Questions about teeth.

[OwnedByACat]

I just picked Patches up from the vet today, after having been there the last couple days, and having dental surgery. She began acting very finicky monday night, and refusing to eat, or show any interest. Tuesday she was somewhat lethargic, but yet she ate a couple good meals. I had a hard time figuring her out, because it's been very hard to find something she'll eat since we lost our rabbit meat supplier.

(btw, I'm getting my first delivery from the new supplier on the 27th! Yay! If all goes well, it will get hand delivered door to door every 6 weeks.)

By tuesday night I knew for sure she was not feeling well, so wed morning I called the vet, and they got her in at 3:00. When the vet opened her mouth, I could immediately see what was wrong, her gum on the top right was all swollen, she had a tiny bit of blood in her mouth, and her fang was cracked off at the gum line, with root exposed. The vet said she had quite a bit of tarter also, and she was just cleaned 10 months ago.

I made arrangements to leave her overnight wed, to have surgery on thursday. They put her on antibiotics right away, and already by thursday she was looking better.

The vet says she just has bad teeth, but she's only 9! She's missing quite a few, and we seem to be having more issues like this. Not more than 4 months ago, I found another of her fangs on the couch. I guess I'm curious if there's anything that I can do to lesson the chances of having to put her through this again, or at least any time soon?

Something that struck me as odd, when I picked her up this morning, the vet tech said this was nothing I did by feeding her kibble right now, she just has bad teeth. I was feeling quite bad, because I thought since I couldn't get her to eat any wet foods since we lost the rabbit meat, and I was feeding her kibble, it was my fault. She said no, and went on to say that feeding kibble is actually better for them, and for their teeth! Huh??

So, I'm confused! Why would she say this? Is there something I maybe don't know about kitties with bad teeth? Any information would be appreciated!

[shicagah]

My opinion, it may just be genetically bad teeth. Some human's are unfortunate enough to have it as well; i know my aunt is.

Kibble really doesn't do much for teeth and overall, isn't as beneficial as wet food. Most cats tend to scarf down kibble whole anyway, if you've ever noticed your cat throw up and it has been whole pieces of food.

That's just imo, however, and I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in.

[Heidi n Q]

I think incorrect information about kibble is abundant in the professional cat healthcare world. Maybe chewing the kibbles could promote strength in the root, but it cannot clean their teeth like biting through meat and scraping against bone when eating small prey. Dry also sticks to wet while wet/wet slides off and doesn't remain behind to trap bacteria against the teeth. I notice our own cats don't really 'chew' kibble, it usually gets swallowed whole with minimal crunching. I purchase dry food in rounded shapes w/ no edges/corners to irritate tissue when swallowing whole.
I've had two toothless cats. With both, there was simply nothing to be done to save their teeth. One had a medical issue (all molars pulled) and the other is suspected genetics (has some molars but has lost all canines). Neither had trouble eating canned or kibble.

[OwnedByACat]

Thanks Heidi and shicagah........appreciate it! I guess we just let it be, keep and eye on her eating habits, and keep doing what we're doing then.

She's doing much better today though, and eating very well. Yay!

[sephi]

my 14 year old siah( over the bridge) had very bad teeth pretty much all his life, he almost lost all of them by age of 12. he was going to vet almost every year for teeth cleaning but no help! it is genetic issues most of time and he never ate can cat food!!
my white mix cat name sephi is 4 years old and he has been to vet twice since he was a kitten for teeth cleaning and each time the vet said that his teeth and gums are in excellent shape! i do clean his teeth twice a week with special tooth paste.

[marie73]

I remember the vet telling me Cinderella's teeth needed cleaning.....10 months after I'd just had them cleaned.

Some cats just have bad teeth.

Glad to see she's doing better.

[kwarendorf]

There is also something called resorption. They don't know what causes it, so they don't know how to prevent it. The teeth just start eating/dissolving from the inside out. I have a 4 year old female that lost 5 teeth and had another 9 extracted.

[JulieC]

My 4 year old foster has lots of tartar and not the teeth of a 4 year old. The majority of the cats she was rescued with had major dental issues (surgeries and tons of teeth pulled) due to bartonella (fleas) which in turn caused plasma cell stomatitis or lymphoplasmacytic stomatitis (LPS). Sometimes the cause of LPS is unknown, which it probably the case with your kitty. A lot of this is new research/theory, so older vets might not be familiar.
Here is a link.
Plasma Cell Stomatitis

[OwnedByACat]

Thank you very much for the information.

Julie, I'm going to be checking out that link tomorrow. Thank you!

[marie73]

Very cool signature and avatar, Geri!!