Prolonged inflamed gums – Need help saving my cats teeth!

[Apollothecat-20]

Hi everyone,

My cat has been suffering from inflamed gums for a few months. She lost a lot of weight, because eating probably caused her a lot of pain. She also has very bad breath. Until now, no medicine or treatment has helped her get rid of this issue (only for a short time). Unfortunately, I have no pictures.

Species: European shorthair
Age: 6
Sex/Neuter status: female, sterilized
Breed: unknown
Body weight: 3,5 kg / 7.7 pounds
History: no significant history
Clinical signs: inflamed gums, bad breath, loss of weight (1 kg / 2.2 pounds)
Duration: 6 months
General location: Netherlands

What we tried so far:

The first vet diagnosed my cat with a condition called 'Gingivitis-Stomatitis-Pharyngitis complex', because the gums (very high up) as well as the inner surfaces of the lips were so severely irritated. Her advice was to extract all the teeth because this is the only 'solution' for this condition. For now, she gave me some painkillers that also have an anti-inflammatory effect.

We took her to a second vet to get a second opinion. This vet said she thought it was just inflamed gums and gave her antibiotics and told us to keep using the painkillers. I thought that the gums might have been less inflamed at this point due to the painkillers, so I am still not ruling out GSPC. The antibiotics worked to some degree, but one tooth was extracted because it was too badly irritated. We stopped giving the painkillers and now, three weeks later, all her gums are once again inflamed. We also did a blood screening (quite extensive, including cat aids, leukosis and calicivirus infection) which only showed that she had a covid infection somewhere in the past.

I am wondering if there are any possible causes for prolonged inflamed gums, such as allergies, diet or some other infection? I really do not want to extract all my cats teeth before we explored all other options. Also, it makes more sense to find out what is causing this.

Thanks!!

 

[Maurey]

Has she had a biopsy done? From your descritption, it’s most likely stomatitis, as calicivirus would come and go in waves, most typically, but still should be excluded as a possible diagnosis. If severe enough, the only real solution is partial or full mouth extraction. Anything else is just delaying the inevitable, more often than not.

If you have any doubts, take your cat to consult with a vet dentist specializing in cats.

Cats live perfectly well without teeth once they heal up, and can even eat raw food, just not meaty bone. I know a cat with no teeth that’s still able to eat day old chicks without issue post-extraction.

 

[fionasmom]

Welcome to The Cat Site! I think that you are well beyond diet or allergies from your description. I agree that a biopsy should be done, and that you are probably looking at extraction of teeth.

Cats actually use their teeth to grab and tear at food in the wild. If you have ever watched a program where the big cats eat, you probably noticed that they are not chewing in the sense that we do, or that primates do. For the most part they grab and swallow their food. Cats with no teeth need almost no dietary adjustment from what they were eating before.