Stomatitis/Feline Gingivitis

Welcome to TCS!

I have a fairly toothless bunch of kitties - 3 of mine have no teeth & 3 others have only a few teeth left. Not much fear of getting bitten here!

For everyone it will be different - for me I just went ahead & pulled the teeth of the cats in question. Most of my cats are related (bred on the farm before the farm cats were fixed), so it was a genetic factor amongst them. I talked to two different vets, who felt that the best option for my cats was dental extraction. We did try a few medications with little to no success (with Twitch the meds tried were 7 years ago - so I'm not exactly sure what we tried). On several of the cats due to age, the fact that they needed a dental otherwise, and cost - I went ahead & did dental cleanings rather than try anything else as they needed dentals - and told the vet to pull any teeth that looked half bad.

I did pay for a shelter kitty to have a full dental extraction done - she was 3 years old. It was a bit rough for her at first after the dental, but her purr-sonality really changed for the better once she recovered!

Now I know of members here who have had cats with dental issues that have staved off the need for dental extractions. Eventually the cats may need dentals done, but for now they are in good shape.

IMO - if you do a dental, have the vet extract all the teeth. I have one with just a few fangs left, and it bothers her & complicates eating for her.

I forgot to add in cost. Many years ago when Twitch had her extractions, it was at a very $$ vet, and then it cost $250 - no bloodwork included.

At my regular vet, I've done quite a few dentals lately. The most $$ one was $250 for Fafeena (who is 16 years old), and that included a full bloodpanel, and extras due to age.

However, the cost will vary greatly by area. I'd check around to see what different vets charge.

Hi there....
I also have a kitty with the same problem... Immune mediated gingivitis. My Bugsy needs the same surgery, but sadly I am unemployed so no $$$ to take him to the dentist for the surgery.
My cost will be about $800.
Nat lives in a very very very very cheap area - She is know to get everything for a fraction of the cost we mortals do!

But it sounds like you live in a very expensive one!

The dentist I am going to take Bugsy to, my vet's colleague, is a pioneer in the US in a treatment without surgery, and people travel from all over the US to get treated by him - this treatment costs about $600, and people swear by it... He is quite famous for it... Since he is regarded as one of the best oral surgeons in the country, and I am in an expensive neighborhood in Dallas, I would think that $600-800 is kind of a top price out there - I would not pay the thousands your vet is quoting you... no way Josey!
But quite frankly I don't know... Bugsy has Herpes too and any extra stress in a multi-step treatment can be a problem, so like Nat I think I am going for the Surgery and get over and done with it.
Meanwhile, I am keeping his immune system in check and watching him closely with his vet.
to your kitty!!!

Keep in mind that cheaper isn't always better. I have a cheap vet in town. He um, "missed" part of my dogs uterus when spaying her.

I'm also in a very rural area. While one benefit is cheaper vets, the drawback is that I don't have many options.

I would definitely recommend having all of the teeth pulled! Sure you will have to feed the cat only canned food or wetted down wet food for the rest of its life, but that will be much better than the pain it will have to endure if you don't! Trust me, there is no cure for stomatitis yet and no effective treatment aside from pulling all the teeth before they become too infected and painful to stand and cause granulated lesions to grow as well

I'm sure it will cost around $1,000, but at least you won't have to worry about future dental visits or other health-related problems associated with the teeth, right? I'd recommend calling around to the different veterinary offices in your area, see what their prices are, go tour their facilities, and see what you're comfortable with. As another poster mentioned, sometimes cheaper isn't always better.

This is not true, it seems to be a very common myth. I have several cats with no teeth, and a few who have one or two teeth left. They all eat a mixture of dry & wet diet - they get wet food 2x/day & free fed dry. And they eat the dry no problem, since cats swallow something like 70% of their food whole.

I agree to have the extractions done. You will be saving this kitty a life time of pain and repeat visits to the vet.

Cats do fine without any teeth. You'll be keeping him inside? And he will be able to eat kibble as well as canned, as cats rarely chew their food.

Of course a canned diet is better for him anyway.

Weclome to TCS, and hurray for you for adopting a special needs kitty.

Please do keep us updated on (what's his name?)

That was the first thing my vet assured me... Wet food would only be necessary during healing... After that he would be fine with dry, and actually even better that before, as his gums wouldn't be inflamed from the disease.

oh yeah sorry, I forgot about that, I'm so used to raw feeding and my kitties crunching away through drumsticks! So yeah true, they don't chew their dry food, so they could just swallow it whole I guess, that just seems so hard on the gut. Well kibble in general is anyway. Besides it will be easier on the healing gums if they have wet food and wet food is better for them anyway, so I'd recommend sticking with it. But if you still wanted to feed dry food, I guess you could.