My experience with dentals and FORL (resorptive lesions)

amandamariec

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Messages
16
Purraise
1
I wanted to write this post about my recent experience to help anyone looking for advice on dentals for their kitty and Feline Oral Resorptive Lesions!

About 3 months ago my sweet kitty lost his front tooth. I was in shock! A few months earlier his vet said at his check up that he "might" need a dental soon, but did not indicate anything terrible or urgent. 

In hindsight I can see the warning signs... kitty was taking longer to eat and would go under the bed after he was done eating. It seems so obvious now that those were signs of pain, but cats are so good at masking pain that I didn't notice the difference. 

Anyway, I brought kitty to the vet after he lost this first tooth, not know what was wrong. My vet said that he needed a dental so I scheduled it right away. I never had any problems with my vet so I didn't really question it.

At this dental the vet (or vet tech) removed two more teeth and they did a cleaning. I figured that would be it!

Fast forward 3 weeks. Kitty seemed like he was in even more pain. I brought him to a new vet who said his mouth still looked inflamed and that she thinks he has FORLs. This new vet tells me that the last vet did not have a machine to take x-rays of the cat's mouth and without these x-rays you can't tell if a) they removed all of the teeth (some could be stuck under the gums) and b) they can't tell if they have FORLs. 

So, having this new info, I booked an appointment with a veterinary dentist. Thankfully, I live in a big city so there was a veterinary dentist nearby. This is probably hard to find if you live somewhere more remote. If you can't find a veterinary dentist near you, please make sure that your vet takes dental x-rays if you are getting a dental done!

I felt terrible I had to bring my baby in for another dental. Hopefully this post will save you that hassle! But thankfully, a few weeks after the second dental  (5 more teeth pulled and the dentist said at the first dental they didn't get all of one of the teeth out that they pulled!), I'm happy to say his recent check up from my new vet went great. The vet said his mouth looks all healed up!

In short, if you cat is having any dental problems, seek out a veterinary dentist or make sure that your vet does dental x-rays!

I hope this info helps someone else!
 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,391
Purraise
7,130
Location
Arizona
Very helpful.  Thank you


I hope your furbaby is doing well now and doesn't have any future issues with his teeth, or anything else for that matter
 

dhammagirl

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 16, 2015
Messages
255
Purraise
161
I'm sorry you and your kitty had to go through that.  We've got one cat who's had major issues with the resorptive lesions, leading to several extractions and well over $1,000 in dental work.

Fortunately, our vet is excellent.  She explained that yes, without taking x-rays you can't be sure you've removed all the tooth, and with teeth need to be removed.

It's worth it to find a vet with training in feline dentistry.

She said that they don't really know what causes the resorptive lesions.  It doesn't seem to be diet related, more likely genetic.  So some cats are just prone to this issue.

Hope your kitty is doing okay now! 
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,768
Purraise
3,490
Location
Texas
Thank you so much for posting this!  I just found out today that my oldest kitty has 2 teeth that need to be extracted due to tooth resoprtion.  Will definitely make sure the vet does the dental x-rays!
 
Top