cat teeth

I have already made my appointment to the vet, but I want to ask if any of you encountered this:

I suddenly noticed, that Timon (my short hair gray prince) has a some how crooked his lower-front tooth (forgive me If I don't use the correct terminology...). When I looked closely, not only that his front tooth is all croocked and almost out, it seems like he has lost 2-3 teeth!!!!! I was shocked, and immediately called my vet.

Could this be a gum infection? how didn't I notice this? I usually ditect every slightest little change in my babies, but this looks like it didn't just happen yesterday. Can cats live happily without their lower teeth?!?!?! Im really concerned.

Oh boy... I feel like such a bad mom... Poor Timon

I dont know what to say about your kitty but my moms cat Mitzi has very few teeth left and still eats ok. She had a lot of her teeth out she only has a few molars in the back.She is an older kitty. Missing a few teeth shouldent be a problem. I hope he is ok. I wonder what could of happened.

awww I don't know but I hope the little guy willl be okay!

Your kitty is right now. If he is about 6 months old he could be loosing his baby teeth. Are you brushing your kitties teeth? When was his last cleaning?

well, Timon is 2 yrs old. I brush his teeth gently every few months, and I think don't handle it very well... (he's very rough when it comes to grooming of any kind). So I wanted to take him to a teeth treatment at the vet.

I have no idea what happened. I have an appointment with the vet next week. Im glad to hear, though, that cats can be happy with less teeth!

By the time Ted's mom's cat died she only had about 4 teeh left.

Hi Nunny!

My babies are not too crazy about teeth brushing either.

When i groom them, i rub their teeth with their mini soft washcloth, which has been dampened with warm water. i rub their teeth very gently all over. i do this almost every day, especially after they eat their wet foods. i even clean their tongue very gently.

They get their teeth brush with a mini toothbrush several times a week with a pet toothpaste.

Yeah, i don't blame your kitty for not enjoying teeth brushing. i suspect all kitties don't enjoy that either! :LOL: However, it is actually for their benefit that we do it. i think it is all a matter of habit. My babies don't struggle much, as it is part of their grooming regiment.

Smiles!

Cheers!

Hey, your idea is something I can definately try! They are not going to like it, Im sure, but maybe they won't struggle that much...

Thanks!

Nunny,

As I discovered, it is not at all uncommon for cats to lose their teeth. My husband's cat lost all of his front lowers, and several back ones. My advice would be to stay on top of the issue and have a good chat with your vet. Specifically, you may want more frequent gum checks to watch for infection or absessing.

Unfortunately, we discovered all of this information about my husband's cat a little too late. One morning his face was swollen, so off to the emergency clinic. They pulled the absessed tooth. A few weeks later when he finally went to the vet for a routine visit (please, I'd been nagging my husband and finally took his cat in with mine - suffice to say my husband and I have slightly different theories about how we handle our cats) he needed more teeth out because his gums were just rotten. The vet even pulled his front canine teeth because the gums were so bad.

Now, the cat is struggling. So, please do just have a good heart-to-heart with the vet. If I had known sooner, I would've reacted much sooner. Good luck!

Hi,
Does the Vet know what causes the trouble with the teeth? I wonder what we could do to try and prevent this from happening.
Thanks, Ruth

Well, my vet has two theories:
1 - what I was thinking, a gum infection (although Timon is not in pain at all)
2 - Something I havent heard before: He might have a disease in which his body rejects the teeth as if they were foreign-objects (like they were implants or something).

this is something I am not familiar with. The Vet is going to do complete check-up on Sunday, and I will know better. I sure will keep my eyes more open from now on.

Yup, yesterday the vet to my house, and checked Timon's teeth. She said there was nothing to worry about.
What she explained was, that the cta's family are all carnivores (spelling??), and that they all have those lower teeth to rip-off the meet after they kill. And house cats, don't need those, so for some cats, the teeth just slowly fall out.

I was so relieved... Timon is doing great!!!!!!

I wanted to thank everyone for sharing their experience and knowledge