So my cat is 8 years old and for a long while now, her top left fang has been just poking out of her mouth, sort of like a saber-tooth tiger's would. We thought it was just a quirky thing she did, and paid no mind to it since it only poked out from time to time and she didn't seem to favour it. However, for the past few days to possibly a week, the tooth has been poking out constantly. Today I decided to take a more detailed look at her mouth, and found that the fang is indeed loose and protruding horizontally. This would normally be a red flag for me and I would take her to the vet without question, but I am a little bit confused about her situation. She doesn't even seem to notice it. She is eating completely fine, drinking water, plays and nibbles on my hand with no issues, doesn't mind me touching her mouth, and isn't irritable at all. I googled it for awhile and a lot of answers seems to point towards dental disease, but she has no other symptoms other than this loose tooth. No extreme plaque or tartar build-up, no drooling, no sore gums, no bad breath, nothing at all. In fact, her mouth has minimal plaque and her gums are a healthy pink. She eats dry kibble and I feed her dental treats regularly (have been slowly working my way up to teeth brushing- so far she isn't a fan). I'm super confused about this loose tooth and what could have caused it, and I'm even more confused about whether or not this is worth a vet trip. She does play pretty rough with one of those toys that has the string with a toy mouse on the end, attached to a fishing rod looking thing. I'm wondering if maybe that caused an injury to her tooth?
Anyways, I've had mixed messages from a lot of people. My family and the lady at the pet store told me just keep an eye on it, that it's normal for cats to lose teeth due to injury, and that if it gets in the way of her eating to see the vet. But I've also had people who work at vet clinics advise me to see the vet asap, just to be safe.
Obviously seeing the vet is the better option just to be completely without doubt or worry, but my cat seeing the vet is a situation more stressful to her than this tooth is. The tooth doesn't bother her at all, but vet trips ALWAYS cause her to panic, urinate everywhere in her carrier as well as in the vet's office, and she does not get along well with other animals- having so many around her at the vet's is not a happy situation.
Is this seemingly painless and worry-free tooth worth the stress that the vet puts on her? Should I just wait it out and continue to check her mouth for signs of infection? Or is it worth the stress to her to see the vet?
Sorry it's so long, but there are a lot of details. Everything that I've read so far about cats losing teeth always points towards either injury or dental disease. I'm thinking it is caused by an injury seeing as her mouth is (seemingly) healthy and she isn't showing any symptoms of disease.
Anyone have anything similar happen to their cat?
Anyways, I've had mixed messages from a lot of people. My family and the lady at the pet store told me just keep an eye on it, that it's normal for cats to lose teeth due to injury, and that if it gets in the way of her eating to see the vet. But I've also had people who work at vet clinics advise me to see the vet asap, just to be safe.
Obviously seeing the vet is the better option just to be completely without doubt or worry, but my cat seeing the vet is a situation more stressful to her than this tooth is. The tooth doesn't bother her at all, but vet trips ALWAYS cause her to panic, urinate everywhere in her carrier as well as in the vet's office, and she does not get along well with other animals- having so many around her at the vet's is not a happy situation.
Is this seemingly painless and worry-free tooth worth the stress that the vet puts on her? Should I just wait it out and continue to check her mouth for signs of infection? Or is it worth the stress to her to see the vet?
Sorry it's so long, but there are a lot of details. Everything that I've read so far about cats losing teeth always points towards either injury or dental disease. I'm thinking it is caused by an injury seeing as her mouth is (seemingly) healthy and she isn't showing any symptoms of disease.
Anyone have anything similar happen to their cat?