Griffin had many teeth extracted today - worried...

I haven't posted on here recently, but I'm worried about my Griffin. He went to the vet today for a dental cleaning, and I just got a call from the vet telling me that they had to extract almost all of his back teeth. He is only 4 years old, and I feel like a horrible kitty mom for not taking better care of him. I have tried off and on to brush his teeth, but never stuck with it because he was increasingly resistant to it. (Now I know why - his mouth must have been hurting him so badly!)

The vet said that at Griffin's young age, the state of his teeth was pretty much "worst case scenario". He will come home later this afternoon on antibiotics and pain killers. The vet did ask me if he had my permission to run a test for Feline Leukemia/FIV, since he said severe dental problems can occur in cats with those diseases. So I am anxiously awaiting the results of that. All of Griffin's preanesthesia bloodwork came back normal, so I am hoping he is just predisposed to dental disease and nothing worse.

Please send some vibes to my kitty for health and healing! Thank you.

Thanks for all your vibes and encouragement. His FeLeuk/FIV test came back negative, thank goodness. He lost 9 teeth today. 7 of them were surgically extracted, and 2 of them apparently were just kind of dangling there in the gum tissue so the vet just tugged them out. He came home kind of groggy, but doesn't seem to have an upset stomach or anything. When I let him out of his carrier, he stumbled directly to where his food dish usually is, so apparently he must not be too nauseated!

He will be on strictly wet food until he is all healed up. He has a liquid pain medicine that I have to squirt on his gums twice a day, and clavamox tablets that I have to give him twice a day. Not sure how the tablets are going to go - I've never had to pill him before, and I am nervous about trying to get it down his throat without hurting his poor mouth. I'm going to offer him a little wet food now, let that settle awhile if he eats, and then give it a try.

Even with the horrible day he had, all the staff at the vet's office kept telling me what a sweet cat he is, and how tolerant. The groomer always says the same thing. He is such a good boy.

The vet urged me to try to do daily tooth care to try to preserve the teeth he has left, but he did say that it is probably likely that Griffin will lose more teeth as he ages. I am worried about Bastian now (they are littermates); at their check up last month, the vet said Bastian does have some teeth issues, but he was hopeful I can get it under control with home care. He reiterated that today, and told me to really stick with it for a month and then bring the boys in, and he will check on our progress for no charge.

So I will have to work on finding a way to get their toothpaste on their teeth every day. (Vet told me that brushing isn't absolutely necessary, and that if I can start by just applying some toothpaste with my finger that it should help.) I am also trying to calm my husband down after I told him how much the vet bill was - he about had a stroke.

I felt so bad for Griffin last night. He tried to eat his wet food, but after a few bites he acted like he was choking or something and was slobbering all down the front of himself. Then he acted like he was scared and wouldn't eat anymore. He did much better eating this morning though - he ate most of his plate of food, and while it was a little bit messy around his mouth he didn't seem bothered by anything.

I was nervous about giving him the clavamox tablets, but he is swallowing those with no problem. It is the liquid pain med that is a struggle. I have basically been just seperating his lips on either side and trying to squirt it on his rear gums, because he will NOT sit still with his mouth open, even wrapped up in a towel. It went better this morning than it did last night though.

Thanks again for your replies!

Yes, I knew he wasn't supposed to swallow it, but it is still difficult to get it in the right place when he is trying to thrash around! He is getting better about it now though - or maybe I am just feeling more confident about it so I can get it done faster! Thanks for the vibes.