Gingivitis- auto-immune disease

While I was at the vet with Carly because her eye was bothering her, the vet noted that her upper canines and a molar were suffering from severe gingivitis. He recommended the dental cleaning of course, but she may be losing her teeth soon because she may be having an auto-immune reaction to the bacteria in her mouth. She's only 4 years old.

Has anyone else experienced this? Did you find a treatment that worked? We may look again at brushing (always a fun experience).

My Twitch has no teeth. They were removed because of sever gingivitis. She was about 7 months old when she first started having problems, and things just got progressively worse. She was on antibiotics forever, and suffered from mouth ulcers even after having her teeth removed.

Sorry thats all I know. She was tested ofr FIV/FeLV because of her poor teeth. Has Carly been tested for both?

Originally Posted by white cat lover

My Twitch has no teeth. They were removed because of sever gingivitis. She was about 7 months old when she first started having problems, and things just got progressively worse. She was on antibiotics forever, and suffered from mouth ulcers even after having her teeth removed.

Sorry thats all I know. She was tested ofr FIV/FeLV because of her poor teeth. Has Carly been tested for both?

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Fortunately Carly has no mouth ulcers. I don't believe we've had her tested. I will bring it up when I bring her in for her dental cleaning in a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by katachtig

Fortunately Carly has no mouth ulcers. I don't believe we've had her tested. I will bring it up when I bring her in for her dental cleaning in a couple of weeks.

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Scratch is going back to the vet Wed due to his gum infection not clearing up. In short, I'm going through the same thing right now. If you'd like we can keep each other posted on this thread.

Originally Posted by lookingglass

Scratch is going back to the vet Wed due to his gum infection not clearing up. In short, I'm going through the same thing right now. If you'd like we can keep each other posted on this thread.

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That would be nice. It hurt looking at Carly when the vet said she might soon lose her molar and the two canines.

Originally Posted by katachtig

That would be nice. It hurt looking at Carly when the vet said she might soon lose her molar and the two canines.

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I know the feeling. It hurt me just to look at Scratch's gums, they were just so red. I'll keep praying for your kitties that they get through this okay!

I can tell you both this....while it is terrible to think about either of your kitties loosing any teeth....my Twitch has never been happier. She doesn't seem to realize that she is missing any teeth, as when she & Lily play, she is always biting Lily. She "gums" me all the time during play, too. She even bit the dogs several times! lol

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I can tell you both this....while it is terrible to think about either of your kitties loosing any teeth....my Twitch has never been happier. She doesn't seem to realize that she is missing any teeth, as when she & Lily play, she is always biting Lily. She "gums" me all the time during play, too. She even bit the dogs several times! lol

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I kind of figured that Carly would actually like it so she could get more of her favorite wet food.

We are off to the vet tomorrow... I'll let everyone know how it goes.

- I hope it is good news.

Well Carly had another 4 teeth pulled today . I still need to talk to the vet but is there anything I should be aware of regarding her ability to eat? It isn't like she has no teeth, but my only experience has been with cats having a full set of teeth.

My Whitney (now sadly at The Bridge) had a full mouth extraction due to severe gingivitis and stomatitis ... she was fine, bounced right back in just a couple of days and was happily noshing away on her DRY FOOD *shudder* that evening ... I did notice that instead of crunching the little biscuits as she used to do, she sort of rolled them around in her mouth a little then swallowed them whole.

I would feed her gently, with soft, warm, moist foods for the first couple of days. A little chicken or turkey meat human baby food might also get her interest. Warm the jar (or can of food before you open it) in a little bowl of hot water to bring the temperature and aroma up.

Raphael had 11 teeth extracted last week due to gingivitis (in addition to 7 that were missing before I adopted him) and he was chowing down on his normal food hours after surgery. He even tried to get into the other cats' dry food! While he was still drooling and woozy!

And man, did he enjoy that fentanyl patch.

It's been fun trying to get the antibiotics in him though.

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

Raphael had 11 teeth extracted last week due to gingivitis (in addition to 7 that were missing before I adopted him) and he was chowing down on his normal food hours after surgery. He even tried to get into the other cats' dry food! While he was still drooling and woozy!

And man, did he enjoy that fentanyl patch.

It's been fun trying to get the antibiotics in him though.

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*grin* They are so funny when they are high, aren't they?

Glad he is feeling so much better!! We really struggled with the choice to take all of Whit's teeth - I mean, she was nearly 18 years old and we were so worried about the effects of the anesthesia but she was otherwise quite healthy. Afterwards (hindsight being that very clearly illuminated 20/20 and all that), I could have kicked myself for not having done it long before we did. Whit was such a trooper and so very patient with us. *sigh* I miss her horribly.

Well, she's home and started DEMANDING her dinner so she's had some wet. I think she was really hungry since she hasn't eaten since last night. Thanks for all of the advice.

Originally Posted by katachtig

Well, she's home and started DEMANDING her dinner so she's had some wet. I think she was really hungry since she hasn't eaten since last night. Thanks for all of the advice.

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I hope she heals well. IMO, cats w/o teeth can eat basically the same as cats w/ teeth....you may have to be more selective with kibble size. Twitch loves her dry food, but I have to be selective. Nutro's adult bites are too big. Purina ONE & Purina Naturals, Science Diet, Eukanuba, etc are all a great size for her(go figure, the junk!). I am working on getting her to eat the Nutro adult, I think it's just that she prefers to eat the Purina junk....Innova/EVO also work. I *think* Natural Balance dry is about the same size as Innova, not sure, tho.

Allie, sounds like Raphael did great having his teeth extracted. I wish Twitch had healed so well(it took a few days).

Gaye, I should have just taken all of Twitch's teeth out when she was 7 months old. It would have saved her a lot of pain(it took 2 years for me to finally take her teeth). I honestly didn't think she could eat like a normal cat if her teeth were removed, turns out, she can eat faster than cats with teeth!

I know it may sound bad, but I love it with Twitch yawns all toothless. It's just plain cute!

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Gaye, I should have just taken all of Twitch's teeth out when she was 7 months old. It would have saved her a lot of pain(it took 2 years for me to finally take her teeth). I honestly didn't think she could eat like a normal cat if her teeth were removed, turns out, she can eat faster than cats with teeth!

I know it may sound bad, but I love it with Twitch yawns all toothless. It's just plain cute!

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There is a funny story I must tell but first, let me apologize for hijacking the thread ... *ahem* ...

Whitney developed diabetes not long after her full-mouth extraction and was in a very brittle state. One of the symptoms of insulin overdose is muscle twitching. Whitney had been asleep on my bed and I usually walked in there to check on her several times over the course of a day ... anyway, there she was, all sacked out, but as I looked at her, she was twitching - more strongly than she had ever done before in her sleep. So, I ran over there, grabbed her up quickly, brought her face to my face and shouted, "WHIT????" ... well, she came awake with quite a start and chomped down HARD on the bridge of my nose with those smooth little pink gummers and left me with two black eyes! Anyone who says a cat without teeth is defenseless is lying to you. *LOL*

Cats can live quite happily with no teeth - I have had 2 completely toothless cats, and some with little teeth, and all have managed to eat anything you put in front of them. As someone else said, you do have to watch the size of the biscuits, but other than that they can eat them. Ginger was the type of cat who would come home looking dopey, go to the biscuits rather than the pate specially bought for him, and then sit and ask to go out - and prob wondered why I was being nasty and wouldnt let him!! Not sure what caused his teeth to be so bad though.