Toothless cat?

My cat has a chronic bad breath and drooling problem. I took her to the vet and he said that the cat had bad teeth and likely would need two visits to remove most or all her teeth from each side. The vet says it is likely eosiniophilic plasmocytic gingivitis. 

I have some questions and concerns (The vet already answered them, but I still would like to throw it out there for second opinions.):

-- Is being toothless as psychologically demoralizing and personality altering for a cat as declawing? 

-- How will her eating be affected? 

Cats don't seem to suffer with being toothless as they don't have a self-image problem like people do.  Once their mouth has healed they seem to be able to eat just about anything including the one I saw swallowing a whole mouse, head first!  It was a very small mouse and he did have his canines.

Suspect your cat will be like a new younger cat once his uncomfortable mouth is dealt with.

Plus, unlike declawing which is done solely for the owners, removing teeth is done for the cat's sake.

My alpha cat Stumpy has all of his teeth removed because of a disease called Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Gingivitis Stomatitis (LPGS). When he first got the condition, my vet also called it eosiniophilic plasmacytic gingivitis. I'm not sure if that is an abbreviated name for the same condition. Realize that the only way to truly diagnose this is through a surgical biopsy, and we did that before we started down the path of having his teeth removed.

LPGS is an auto-immune disease that cannot be cured, it can only be controlled by the removal of teeth. I belonged to a yahoo group for this specific disease and some cats simply never get better, even after complete tooth extraction. All require ongoing preventative care and/or medications for the rest of their lives even after the extraction. My Stumpy had all of his teeth nearly 6 years ago and is still doing great at age 17. He takes a steroid (prednilisone) every other day and has been on it for the last 6 years. He's actually gained weight in spite of the fact that he has no teeth. Cats really don't chew kibble anyway - they simply suck it down. He has no issues with eating. He's still alpha cat, so when he nips at the other cats in warning, he is simply gumming them and the other cats still react to him as if he had teeth. His personality only changed when he first got the disease and was in pain. Since the extractions, he's totally back in his "large and in charge" way.

Do the biopsy to see if your kid really has LPGS. If it is positive, make sure that your vet is a good dental surgeon, or find a cat dental specialist. Cat teeth are very fragile and tend to break up when removed. If any tooth fragment remains in the gums, the condition will return in that place. If he has the condition and you don't remove his teeth, he will get in so much pain that he will stop eating and you will lose him. If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't hesitate.

I have several kitties who have had their teeth pulled. After the initial surgery, they've all been much better off. They can eat better - both wet & dry food w/o any problems.

My aunt and uncle had a cat whose teeth had to be removed due to tooth decay, and that cat never noticed the difference. He was a big lazy tub of a cat, though (identical to Garfield, down to being 25 lbs when he should have been 12ish), so I'm not sure if anything could have changed his temperment. Judging from what it looks like when my cats throw up, even when they have teeth they rarely use them. I see full kibble bits in there all the time. I'm always yelling at my younger cat for not chewing his bigger treats before inhaling them. He certainly wouldn't mind not having any teeth.

@Momofmany:

I searched for Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Gingivitis Stomatitis (LPGS) and found this:

http://www.dentalvet.com/vets/cats/LPGS.htm

Some of the symptoms listed my cat has, but she definitely does not have dysphasia(loss of communication skills) or weight loss. Does anyone know if symptoms are either/or or if they have to be all or none? 

Also I must add that my cat does appear to have very bad teeth. Infact I first adopted her because I felt sorry for her due to her pathetic state. The shelter nicknamed her Fangs because I adopted her with this problem, she had receded gums which made her canines look extra long.

I would say that with most "diseases", not all symptoms are a "must".  But as you pointed out in your initial post, your Vet didn't say it WAS eosiniophilic plasmocytic gingivitis, just that it likely is.  But since you agree that her teeth are very bad, and your main question was if it would affect her quality of life, that's still your main issue, correct?  There are many cats on this site who have no teeth and don't even realize it .  It's amazing to me how some of them can even chew on raw meat without any teeth!   But I've heard that they do .

If it were me, I wouldn't worry about having them pulled, but you could always get a second opinion if you're worried because your baby doesn't have all the symptoms.

Thrasymachus said:

@Momofmany:
I searched for Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Gingivitis Stomatitis (LPGS) and found this:
http://www.dentalvet.com/vets/cats/LPGS.htm

Some of the symptoms listed my cat has, but she definitely does not have dysphasia(loss of communication skills) or weight loss. Does anyone know if symptoms are either/or or if they have to be all or none? 

Also I must add that my cat does appear to have very bad teeth. Infact I first adopted her because I felt sorry for her due to her pathetic state. The shelter nicknamed her Fangs because I adopted her with this problem, she had receded gums which made her canines look extra long.

Click to expand...

Stumpy's teeth looked fine but his gums looked horrible. He did not have dysphasia and at first had no weight loss. He lost about 3 pounds over the course of the year while we were getting his illness diagnosed, then under control. Once all of his teeth were gone (we did it in 2 surgeries 6 months apart), he gained all his weight back then some. So no teeth definitely doesn't prevent them from eating. Having a sore mouth does.

Momofmany said:

I belonged to a yahoo group for this specific disease and some cats simply never get better, even after complete tooth extraction. 

Click to expand...

Momofmany - do you still belong to this group? If so, can you direct me to it? My cat Missy had LPGS and I had to have all her teeth extracted last May. I would really appreciate being able to connect with other cat owners who have faced this, so any information is much appreciated.

I will confirm the others who've said that having the teeth extracted is a GOOD thing for the cat and avoids much pain and illness for them in the long run.  My vet hadn't planned to extract her teeth that soon - he was planning to do a tooth cleaning and perhaps need to pull 3-4 molars, but when he got in there, her gums were shredded and the teeth were pretty much falling out on their own. It was a traumatic experience (mostly for me!) but she was a trooper and within two days, was already bathing her brothers and "gnawing" while doing so - obviously feeling much better. She's back to her playful, diva self, and I haven't regretted it for a minute!

Our boy has about 90% of his teeth removed for a few different health reasons.  His lack of teeth have no effect on his ability to eat wet or dry food.  Good luck!!