Dental anxiety

[Lagalags]

My best mate (aged 6, former stray) is going in for a tooth extraction at the back of his mouth tomorrow and a general deep clean. There is however this swelling over his incisor, so not over the rotten tooth (photos of both sides for comparison).

He initially was wincing when I touched that part of his face but no other symptoms, still eating and being himself so took him in. The vet then scared the life out of me by saying while it's likely inflammatory there's a chance it could be cancer, a word I have a bad history with and I have been in a state of panic ever since.

I know he's only going in tomorrow but I was curious if anyone else had seen anything like this before? The area no longer seems painful to him and maybe slightly better, but hard to say.

Googling (which I know is a dangerous thing) seemed to suggest gingivitis and given his bad tooth it just makes me wonder why the vet would raise the possibility of something more sinister in a youngish cat with no other symptoms unless just out of an abundance of caution?

Anyway, advice/help as always is appreciated!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - welcome!
There's no real way to know. Did the vet say they'd be taking xrays of that area?

 

[Lagalags]

Hi - welcome!
There's no real way to know. Did the vet say they'd be taking xrays of that area?

Yes he did, whilst he does the tooth cleaning and maybe a biopsy. Just got me absolutely petrified!

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm sending you all my best wishes that it is a benign thing and can be treated with antibiotics or whatever they decide

 

[stephanietx]

There is a condition in cats called resorptive lesions or tooth resorption. It's extremely painful and causes inflammation and extreme redness of the gums.

Tooth Resorption in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital

 

[Lagalags]

There is a condition in cats called resorptive lesions or tooth resorption. It's extremely painful and causes inflammation and extreme redness of the gums.

Tooth Resorption in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital

Hi Stepanie, I did ask about that and he said he couldn't see any signs of it but wouldn't rule it out. A lot of not ruling anything out really!

 

[Alldara]

To me, on the first photo there looks to be a mass. Usually masses are just abscesses but the vet must warn you of all possibilities.

Here's information on abcesses: Tooth Root Abscess in Cats

Tumors can be either cancerous or benign. Here's information on them in the chance that it is a tumor: Oral Tumors in Cats - An Overview

Remember that internet searches will likely be skewed towards negative results as those are the people most likely out there seeking information and positive results, well those people have likely moved on.

I do recommend the VCA website for searching information on things. They update their many 'panflits' regularly. The have ones on conditions and medications.

 

[Lagalags]

To me, on the first photo there looks to be a mass. Usually masses are just abscesses but the vet must warn you of all possibilities.

Here's information on abcesses: Tooth Root Abscess in Cats

Tumors can be either cancerous or benign. Here's information on them in the chance that it is a tumor: Oral Tumors in Cats - An Overview

Remember that internet searches will likely be skewed towards negative results as those are the people most likely out there seeking information and positive results, well those people have likely moved on.

I do recommend the VCA website for searching information on things. They update their many 'panflits' regularly. The have ones on conditions and medications.

Thanks Alldara, I'll read those. The swelling is definitely soft, managed to get a finger on it, so suggested it may be fluid filled. The vet described it as diffuse rather than focal and suggested diffuse was better

 

[Alldara]

Thanks Alldara, I'll read those. The swelling is definitely soft, managed to get a finger on it, so suggested it may be fluid filled. The vet described it as diffuse rather than focal and suggested diffuse was better

Very likely an abscess then!

 

[Lagalags]

Hi all, just wanted to say thank you for your help last week. Jasper had 6 teeth removed, general periodontal disease and seems much happier for it. They did a biopsy in the affected area, it was mostly abscess but there was a small mass, it came back that he had a thankfully benign epulis which apparently is quite a rarity in Cats.

Just wanted to give an update so anyone else searching for similar things might see how this one ended up.

 

[Alldara]

Hi all, just wanted to say thank you for your help last week. Jasper had 6 teeth removed, general periodontal disease and seems much happier for it. They did a biopsy in the affected area, it was mostly abscess but there was a small mass, it came back that he had a thankfully benign epulis which apparently is quite a rarity in Cats.

Just wanted to give an update so anyone else searching for similar things might see how this one ended up.

I'm so glad to hear about that! Thanks for the update.
Hope Jasper's recovery continues along smoothly.