feline with few teeth

my geriatric cat recently had dental work done and the vet said that some of his teeth just literally fell out. He only has three or four teeth left. The vet said she was unable to get out the roots in some and that he may have to go to a dental specialist for removal of the roots.
Is this unusual that a vet would not remove the roots?
Will I absolutely need to have the roots removed?
He started eating almost immediately after I brought him home from the dental (and he was nearly off food before that).
Also, the vet wants him on Clavamox -1 mg twice a day - until it's gone. He fights me quite a bit, so is the Clavamox really necessary?

Thanks in advance for any guidance,
Doris

Doris,

Dental disease for cats is quite serious. If the vet does not remove the root, the disease stays and keeps attacking the gums and the cat will become quite sick. The clavamox is an antibiotic and yes it is necessary to follow through and give your cat the whole dose, even if you think cat is doing better.

There is a recipe on here for kitten glop, you cat would probably appreciate it as food now, and it would be easy for him to eat.

This recipe is good for kittens and lactating queens.

1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
1 12 oz can goat's milk
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 teaspoons clear karo syrup
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 egg (optional)

Boil water, mix in gelatin. Add other ingredients and mix with beater or blender. Serve warm or chilled.

Can be frozen in ice cube trays and defrosted as needed


It should be served warm (not hot) at least room temperature. But with hardly any teeth, you cat would appreciate it I am sure.

Whoa!! Sounds like your vet should have reffered you to someone who could perform the surgery properly. It's true, they should have gotten all the roots while they were in there. Not only did they put your kitty at risk for infections, but now he will have to go under anestesia again.
I know it's hard to give them medication when they don't want it, but try your best to get him to finish it. Also, call another vet or two in the area to get thier input on the situation.

Due to lack of knowledge when I got my older cats, their teeth aren't as good as those of the younger cats who have been fed more raw food for their teeth.

Anyway, as a result, I've just spent a fortune treating my cat Eliot for an abscessed tooth. The infection got right into the root & caused an abscess. This in turn caused her to develop a weepy eye & a bloody nose. Vet removed her bad tooth (plus two more), and as I absolutely cannot pill my cats, I got injectible Baytril....it's absolute bliss after fighting them with pills for years. After 2 weeks she was still bleeding from the nose etc., so I took her back. Vet did an x-ray & found that she has a bone infection in her nose. Bone infections are quite hard to treat. She's now on a 3 week course of Baytril, and hopefully this will fix her up once & for all. So to sum up, YES your vet should have removed the root.

I'll probably get screamed at, but the latest research is that dry food is in fact BAD for cat's teeth, not good for them. There is research out by a vet called Deborah Greco (incidentally, she has also found a link between dry food & diabetes). There is an interesting article on this...

I feed mine dry as a treat now, it's no longer a part of their mainstream diet.

Julia.
http://www.petmed.com/cdiet.htm

My vet sent me a report a few months ago that dealt with this very subject. As a result of reading this report, I free feed dry for the outside wild cats, but my indoor outdoor cats now get wet food more than dry. There was also a correlation drawn between kidney disease and dry food as well. So again, it all goes down to individual choices and lifestyles. In the last 9 years, we have lost 5 cats to kidney disease, so I am trying this in the hopes to stop that type of loss. For us, there was nothing sadder than watching these magnificent creatures slowly lose control of their bodily functions and go downhill. Wet food is prohibitively more expensive, but when we weighed it against what we paid for vet care (including dental) it seemed worth it to us.

hissy, I'm sorry you lost so many cats. It is sad when they go before their time. I was just wondering, did these cats require dentals? I've spoken to many people who think that dentals are just a part of a cat's life, but really they shouldn't be. I'm asking this because I've heard it said that the bacteria in the mouth also get into the bloodstream & eventually end up causing added pressure on the kidneys. My crew are getting to the age (their ages range from 11 down) where this kind of problem is going to come up. Thankfully...from day one, they've always had a mixture of canned, dry & raw. But in the past 12 months, I've started feeding more raw.

I haven't heard of this correlation between dry food & kidney disease. I'd be interested to hear more on that topic.

Anyway, I realise there are a lot of people who are still opposed to raw, and I'm not here to tell people what's right & wrong. In Australia, it is the norm to feed RAW chicken necks or wings. Every vet here will tell cat owners to do so. Anyway, I was always pretty slack about it, but last year, I really got good & started feeding them 4 necks (I have 9 cats) every night. My Burmese who was getting close to needing a dental took to the necks, and his teeth have been turned around. The vet was absolutely amazed at the improvement in them.

A friend's vet said that since dry foods have become so popular here in Australia, he's seen a huge increase in dental problems I really hope that eventually this information will become common knowledge & people will realise that it's not as good as it's cracked up to be.

I was reading on another string you mentioned a friend grinding up chicken, I've thought about that, but I'm really not very good with bones & things (ewwwwwwwwwwwwww). Does she add anything to this mix? Ie: veggies etc?
Julia.