chronic gingivitis even after dental cleaning?

[piepthegreat]

hello everyone, one of my cats (monty, 1.5 years old neutered male) has had issues with inflamed gums ever since we got him.

our vet did a dental cleaning but said his teeth were actually surprisingly clean. she then gave us some enzymatic tooth paste which i hive him daily.

brushing his teeth is sadly not an option for me as i have tried it countless times and he turns into a furious menace if i even look at his (very soft) tooth brush. he’ll hide from me and i can’t spend an hour every day trying to get to him…
so instead i feed him dental food, which he eats fine. he doesn’t seem like he’s in pain to me: he eats without problem and is a happy and affectionate boy (unless you pick up a toothbrush). he does have mild fishy breath, but that did get better ever since we started on the dental food and enzymatic tooth paste..

his gingivitis is nearly unchanged though, even with his perfectly white teeth. could this be caused by some sort of immune response? my 3 rescue boys do have some mild recurring issues because of feline herpes and i know that they all have/had fcov.

i’m genuinely scared that when i go to the vet with him again that they’ll do a dental xray and want to extract his teeth… i can’t afford that right now. i’m treating my baby boy willie (8months) for neurological dry FIP right now and we’ve had to spent thousands of dollars in vet bills and medications, which decimated all of our meager savings.

does anyone have an idea what i should do/similar experiences they could tell me about? do i need to go to the vet if he’s eating fine? are there some at home remedies i can try?

thank you

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

AS far as brushing, have you seen this article on how to go about training your cat to let you do it? How To Brush Your Cat's Teeth [Step By Step Guide] - TheCatSite It's definitely not something most cats will just let you do first time without any question! And some people actually use baby toothbrushes rather than pet toothbrushes because they say the baby ones are even softer, which would be better for a cat with sore gums.

There is also this article that touches on gingivitis: Gingivitis And Stomatitis In Cats [Complete Guide] - TheCatSite

Is he a picky eater? If not, perhaps you can get him to munch on chicken gizzards or chicken necks once a week or so. More often if you can. They are super for cleaning their teeth since they require a LOT of chewing, which actually scrapes the teeth free of the plaque. Also, when you give him the toothpaste, do you rub it on his gums as much as possible, or does he just lick it off your finger? If you can rub it on his gums, taking it very slowly, maybe start with just a swipe in one spot, then the next time swipe in a different spot, then gradually begin increasing the places you swipe the toothpaste until you work up to his entire mouth.

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi P piepthegreat (gotta luv that!) and a warm welcome to the forum !

As mrsgreenjeans said, cats require slooooooow introductions to new things. If you're a fan of instructional videos, Cornell Veterinary school has a set of them on introducing a cat to tooth brushing - it couldn't hurt: Brushing Your Cat's Teeth - Cornell College of Vet Med.
.

 

[piepthegreat]

AS far as brushing, have you seen this article on how to go about training your cat to let you do it? How To Brush Your Cat's Teeth [Step By Step Guide] - TheCatSite It's definitely not something most cats will just let you do first time without any question! And some people actually use baby toothbrushes rather than pet toothbrushes because they say the baby ones are even softer, which would be better for a cat with sore gums.

There is also this article that touches on gingivitis: Gingivitis And Stomatitis In Cats [Complete Guide] - TheCatSite

Is he a picky eater? If not, perhaps you can get him to munch on chicken gizzards or chicken necks once a week or so. More often if you can. They are super for cleaning their teeth since they require a LOT of chewing, which actually scrapes the teeth free of the plaque. Also, when you give him the toothpaste, do you rub it on his gums as much as possible, or does he just lick it off your finger? If you can rub it on his gums, taking it very slowly, maybe start with just a swipe in one spot, then the next time swipe in a different spot, then gradually begin increasing the places you swipe the toothpaste until you work up to his entire mouth.

thank you so much for the tips. i have been giving him the toothpaste zhe way my vet showed me, aka just letting him lick it up. i’ll try putting it on his gums and see if it makes a difference :-)

i already give him vet recommended dental care dry food, which he chews diligently and i feel it has helped with his breath and kept his teeth nice and white after the dental cleaning. silver vine sticks are sadly not an option because he turns quite aggressive when he’s On Drugs and is too rough with the others.