Poor Kitty has Tooth Resorption

[daftcat75]

Understandable. Specialists are pricey. Worth it, though.

I would still schedule a consultation with a specialist. If your regular vet takes X-rays when he's done with his work or on a follow-up appointment, those can be sent to the specialist to reduce the cost of that consultation appointment. At that appointment, he'll look at the X-rays, look in his mouth, and he can tell you if there's any more work needed--or any mistakes made by your vet because he doesn't have the expertise or experience that a specialist does. Lots of mistakes were made in Krista's mouth. Because of the long lead times to see a specialist, it's better to book that appointment when he doesn't need it than to be stuck with an unhappy cat and a really long wait time. The only thing that saved Krista from a feeding tube (again!) to get her to her appointment was the dumb luck of a wildfire and its evacuations clearing this dentist's schedule. Her wait was only two weeks when every other dentist was quoting two to six months. A little proactivity now might actually reduce your costs and headaches in the long run.

 

[artiemom]

Graceful-Lily My vet told me to expect a dental, with extractions, even 1-2 years.. Two years if we are lucky....

Too bad you cannot afford a specialist.. That would help out so much....Even just a consult..

I agree with daftcat75 .. It will be worth the wait and perhaps you can save up a bit of money for the visit.. even $5 a week would help...

When you have your vet remove the teeth, make sure they do post surgical x-rays, to see if something was left behind.. like a piece of tooth.. It is very important.

((hugs)) to you...

 

[FeralHearts]

Braveheart is doing awesome. Her cough seems to be subsiding as well. It's almost like nothing happened at all. Eating, drinking ,ordering me around etc. Loving this.

His regular vet quoted me $1,100 - $1,400+ for a full mouth extraction but he said he's against pulling healthy teeth because apparently a cat's back teeth can be tricky. But the x-rays should reveal more. Going to set the appointment for next week. His mouth is an absolute mess with all the diseased teeth so I don't know what else to do. It is what it is I guess.

His regular vet is under new management and this current veterinarian seems more thorough than the last so hopefully he does his job.

I understand. I have to tell you that it wasn't near as bad as I had estimated. I began to panic because I forgot that some of the things I found online about a root canal were if it was JUST a root canal. So I was doing the math for several procedures all separate - not all at one time. In my head was doing the math at 5 -7 thousand which upset me as it was above what I could do. It was no where near that! In fact he wasn't, what I consider, all THAT much more than her own Vet - more - yes - worth it - hands down - yes. I'm going to PM you some info in a second as it might be a little more within your budget than you think.

The quote her regular Vet gave didn't include the Canine - or the fall out that would have surely transpired after. So it ultimately would have been more than their quote by a long shot.

Vets in Ontario are quite expensive as a whole compared to many other areas - a lot more. I'm actually jealous at how cheep some areas are. Where we live - it is just as it is. Higher costs of living etc - higher costs the Vets have. So I totally get where you are coming from. Let me show you so you have more information to work with :-)

I love and adore her Vets and I trust them but when it came to this unfortunately I had to concede that the better idea was the specialist.

I believe this is a job for a dentist. But I also don’t know that his mouth has the two to six months typical wait time for a dentist. Even if you go with your regular vet for this, I would still schedule a consultation with a dentist. Regular vets are only so good at these. When I took Krista to the dentist, he pointed out several mistakes that her regular vets made in the extractions because they aren’t specialists. They don’t have that extra education, expertise, and experience.

That said, leaving back teeth is better than leaving front teeth. I’m more worried about asymmetrical canine extractions. Scroll up for Krista’s one tooth sneer. She made it work for nearly eight or nine months. But by the time she did see a dentist, she had evidence of lip entrapment and gum ulceration.

Do what he needs now. But plan for a follow up with a dentist.

Yes, they don't spend a lot of hours in school for it. It's like a few weeks from what I know. Some do a little more but yeah.

I'm worried about how much a specialist might cost because I'm already borrowing money for this surgery now. Some things happened that I don't want to get into but I've found myself in a tough spot so his regular vet is my only option right now. I had a good look in his mouth (which he is clearly uncomfortable with because of pain), all his bottom back teeth are goners. They are all affected by resorption and that means his top teeth can't stay because in the spot where his previous molar was pulled, the top tooth has irritated that spot and it's a swollen mess. So that leaves all his front teeth. That is all he will have left. I will check the top ones again for any lesions when my mom comes home and is able to help. I know I should have looked into a specialist after the first surgery and I had intended to but I didn't think it would have returned so soon since the clinic told me he might need more dental later in life... not the following year.

I totally feel you here. XOXOXOXOX I'd have had to do that same thing if my circumstances were slightly off at all. No matter what it's better he has something done to help. Long term you can make other plans :-)

When you have your vet remove the teeth, make sure they do post surgical x-rays, to see if something was left behind.. like a piece of tooth.. It is very important.

((hugs)) to you...

What artiemom said.

This is very important. VERY. I can't stress it enough.

PMing you Graceful-Lily in just a moment.

 

[FeralHearts]

We just got back from her check up. All good

I did have to make some pretty tough choices the last few days though. She wasn't eating enough wet food and try as I may she was dropping weight, a little too much for my liking, so I had to crush some kitty crack (dry food) up and let her have it.

She's in the basement right now as she's slightly pissed with me for the vet trip but she'll be up in about 10 minutes for me to spoil her.

Sadly I know this might not be, and probably isn't, the end of it but we'll see how it all goes overtime. Maybe we'll get a bit of luck.

 

[daftcat75]

We just got back from her check up. All good

I did have to make some pretty tough choices the last few days though. She wasn't eating enough wet food and try as I may she was dropping weight, a little too much for my liking, so I had to crush some kitty crack (dry food) up and let her have it.

She's in the basement right now as she's slightly pissed with me for the vet trip but she'll be up in about 10 minutes for me to spoil her.

Sadly I know this might not be, and probably isn't, the end of it but we'll see how it all goes overtime. Maybe we'll get a bit of luck.

The follow up was with the dentist? Did he indicate when he might want to see her again? Maybe a six or twelve month re-check?

 

[FeralHearts]

The follow up was with the dentist? Did he indicate when he might want to see her again? Maybe a six or twelve month re-check?

No, her regular vet. (He said it was fine to do that due to her good condition) I've kept him in the loop the whole time though. Really, really like this man.

At her next annual, unless I see something before that, we'll have to go through a full check. No doubt it will include intra-oral x-rays to make sure we see what's going on under the surface too.

 

[daftcat75]

No, her regular vet. (He said it was fine to do that due to her good condition) I've kept him in the loop the whole time though. Really, really like this man.

At her next annual, unless I see something before that, we'll have to go through a full check. No doubt it will include intra-oral x-rays to make sure we see what's going on under the surface too.

Oh absolutely insist on the x-rays at every dental exam. Tooth resorption often begins under the gum line.

Krista's resorption seemed to be more aggressive than BH's. I had to plead with my regular vets to do dental exams with x-rays when "she just had one a few months ago."

Hopefully having a doctor-patient relationship with this dentist maybe lets you jump the line if she needs more work in the future. I'd hate for her to have to wait again if something happens between check-ups.

BH is an older cat, right? 11 or 12 years old I think you said? Sometimes tooth resorption is a one-time deal. But often it isn't. I would schedule her for a six month re-check with your regular vet. If you do a couple six months and see no signs of recurrence, you may move it back to an annual dental. It's a good idea with senior cats (12 years) to move their annual check-ups to every six months anyway. But if her teeth seem stable, you probably don't have to have put her under every six months for oral x-rays.

 

[FeralHearts]

Oh absolutely insist on the x-rays at every dental exam. Tooth resorption often begins under the gum line.

Krista's resorption seemed to be more aggressive than BH's. I had to plead with my regular vets to do dental exams with x-rays when "she just had one a few months ago."

Hopefully having a doctor-patient relationship with this dentist maybe lets you jump the line if she needs more work in the future. I'd hate for her to have to wait again if something happens between check-ups.

BH is an older cat, right? 11 or 12 years old I think you said? Sometimes tooth resorption is a one-time deal. But often it isn't. I would schedule her for a six month re-check with your regular vet. If you do a couple six months and see no signs of recurrence, you may move it back to an annual dental. It's a good idea with senior cats (12 years) to move their annual check-ups to every six months anyway. But if her teeth seem stable, you probably don't have to have put her under every six months for oral x-rays.

It seems we caught hers as early as we could as it was at her annual visit that her lovely Doc found it - but of course at that stage it's probably been around a bit. So yup, x-rays inside it will be!

I think you are right, Krista's were no doubt more aggressive. With this illness, there is pretty much zero telling if, when, and how fast something else will happen. I hope research gives us all something more soon.

Dr. Hale (The Dentist) is for FME if needed, but in her case her teeth under the surface were absolutely perfect. He even joked that he couldn't give me the standard lecture about brushing her teeth everyday as they were in good shape outer wise too. Literally mostly 0's for plaque etc. and zero evidence of tooth / gum disease. We were also lucky as the two teeth it hit we the "usual suspects" the most common ones that get hit with it. Which bodes well for the future.

She's only 7 and a half. She's had so much happen to her I'm not surprised you'd think of her as older. Poor gal has been through a ton for her little age.

 

[FeralHearts]

Little update on Braveheart:

What a difference in personality. She was always a happy soul but now she's pretty much carefree. She's even begun coming into the upstairs bedroom area when I go to bed. She's never really ventured up her before as it's "Charlie's territory" and he makes sure everyone knows it. lol

She runs past him, hops up into my bed and wants to snuggle. I actually have to go to bed a few minutes earlier as she is a fidget-butt and wants to be everywhere at once! She is soooo happy. This is also good for her and Charlies relationship. He's actually a bit scared of her even though she is tiny in size compared to him.

She only stays about 15 -20 minutes and then wanders off but it's still pretty awesome. She's so affectionate. Even more than she was before and just so happy!