Manuka honey

I have a young cat with gingivitus. She has had it from 4 months of age. She's tested negative for FIV, FELV and Calici. I have tried changing several things i.e. litter, food but nothing is helping.

My question is, has anyone tried Manuka honey for gum problems and with what level, if any , of success.

Verna davies said:

I have a young cat with gingivitus. She has had it from 4 months of age. She's tested negative for FIV, FELV and Calici. I have tried changing several things i.e. litter, food but nothing is helping.

My question is, has anyone tried Manuka honey for gum problems and with what level, if any , of success.

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I have no idea but it is well established for various medical issues, wound healing and anti microbial properties.  Generally a dental teeth cleaning is the best treatment for gingivitis.  http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/manuka-honey-medicinal-uses#1

I had a cat when I was a kid that had ongoing dental problems. By his 3rd birthday he only had a few teeth left despite have dental cleanings yearly. His teeth were just bad from the start (the shelter pulled a bunch of his baby teeth during his neuter surgery for some reason and his adult teeth needed cleaning within the first year per our vet, just downhill from there). 

Despite having barely any teeth in his adulthood he did fine with eating and it never seemed to affect him in any fashion..... well he did frequently bring me well gummed live rats and birds that I had the joy (heavy on the sarcasm) of chasing throughout the house. He did seem to enjoy our hunting bonding moments most thoroughly. I think at the time he passed away he only had his canines and a molar or two left.

If you are keeping up with dental cleanings and following the recommendations of your vet sometimes you just have to accept the hand that fate and genetics have handed your cat. I don't know if the sugar content of honey and any health affects that could have on the cat would be worth the possibility of a benefit. It might be more beneficial to see if you could brush her teeth regularly and check with your vet for dental cleaning timeline.

Hi Verna !

Quite a while back I remember a member using  raw organic honey.....i've done some digging and found some references for you.

Laurie ("LDG") was the poster...i haven't seen her around for a while - I'm sure she'd be willing to help if asked.

Not too fancy, but here you are:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/260965/dental-work-without-general-anesthesia#post_3371203

and, in the previous post (#4), Laurie spoke about another 'supplement' "Jade Lilly" and ways to acquire that

Another few bits about honey in this post: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/224483/chumleys-fiv-health-journal/30#post_3046635 and, in yet another Laurie wrote

 She recommended exactly what MA suggested: RAW (untreated) organic honey smeared on his gums. The way to do this is to take a baby toothbrush, get him used to it with baby food, then have a warm wet towel available when making the switch to honey.

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Here's another

 As to the gingivitis, this treatment depends completely on how well you can handle your cat. If you can get him used to your finger on his gums (use baby food), or use a baby toothbrush with the bristles cut down (again, use baby food to get him used to it), then you can treat the gingivitis with RAW ORGANIC honey. Not processed, not treated, it MUST be RAW. It's messy, so have a warm, damp cloth at the ready or you'll have one really sticky cat. But rub it on the gums once a day for a week. Honey has antisceptic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/236316/...ngivitis-and-feline-herpes-virus#post_3120085

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Hope something there helps you.

To help someone else who might be in your position........would you post updates as to what unfolds with your experience?

Can you brush your cat's teeth? That is the best way to keep teeth healthy and minimize issues like gingivitis. You could try large dental chews like the CET ones and dental rinses and sprays as well. Some cats are just prone to dental issues because of their genetics.

I haven't heard of that method before but I was told several times that an animal on a raw diet barely has dental problems. I give all my cats raw chicken bones to chew on and they're teeth have gotten a lot better. No more tartar or plague on the back teeth. Also look whiter in appearance. I don't know if this was of appear by help. I hope it was. [emoji]128533[/emoji]

Forgot to add: Brushing cat teeth was so difficult for me and I told fed up with it easily. So did my cats.

Graceful-Lily said:

I haven't heard of that method before but I was told several times that an animal on a raw diet barely has dental problems. I give all my cats raw chicken bones to chew on and they're teeth have gotten a lot better. No more tartar or plague on the back teeth. Also look whiter in appearance. I don't know if this was of appear by help. I hope it was. [emoji]128533[/emoji]

Forgot to add: Brushing cat teeth was so difficult for me and I told fed up with it easily. So did my cats.

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Not true for all raw fed cats. Or maybe my cats are just weird. Emma recently had 3 teeth removed because of FORLs and still has a questionable one the vet is keeping an eye on. She gets her teeth brushed almost daily. She won't touch bones and such. The dental vet said some cats just get dental issues no matter what the diet or home dental care. Leroy so far hasn't had any dental issues despite being genetically predisposed to them because of his breed.

Teeth brushing isn't easy at first but with lots of patience and treats it can be done Using a yummy toothpaste such as the popular CET poultry flavored one helps. Have you seen TCS member Angels Mommy's video on brushing a cat's teeth? http://s1255.photobucket.com/user/kelly8-69/media/VID_20150718_224856090_zpscs92np6e.mp4.html

I guess but it's just what I was told and also what I've found after months of research. All my cats chew bones.

Thank you all for your responses and I will update this thread as I go along.

Just a little more information. I had her from a shelter at 9 weeks old as one of an unwanted litter of 3 kittens. They all had ocular discharge on arival which was treated successfully.

I found a baby tooth on the floor when she was 5 months and looked in her mouth which was very red. When I took her to the vets to be spayed he confirmed gingivitus and tested for calico which was negative, but I have since found out that the results on this test are a bit hit and miss. She had antibiotics and steroids but neither worked. My vet had no experience with gingivitus in a cat so young and told me not to worry and bring her back in 9 months. As you can imagine I was not happy as doing nothing doesn't seem right to me so I found a vet who had treated many cats of all ages with this problem.

He explained that they can develop gingivitus as a secondary problem often after cat flu or such like. He has suggested several things which I have done like a no fish diet, grain free food and am working through a bit of a list but each change takes several months.

I don't use a brush on her teeth in case it will hurt her but I gently run toothpaste on her gums daily. I use Logic because it is the only one that I have found that claims to work without brushing

Lastly, I have contacted the shelter 6 times to ask them to get in touch with the lady who adopted her 3 brothers to see if they have the same problem but apparently she has not responded to their messages..I find this hard to believe... so I have to give up on that.

Sorry for the length of this reply. I will read all the articles and continue trying things. I want the extraction of teeth to be the last resort.

You are being great for keeping trying things with your cat @Verna davies  , and continuing to ask your vet for advice and ideas.

Have they suggested trying any of the prescription dental diets?  You might not be so keen as they are dry, and also have higher carb's than decent wet foods, but they do keep build up of plaque at bay, working along side the toothpaste.  Anything that keeps the bacteria down in your cat's mouth is most likely going to be of benefit.   You have to wait until your cat's mouth isn't too painful, but even with some reddening of gums you will probably find they will eat it.  Mouse loves his dental food, and on the occasions I try to feed even a little of anything else his gums quickly deteriorate even if he is getting the toothpaste regularly and I have to go back to twice daily toothpaste and zero snacks / treats until they settle again.

With your cats having had occular discharge when you got them, if there has been any further dischcarge, or symptoms like runny noses, sneezing or coughing you should also discuss the possibility of feline herpes with your vet.  It took my vets over a year after Mouse's symptoms started to be treated for them to get a full enough picture for them to conclude that was what was causing his health / oral issues.

I'm not too sure about trying manuka honey for gum issues because the increased sugars would most likely counter-act any potential benefits from the anti-inflamatory properties.  

Hi mservant . It is only Kiwi with this issue, the other 2 seem to be fine (also vet checked their gums). She was on Royal Canin Oral for several months with no change but I wanted to try a grain free so now on Applaws.

She was taken into the adoption centre with ocular discharge which they treated and cleared before I had her. No reoccurring of it and no coughing or sneezing. Her gums don't seem to bother her, she is a happy little soul who loves her food but it bothers me as I don't want it to cause other problems in the future and it doesn't feel right just accepting it.

I'll ask the vet about Manuka honey and see what he says. Maybe she was sent to try my patience and she doing extremely well so far.

A cat ttoothbrush won't hurt if you use it very gently. You can also try a baby toothbrush. A cotton swab / q-tip (cotton bud in the UK?) will also work to reach the molars in the back. I read somewhere that a very small soft artist brush works well to brush a cat's teeth but it did not say exactly what type of artist brush (angled? round? flat? lenght?)

I have just spoken at length with my vet about using raw honey and he is against it. He feels that the sugar content will cause other issues so I going to take her back in a few weeks when he will discuss other alternatives.

Thank you all for your input, ideas and links. It's good to get several points of view.

LTS3 said:

 
A cat ttoothbrush won't hurt if you use it very gently. You can also try a baby toothbrush. A cotton swab / q-tip (cotton bud in the UK?) will also work to reach the molars in the back. I read somewhere that a very small soft artist brush works well to brush a cat's teeth but it did not say exactly what type of artist brush (angled? round? flat? lenght?)

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The brushes I use with Mouse are the interdental ones for humans that are easy to buy in most chemists these days.  They are so small it's pretty easy to get them in to a cat's mouth without any forcing their mouth open - you can then gently spreed the toothpaste from front to back around their mouth.  I use the larges size I can find as they are still tiny but have a little more tension for rubbing around the mouth.  The te pe ones in the link are the ones I've seen most in the UK and sizes 4 - 6 work well.    I think it's fine to use as long as the gums are not so sore that they are bleeding.

http://www.superdrug.com/Toiletries/Dental/Interdental-Brushes/c/pt_toiletries_interdental_brushes

Do you use them once or several times

Verna davies said:

Do you use them once or several times

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You can rinse them under the tap just like you do with regular tooth brushes, and they come with a little slip-over cover for the bristle end once you've cleaned it.  They're not so expensive once you realise you can do that.  

If you try a size 3 or something first you can always use them yourself if Kiwi won't let you near with them,  but I've found Mouse is way happier with these than anything else inc' cotton buds, because they're so small for getting in to the side of his mouth, or gently rubbing at the front of his jaw.