visit too long - I should have persevered in February when we first picked up the signs, but she did seem to improve and it is hard when she is so antisocial. I don't think Mouse has it in her to be a real house cat, but as she ages she is mostly softening. I was not aware that cats don't show pain.

Once we have this sorted we need to diet Batman.

Thanks for the support, I will let you know how surgery goes.

Anonymous

Please keep us posted, Sally. Mouse is fortunate to have such a caring owner.

Ginkgo

Veteran

We adopted two rescue cats who were brothers a few years ago (about 2 years old), and one of them was in terrible shape with an extreme allergic reaction to plaque on his teeth. The vet did a dental cleaning and also removed a few teeth and everything seemed okay for six months, then again he was obviously in pain and his gums were very inflamed around the remaining teeth. We then went to a veterinary dentist who removed all but two of his teeth ($2,300) and that has solved his problem, he eats with no problem and is very happy and lovable. He did take steroid pills for a while after the surgery; would this be a problem with your cat?

Sal

Veteran

The vet called today and confirmed that the blood tests were mostly clear although it is possible (but unlikely ) that a Thyroid factor is involved. They will take out as many teeth as they think they need to, possibly them all. We are personal friends with one of the vets and I trust their advice - it is not totally straight forward.

I think injections of steroids could be a possibility afterwards.

Surgery booked for next week!!

Summer

Veteran

I'm very late to reply, but I'm glad you got the surgery booked. I believe that many animals can manage perfectly well without teeth, so it sounds like the best option for Mouse. I hope all goes well for her, and that she makes a speedy recovery.

I once had a cat with much the same temperament as Mouse, behaving much like a feral cat. She preferred to sleep outside in the garage, and would sometimes attack us for no reason - my arms would be covered in scratch marks most of the time. My mother would have had her put down, but she knew I would never forgive her: I loved that animal despite all her vicious ways.

Louise

Veteran

My fur boy Marley only has around 7 teeth left in his head, through 2 lots of tooth removal procedures. Despite being on a special tooth diet since he was young he had severe gingivitis, it was so bad the vet only touched his gum and it bled and when she removed one of the teeth a hidden abscess burst. He's had 2 surgeries, the vet didn't want to remove healthy teeth so the worst teeth were removed in the first op however 12-18 months later he needed more removing. He was also tested for various things as immune diseases can cause gingivitis but he is all clear. He's had no ill effects from being practically toothless, he is still on Hills feline TD which is a dry food which is supposed to keep plaque and tartar at bay (works in my other cats) and he has wet food at night as he has suffered with recurrent feline urinary tract infections so needs the fluid from wet food. I've never attempted to clean his teeth as he's a grumpy git at times and I value my fingers too much to try it! He's a mostly indoor cat as he's lazy but does enjoy an amble round the garden occasionally x

Brooklyn

Veteran

I don't have much experience with this Sally but I hope it goes well. When I was younger we had a cat who was a bit feral and prone to scratching us and we loved him all the same. You are doing the right thing.

Colette

Veteran

I have never owned cats but my dogs have regular teeth cleanings. My Bailey only lost a few teeth throughout the course of his life and never suffered any dental disease. But Ginger, a rescue, came to us with severe dental problems, already missing many teeth and then lost nine more during her first dental cleaning. She has less than half her teeth and it doesn't slow her down in slightest. I hate that they have to undergo anesthesia for the procedure, but I have weighed the positives and negatives (continue to do so as well) and the positives win by a landslide. Dentals are expensive but we load them in our budget because just like humans, we really feel regular dental cleanings help our pets overall health and wellness.

Side note: I have read more and more that if your dogs and cats are on a raw diet, including raw meaty bones, they have little or no dental issues. I do not know anyone personally that feeds raw meaty bones so I do not know if this is true.

I hope it goes well!

rabbit

Veteran

Hope it goes well too!

This thread got me inspired and I did a little more research and found a local clinic that specializes in pet dental cleanings (with anesthesia and all the safety features), is highly rated, but has a low $200 rate US for the cleaning. My normal vet said a cleaning would start at around 670$ (during the 'sale' months) and go up for extractions. This dental clinic does extractions too and they are closer to the market rate, but for an initial visit for a young cat with mild gingivitis and some plaque it's a lot easier for me to swallow the initial rate especially if they end up only removing buildup. I heard you have to book far in advance too, but that works for my cat.

The only thing I'm unsure about is that if they do have to do extractions, one commenter said they do it in a separate visit, so the cat has to be under anesthesia two times. I'll call the clinic on Monday and find out the deal.

Louise

Veteran

Rabbit I wonder if that's a consent thing? When Marley had a scale and polish late last year the consent form was only for that so I asked if they could remove any other teeth they felt needed to go once they had a good look so we added that onto the bottom of the form and signed again, he's not good with anaesthetic and needs to be on a drip to keep his blood pressure stable so I didn't want 2 lots of anaesthetic just because they didn't have consent for tooth extraction.

rabbit

Veteran

That's a good point Louise, I'll ask. I'd want to give them consent of course to do further work if necessary while he's under.

Colette

Veteran

I give my vet pre-consent to do necessary extractions. It's a standard part of the consent form and our discussion when I bring my guys to have the procedure. My vet meets with me to go over everything beforehand. I have a great relationship with him and trust that he is only doing what is absolutely necessary and not just 'building the bill'.

Sal

Veteran

Back from the vet, with no teeth behind the canines. She is a little confused and erratic, and has to spend the night indoors. Mouse is avoiding me as I have had to trick her to get her to the vets. She looks okay though and has coped with the surgery. Hopefully it cures some of her problems although it sounds like almost an auto immune disorder where the cats become slightly allergic to their own teeth.

Thanks for the support all. I will snap a pic of Mouse soon to share, she is very pretty cat.

Now I need to diet her sister who is looking very portly.

Helen11

Veteran

Glad she coped ok with the anaesthetic. I hope she comes good for you all. My dog had some dental work last week, and I had to admit I felt ill when the vet rang during the surgery. But it was just to get consent to remove another couple of teeth that they had not known were an issue.

FWIW, he's probably 14, and had always had been told his teeth were in good shape on his regular check ups. I do feed them a primarily raw diet with lots of bones. I like to think that's helped.

Poor Mouse, tricked twice to go to the vet, and now stuck inside! I bet she will be right in the morning, though. I hope her sister doesn't steal her rations!

pil

Veteran

Hope she feels better soon and doesn't hold a grudge!

Anonymous

Oh, I'm so glad Mouse coped with surgery ok. She'll soon bounce back.

Re dieting your other cat. We had Bilbo on a diet the last two years...we just slowly cut back his food. We had to go for regular weigh-ins at the vets and one time when he plateaued out a bit we tried a diet food which is slower at digesting, but it gave him bowel related problems, so I just cut back more on his usual food. When we first got Bilbo 2.5 yrs ago, I had no clue about feeding a cat and grossly over fed him...I know better now. He's a fab shape/size now and bounds up our stairs two at a time!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I am dreadfully late here, Sally, but I wanted to say that I'm glad Mouse is okay!

Dental health is one of those subjects that I think was generally ignored in the past (where pets are concerned) but is becoming much more of a "thing" as they realize how important it is to overall health. Our cat had an expensive cleaning last year under anaesthesia. They told me to brush his teeth myself afterwards. HA!!! Dream on. I just had him in for his checkup, though, and his teeth seem to be holding up okay for now. I expect he will need repeated cleanings.

It is great that you know the vets. I think this helps with the trust factor. It is scary to put a beloved animal under anaesthetic.

LACeleste

Veteran

Hi Sally, So glad this is behind you and Mouse. My cat Hailey (profile pic) was diagnosed with Stomatitis, which is (I think) the autoimmune disease you mention. She had all teeth behind canines out this past November. I was a wreck. Her health is greatly improved but healing took some time(2 months). My fingers are crossed for an excellent outcome for your Mouse.