Oreo Sore Throught

Hello all,

About four or five weeks ago, at the end of November, my 8 year old cat (had him for about 7 years), Oreo was in discomfort.  He was constantly opening and closing his mouth while circling his tongue around it (sort of how a dog would react to getting gummybears stuck.)  When purring, I noticed that he would constantly swallow.  Then we noticed a couple times he tried to vomit, but only mucus came out.  He was very lethargic.

We took him to the vet and they said there was noting stuck in his throat but saw a sore - and said that it could be anything from feline HIV/Leukemia to an infection.  They sent me home with some antibiotics, and took some blood.  Boy was I nervous, but his blood thankfully came out negative to HIV/Leukemia.  During the week's dose of antibiotics, we noticed an improvement, but when it ran out, we noticed him getting worse again. 

After another visit, they were telling me how it could be that he is allergic to the tarter on his teeth.  They did a cleaning (they said there wasn't much there), and gave me a larger dose of antibiotics specifically for oral infections.  They told me if things didnt get better, Oreo may need all of his teeth extracted..  Personally I feel they are jumping to that conclusion way too early.  They never even asked me if I changed his food recently or anything along those lines.

So after a week of giving him the oral antibiotics, we've noticed a very big improvement with Oreo (more energetic, no more trying to vomit or paw at his mouth).  Then I went on vacation for a week, and came back yesterday.  He still seems pretty good, but I noticed today that when he was purring, he was doing the hiccup/swallowing thing again.  He's not really showing signs of discomfort, but I'm afraid it will return.

I've thought about changing his food.  Currently I'm feeding him Wellness canned food.  I've been feeding him Wellness this since the beginning of November - before that, he was getting 9lives canned.  Could it be the switch to Wellness that sparked this - as in, could he be allergic to something in Wellness?  Could it take a month for these allergies to make themselves apparent?  I am a bit nervous to begin switching foods until I see the vet again, because I do not want to have too many variables.  If they give me another dose of antibiotics, I would not know if he just needed the second dosage, or if the change in food was what helped him.

I know this is a long read, but Oreo has been my pal for a long time, and I want him to feel better without removing all of his teeth...  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Richard

Edit- Seems that I cannot edit the title.  Let me fix that typo here... throat*.  I promise you, I have a college degree ------ in Art. 

Honestly, I would seek a second opinion. You are correct, leaping to removing all of his teeth is entirely too extreme and there is no way I would let a vet touch my cat again that had suggested that on our second visit. 

There are many issues that can occur in the throat/mouth, including cancer, abscessed teeth (which obviously your cat doesn't have coming off a teeth cleaning), or many other numerous possibilities. 

I strongly suggest a new vet. 

RAFM said:

Honestly, I would seek a second opinion. You are correct, leaping to removing all of his teeth is entirely too extreme and there is no way I would let a vet touch my cat again that had suggested that on our second visit. 

There are many issues that can occur in the throat/mouth, including cancer, abscessed teeth (which obviously your cat doesn't have coming off a teeth cleaning), or many other numerous possibilities. 

I strongly suggest a new vet. 

Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply RAFM.  To be fair, the front desk lady was the one saying all of this.  I assume is coming from the Doc, but who knows.  I am still hoping that they are leaving that as a last resort, and just mentioned it as a possibility - but I will probably know more about their thoughts at the next appointment. I'll hold off on my judgement until I feel that they want to go ahead with that conclusion.

If they do come to that conclusion solidly, I will most definitely go for a second opinion.  

With that-- does anyone recommend a vet in Brooklyn, NY?  Hopefully an affordable one, but not at the expense of bad practice.

Thank you,

Richard

Oh, it was the front desk lady....that makes it an entirely different story.  Because they hear bits and pieces of a lot of cases they start putting things together, oftentimes incorrectly, and scare pet owners. On the next visit with your vet, if he does not mention removing the kitty's teeth, I would let him know what was told to you by the person up front. It is completely inappropriate for that person to provide you with medical advice or treatment options. Any reputable vet will nip that in the bud very quickly. 

Good luck on the next appointment and let us know how it goes. 

It's a pretty small operation.  Most of the time I just see her and the vet.  She is usually the one who relays the information to me.  I'll keep things posted.

Thanks again.

Ok so my girlfriend too Oreo to the vet today.  They say he is looking better, and gave another week of antibiotics.  I am very happy with this news!  :-)

 I'm glad things are OK. keep an eye on the guy....they know how to give a good scare!

I'm glad to hear that the antibiotics are helping and hope that your baby continues to heal.

The disease that causes a cat to be allergic to their own saliva is called Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Gingivitis Stomatitis (LPGS). My Stumpy has this disease and they did ultimately have to remove all of his teeth (2 separate surgeries about 6 months apart). If the condition returns and your vet continues to push to have Oreo's teeth removed, you need to know a couple things about the disease.

1) The only way to accurately diagnose the disease is thru a physical biopsy of the gum tissue. Don't have any extractions if you only suspect he has this disease. Ask for the biopsy.

2) You can start with extractions in the area where the gums are most inflamed, and that may hold the disease at bay for a while. LPGS is an auto-immune disease that will not go away. Even if you pull some teeth, it can return to other parts of the mouth and you will need to eventually extract all of his teeth.

3) Cats teeth are very fragile and often splinter when they are being extracted. If any teeth fragments remain in their mouth post surgery (actually very common), the disease will return to those spots. If your vet isn't a good dental surgeon, find a dental specialist.

4) There are cases of this disease where even after all the teeth were removed, the disease spreads into their throats. A vet will recommend laser surgery at this point to cauterize the bad spots. I belong to a forum on this disease and I've not heard of a single cat that went thru this procedure without grueling pain afterwards. The odds that it will help are slim and I highly recommend avoiding this.

5) Cats with this disease are put on long term steroids. My Stumpy takes 5mg prednilisone tablet every other day and will do so for the rest of his life. He's been on them for 5 years now. The only adverse effect from this is that pred will lower their immunity a bit and he ends up with some infection about once a year which we treat with antibiotics. Cats tolerate pred very well and you shouldn't be afraid of it.

6) Stumpy has been without teeth for 5 years now. It has not slowed him down when it comes to food and in fact, after losing a lot of weight when he first got this disease, he's gained it all back with a vengence.

I truly hope that you don't have to go thru this, but if you do, be prepared for it and know what you are getting Oreo into. It's easily managed, even if very frustrating.

Sending vibes.

Thanks RAMF

And thank you for all of that information Momo.  I really hope thats not the case, but if it is, it's good to know that its manageable.  I really appreciate the time you put into all of the information.