Broken teeth?

My husband and I were out of town Friday night. Our professional pet sitter came in on Friday evening and Saturday morning to scoop and feed.

When we came back on Saturday night I immediately put out canned food for the cats. BeBe, who LOVES canned food, took one bite, acted as if he had been shocked with electricity, ran madly from the kitchen and hid cowering under the bed for the rest of the night. Everything was fine the next morning until I tried to feed him again, which led to the same odd behavior.

I just took BeBe to the vet to find out what is going on. The vet found that BeBe's left canine is very loose and very painful and that the right canine is cracked. He said he had never seen anything like this.

I am trying to figure out how this happened. One theory is that BeBe did this to himself. He "makes love" to the bathmat every day. This involves dragging the mat around and then humping it while holding on tightly with his mouth. Perhaps the bathmat resisted and his teeth were injured in the struggle.

My other theory is that he jumped from the top of our 7 foot high cat tree when the Pet Sitter came in and that he hit his face on landing.

Just in case someone asks -- Our Pet Sitter did not hurt him -- she teaches pet first aid for the Red Cross, does animal rescue, and is the biggest lover of animals I have ever seen. There is simply no way she did this.

So....has anyone ever had their cat's canines pulled? Does anyone have any ideas on how this could have happened? Any advice?

Wow what a strange thing to have happen! To bad for the kitty . I'm afraid I don't have any experience to help. But I hope he gets through it ok!

Our last cat had to have all his teeth on one side pulled due to abscesses, and had no trouble whatsoever eating once the gums cleared up. It is odd - I would think he probably fell, or ran into a wall (Jamie did that several times as a kitten, because he liked to skid across wet floors). I know somebody whose cat fell out of a cat tree when the phone rang in the middle of the night, and broke his jaw.

My mom's girl Piper had most of her teeth pulled - genetically soft teeth- and she is doing great - she is still eating mostly dry with a little wet. Ok we had to find a dry that had smaller kibble - but otherwise - there is no change!!

Originally Posted by jcat

I know somebody whose cat fell out of a cat tree when the phone rang in the middle of the night, and broke his jaw.

Click to expand...

Wow! That poor cat!

Originally Posted by laureen227

i think the canines are used more for killing the prey than for the actual eating.

Click to expand...

I think you are right about that. Since he won't have to rip flesh from bone or take down any gazelles I am hoping that losing his canines won't cause problems for him. But, I can't imagine how much this must hurt.

I just spoke to the vet. Once he started to pull the left tooth, it just snapped off at the gum line. He found that there was a huge cavity (he called it a FORL lesion) in both that tooth and the other canine.

Poor old BeBe is now canineless. How embarrassing!

I don't think that the bathmat will care that Bebe has a couple of missing teeth.

It is a good thing that the infected teeth were discovered and extracted.

My MissyKitty had her canines go bad first.... One came out in the Vet's hand, while looking in her mouth, as she was losing weight and hiding a lot.... He said the other canine was bad. But, then I changed Vets. Missy ended up having ALL her teeth pulled a year later, as she had a genetic syndrome, called Calcium Resorption, where the body leeches the calcium right out of their little teeth and the teeth go bad.... Yes, the teeth DO hurt to be removed, and the vet said it is a full two months, before they don't have pain. SO ASK FOR PAIN MEDS, if your Vet doesn't offer. The first Vet was very callous about handing out pain meds for animals, and I INSISTED on him giving pain meds to her! I had read enough here, on the boards and on searches I did, that I KNEW her poor little mouth would REALLY be hurting! When she had the remainder of her teeth pulled, I had her on pain meds for a LONG time, ( a full two months!) and she is now back to eating and has put on a nice amount of weight, and is my happy kitty again!
I hope your kitty heals really well--and SOON!

Any number of things could have caused it, decay or some sort of trauma or very likely a combination of both (e.g. the decay weakened the tooth so a minor trauma caused the tooth to break). It's very common.

Having teeth pulled is definitely the best thing if the teeth are painful or decayed. The cat will really not miss them (he doesn't care about the cosmetic aspect like we would) and once he's recovered he'll be so happy not to be in pain anymore. Actually, when one of my cats had a septic tooth extracted, it was clear that just a few hours after the procedure, he was feeling better than he'd felt in a very long time!

Originally Posted by Missy&SpikesMom

the vet said it is a full two months, before they don't have pain.

Click to expand...

Wow! My vet said that cats heal very quickly from extractions and said that BeBe shouldn't need any more pain meds than were given to him yesterday. But, he did say that I could come in and get meds today if BeBe still seems uncomfortable. Just thinking of what is involved with an extraction, I tend to believe your vet more than mine!

BeBe ate a little canned food this morning, but then went back into hiding under the bed, which is very unlike him. I think I'll stop by the vet to get some more pain meds today.


Thanks everyone for your comments and information!

I had to take BeBe back to the vet today. He has green goop coming out of his right eye and his right nostril is clogged. It looks as if the wound from the extraction has become infected. He is SOOOO miserable and I feel so very bad for him. He is now on heavy antibiotics. Poor guy.

Have any of you had this happen after an extraction?

Poor thing! My Molly had 3 of her canines extracted and actually did quite well after each. You could tell that they had to have been bothering her, by how much more she began eating after the extractions. I never had a severe infection development. The vet always sent us home with antibiotics.

Oh gosh, I am SO sorry about your little kitty's infection. Actually, THAT is why *I* changed Vets, with my kitty! The first one (the one who had Missy's tooth come out in his hand, during a toothcheck) actually removed her first canine tooth during a surgery, a few days later. Well, she had not been feeling well for awhile, and THAT was why I had taken her into him, in the first place. So, then he removed that second tooth, surgically, and sent her home. Within a couple days, she was SO, SO ill and almost died! I called another Vet and told them what happened. They had me bring her right in and they gave her two shots of antibiotics and gave me high dose antibiotic drops to give at home. They pulled her through, and I was very grateful! They said they were surprised the other vet had not automatically put her on antibiotics, post-op, just given the fact she'd not been feeling well for awhile. That would have lowered her natural immunity! So, I am wondering if this is the same thing with your kitty?? I really do hope your kitty gets better REALLY soon!! Oh, and my first vet did not want to give pain med either and told me they don't hurt for very long. Well, the other vets looked TOTALLY puzzled when I told them I had to demand pain meds for her anyway, as I had a couple teeth pulled, years ago, and remember very well, how much they hurt! They said, "Of COURSE it would hurt her--and with canines, since the roots go so deeply, they WILL hurt for about 2 months time!" So, I think you are better to treat your kitty for pain for awhile, then assess the kitty a week later, and see how it is doing, pain-wise. You should be able to tell, if it still needs pain meds. GOOD LUCK, little BeBe, getting all better!!!!

Dexter has a couple of extractions when he was a kitten but no infection.

Poor BeBe. Feel better real soon sweet boy.

MissyandSpikes mom, it sounds like we have the same vet! My favorite vet was out of town when I took BeBe in the first time, so the vet who works mostly with dogs took care of him. When I took him back in yesterday, it was my favorite vet who took care of him. Of course, since they work in the same practice, the cat vet couldn't say anything, but I wonder if he wasn't thinking exactly what your new vet was thinking after seeing the nasty infection.

Luckily, BeBe is responding already to the antibiotics. He is far from being his old self, but he is doing so much better now that his infection is being treated.

By the way, is there a way to keep food out of the holes left from the extraction?

Wow. My vet gives antibiotics after a tooth cleaning, let alone an extraction. I'm glad to hear BeBe is responding to the antibiotics.
After Straycat's extractions, I was given a squeeze bottle of saline solution with certain herbs in it (at least that's what I remember it being), and told to rinse his mouth at least once a day, if possible. It wasn't, but he still didn't develop any problems. He was on antibiotic shots for quite a while, though.