Question:
Our vet just showed me that our five year old cat is developing gingivitis in
certain areas of her gums due to the way her teeth fit. Apparently the teeth
rub against the gums. He said the gingivitis could be controlled by periodic
cleanings (he did not think the condition was bad enough to warrant a cleaning
until next year) but not cured--unless we wanted to consider braces! (joke).
I wonder if anyone has experience with this. Our vet said since the condition
is congenital and not caused by tartar build up--her teeth are clean--a change
of diet or supplements wouldn't help. Her teeth don't seem to bother her.
Still, I wish I could think of something that might help. Also, if anyone has
also had this situation, what is the prognosis? I wonder if when she is older,
she is likely to start losing teeth.
Answer:
Yes, some cats are more prone to gingivitis, the same as some people are, in my
case it's because I have poly cystic kidney disease.
As for the braces, we had one of our cats to a DVM dental specialist last summer
for extensive dental work ( no we didn't get her braces ), but I'm sure for a
price we could have had braces.
I suppose braces might be something a breeder showing cats might use.
This dental clinic is in great demand, they serve AB, BC, and a large part of the
northwestern US.
I've got a cat with teeth problems, but it doesn't sound like the same
kind of situation. I had to take her to a dental specialist to get
the teeth pulled, since it was such a major undertaking. (They pulled
two-thirds of them, drilled out the roots, and had to sew the gums
back together.) You could ask for a referral to a dental specialist
to see what they think of the situation. They might have some options
your vet doesn't know about.
I'm puzzled ! If the problem isn't caused by tartar build up how would
cleaning the teeth periodically help ? I've heard of cats developing
gingivitis some months/years after they've had a cat flu infection
(Calcivirus I think- the brain cell that usually deals with this sort
of info is asleep at the moment ) and it's treated by removing
some or all of the teeth and/or steroid medication
Well, our vet said he would consider pulling teeth only as a last resort. I had
always noticed that my cat's canine teeth extend down over the gumline and sort
of poke into her lip, but it didn't seem to be doing any harm and there wasn't
any irritation of the gumline apparent when she was younger. I think that's
what the vet was trying to show me, although I'm not sure. I did see reddening
around the gums on the bottom teeth. I take it he means some sort of
malocclusion but it is apparently not bad enough to keep her from chewing
properly.
You know, I just read that in dogs, some kinds of malocclusions can be caused
by tug of war games. I wonder if this happens to cats--because our cat does
like try to pull toys out of our grip and she will tug quite hard if we let
her. I always tell my husband not to let her pull too much because she'll pull
a tooth out--but it never occurred to me there might be some truth in it!
