Question:
My 8 year old female cat has developed a terrible gum problem. She has
always had good teeth and gums until about 6 months ago. I have had her
teeth cleaned and she is on Antirobe drops for the infection and
Prednistone, which is an anti-inflammatory steriod. Neither has seemed
to have had much effect.
The condition is not clearing up, and she is in obvious pain from it.
She is eating less and losing weight. A recent trip to the vet resulted
in her screaming in agony when the vet tried to open her mouth a little
wider than usual to get a better look. The back area of her gums is
horribly red and inflamed.
The vet has recommended removing all of her teeth behind the front
fangs. He has done this before and says it offers the best chance of
preventing her immune system from continuing to attack the gums, since
the objects which would trap food and bacteria would be gone. He says
she will be able to eat and function fine.
I want to end her suffering from this problem as soon as possible, and
based on the evidence and information I have received, this seems like
the only option, however, it really scares me. These are her teeth,
after all, and I don't want to put her through some drastic, irreperable
procedure unless I am sure she will be able to function okay afterward.
I mean...she LIKES having teeth! Gosh!
Answer:
If you can afford it and if the vet can do it, go for it (and read
other opinions too, of course, especially about the necessity of the
thing). Lots worse things can happen to a cat. Stick around and read
about them. I suppose she would be eating soft food afterwards.
Maybe a liquid diet (including fiber) right after the surgery?
Your cat has an auto-immune disease called lymphocytic plasmacytic
stomatitis. It is often a symptom of an underlying chronic viral infection
such as Feline Herpes. My cat Boots has the same problem. When we adopted
him he weighed 7 lbs and the gum erosion had gone all the way down his
throat. He was in a great deal of pain and taking a lot of cortisone. You
and your vet need to talk about Interferon. We have had Boots on it now for
3 years. He has lost no teeth and now weighs 14 lbs. Aside from frequent
teeth cleaning, Interferon and Antiroble once a day, he acts like normal
cat. I have a page on Interferon and Stomatitis which you might find
helpful. I wrote it after learning about Interferon and I wanted other
people to know how successful our vet has been in getting this disease under
control, and to encourage people to talk to their vets about Interferon.
When we began the protocol 3 years ago, few vets had heard of it. Now there
are many more, but there are still some who don't understand how to use it.
There are several links at the bottom of the page which will also give you
additional information on stomatis and Feline Herpes. I hope this helps.
Here's the link:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/stomatitis.html
