Gingivostomatitis

I feel terrible because today I discovered that a cat that \I adopted out to my brother has stomatitis and has had 13 teeth removed today. I can't find much recent stuff here on this disease, so would be glad of any shared experience to pass on. This cat is a 3 year old female.

It's fairly common among TCS kitties. When I wrote about it, and also about toothless cats, there were plenty of people sharing experiences. Here are the articles, they have pictures and personal stories too. I hope others chime in with their own experiences here.
[article="30193"]Gingivitis And Stomatitis In Cats  [/article][article="30192"]Can Cats Manage Without Their Teeth  [/article]

I adopted Secret a month ago. She had spent her entire ten years at a shelter, and over the years had all but one tooth extracted because of gingivostomatitis (11 the first time). I just took her to the vet yesterday for a wellness visit, and her last tooth needs to be extracted, too. That is scheduled for Thursday. 

She eats well (I feed her wet only), and is a healthy weight (7.9 lbs, she's a petite girl) and I am not worried about her. In fact, I am sure she will be much happier after recovery, because her mouth won't hurt her so much!

I know several other cat owners who have similar stories. It's not any failing on the owner's part; something about the kitties just causes an extreme reaction to their own teeth. 

I would love to hear about your brother's cat's recovery!!

~mk

Thanks. I will keep you posted.

My Jeta was diagnosed with stomatitis in Feb '13. After 4 weeks of antibiotics she has remained free of symptoms with no other medications. My vet said she had never seen stomatitis clear up that easily.

At the time of diagnosis I did some research and found that fish in the diet was at one time thought to be a culprit in causing stomatitis. That theory had been pretty much debunked by the time I read it but it triggered me to realize that her symptoms had started soon after I started adding sardines to all my cats food.  I decided it was worth a try to stop the sardines. Whether that is what had the difference in her recovery or whether we were just lucky that the antibiotics were all she needed ... 

It might also have helped that at that I was feeding a 100% home-made diet to my cats and so I knew exactly what they were eating and knew that the sardines were the only thing that had recently changed in her diet.

Mouse developed severe gingivitis when he was around 7 or 8 months old, to the point that he stopped eating.  Lesions / stoma in his throat, tonsils, gums around his teeth and on his tongue.  The cause was not identified at the time but thankfully he responded well to antibiotics and pain relief for the initial resolution of stomatitis combined with ongoing prescription dental food and daily enzyme tooth 'brushing'.  

I was lucky because I have on going contact with the breeder I bought Mouse from and was able to talk with her about what was happening.  None of his relatives have experienced any oral problems, however about a year after his oral symptoms had been controlled with the diet and tooth brushing he started to get runny eyes and the overall symptoms finally led to a diagnosis of feline herpes virus which had probably presented initially with mouth lesions.   That said, he appears to have some degree of auto immune response going on as the gums around his teeth always appear slightly reddened in one or other part of his mouth even with the specialist food and regular use of enzyme toothpaste.  If I stop either the prescription food or the enzyme paste for more than a day the gingivitis quickly deteriorates (so I don't relax the regime).  When I spoke with the breeder about the FHV none of her cats had presented with symptoms of the virus however his mother did occasionally get a runny eye, and when the breeder checked with other people who had her cats it turned out that Mouse's younger half brother had also been getting an occasional clear running eye but no other symptoms.  The theory for Mouse is that his mother was stressed when she had him as her first kitten and he was infected by her at birth.  It seems to be a combination of what ever immune system issue he has going on together with the herpes virus in his system that has resulted in the health problems Mouse has had so far in his life.

All this makes it sound like Mouse is a sickly cat but he is every bit as healthy and thriving as all the photographs posted around TCS suggest.   He will be 5 years old in less than a week's time and to date he still has all his teeth:  I hope that this will be the case throughout his life but know that this might not be possible. I live in hope though.

From the experience I have had with Mouse, the inflammation in his mouth came on pretty rapidly, and other than what I would say was 'meaty' breath before hand there was no indication he was going to get sick or was in any pain.  There was no family history of similar illness (and I was really lucky that I had access to that information), so nothing to suggest what was to come.

@JennyR   I really do not think there was any way for you to predict what was going to happen with the cat you adopted out with your brother.  Also, the information I found when I was looking for information about what was happening for Mouse indicates that where surgery removes all the affected teeth and surrounding tissue the condition is usually well controlled and cats do very well.  Where problems persist it seems to be where there is either an underlying viral condition or fragments of teeth are left behind during surgery.  These are a few links with information I found helpful, along with one about the research into use of Interferon where symptoms persist.   I really hope your brother's cat recovers quickly from the surgery and that the condition is now resolved.  

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/Gingivostomatitis.cfm

http://www.mypetsdentist.com/feline-stomatitis.pml

https://www.vetstream.com/felis/content/generic/gen60017

Thanks. I have passed all that info on.

One positive story I forgot about last night but might be nice to share @JennyR  .   Not only has Mouse achieved his Premier status despite his virus and gum issues and been encouraged to continue showing for his Grand Premier, there is a Russian Blue cat who has achieved one of the highest awards with the GCCF, Olympian, despite developing significant dental problems and having a number of his teeth remeoved a few years back!   Actualy the judges might have been just a little bit relieved as he can be a grumpy cat sometimes - in fact it might be saving him from a life time ban for biting!     (I don't think the rules cover being gummed).    He's only a year older than Mouse and his problems didn't show until about a year later.  He has been absolutely fine since his teeth were removed.   Of course I think  Mouse much more handsome (or at least prettier) and been robbed of many a first place by this cat, but I can't deny he is a handsome guy.    

Oliver has only his 2 lower incisors left. he is a Herpes kitty. He was surrendered to a vet, and had stomatitis, had all but the lower incisors and teeth in-between them removed before I adopted him from a rescue group. Since then, I have had to have all the teeth between the incisors pulled. I also have him on daily Famcyclovir. His tear ducts are also scarred closed, so he always has eye drainage. Now, my 2nd guy, came from a breeder, he is a retired show/stud cat. He had eye drainage when I brought him home. First vet visit, he had some teeth that needed to be pulled on the lower front; the breeder was very surprised, as her vet had seen him recently, and should have picked up on that. I had my vet try to flush his tear ducts while he was under for the extraction; they were scarred closed also. Ok then, at least I'm not as worried about giving herpes to a healthy cat  . Take Flash back for a recheck because I can't get the antibiotics and pain med down him, he's too scared (he was nearly feral when I got him, after living with 3 other intact males in an outdoor cage for  for most of his 6 years), decided stressing him was worse than him not getting the antibiotics. So now his gingivitis has spread. Vet sends me home with the enzyme stuff to clean his teeth with daily...haven't even been able to get his mouth open....  He is loving, getting less skittish all the time, but he still has his limits, he just bolts away. I could swaddle him and force him, but I am walking the fine line of my relationship with him and his health. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up without a lot of his teeth. On top of that, I'm trying so hard to try to get these guys to eat wet food. Flash was getting wet and dry, even homemade raw beef at the breeder's; but I can't seem to find a food they really like! I've been sticking to the really good wet foods as the nutrition site here describes. They do not like shreds very well, really don't know what they like! I haven't been able to bring myself to get some really junky wet food for them to try. They both would be totally content to life on Royal Canin Special 33 dry.   Anybody have any words of wisdom?

Topaz is doing fine after the extractions, but is still on antibiotics for infection in two more teeth, which will probbaly have to come out some time. She is eating fine and more active now she is in less pain. Here she has decided on a new use for a bread basket!