Stomatitis in 4 yr old

[TSBLD]

I live w/ my sister and she has 4 cats with dental issues. The youngest, a 4 yr old boy, was taken to the vet where I work a couple weeks ago for excessive drooling. The vet thinks he has stomatitis, or at the very least severe dental disease and will need a lot of teeth removed. He got a covenia and a
Dexamethasone injection, and he gets transdermal gabapentin (compounded gaba that is put on his ear and absorbed there) for pain.

He has a dental specialist appt today for a consult, and hopefully extractions/cleaning soon.

It's a bit frustrating because this is the 4th of her cats so far to have dental issues. The other 3 are older (two 7 yr olds and a 15 yr old). The very youngest (3) had a broken canine tooth that was pulled this year, but otherwise her mouth is fine.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
If I may ask, what is she feeding them, and how is the water quality?

 

[TSBLD]

Hi!
If I may ask, what is she feeding them, and how is the water quality?

I forgot I posted here lol.

They get Purina One (most of the time depending on availabllity). We have 2 water bowls. We used to have a junky chinese fountain, but it stopped working. We have city water, and it's very hard. It makes the gh/kh in my aquariums around 15 to 17.

 

[Alldara]

TSBLD are these former ferals? Stomachitis has a genetic link that can be present in some areas. From the cat colony that Magnus came from, 5 or 6 of us adopters have cats with dental issues.

Looking up some studies we found that Omega suppliments help with dental issues. Particularly subcutaneous ones. Magnus's isn't that bad so he just has oral ones: Inflammation and wound healing in cats with chronic gingivitis/stomatitis after extraction of all premolars and molars were not affected by feeding of two diets with different omega-6/omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratios - PubMed

Brushing a cat's teeth daily is necessary to prevent further deterioration. Even just starting with a q-tip.

 

[Furballsmom]

Can you ask about using filtered water, either something like a Brita pitcher or a faucet end unit?

 

[Alldara]

You can also try your local Buy Nothing or Freecycle groups to see if someone has a fountain. The Catit one goes on sale at PetSmart regularly. It works well and we've had it more than a year.