Dental Issue questions

[JulieHarr]

My cat Simon Peter is 8. At 2 he had his first dental cleaning and then yearly there after. He also gets his yearly checkup and vaccinations. Last month in June, he had his annual cleaning and the vet said one of the teeth looked like a resorption happening. He was seen the next week at a vet hospital. The vet showed me Simon's gums and I saw a red dot that indicated a problem with the tooth. They did xrays and found 4 teeth had to be removed. I told the vet I am very upset because I have been diligent about his annual dental cleanings and his health. And are the cleanings supposed to prevent teeth problems? The vet said, sometimes this just happens in cats.

So forum cat guardians:
1. Was the vet right when he said, "sometimes this happens"?
2. Is there anything I can do to prevent any future issues?
3. Does he really need the annual cleanings?
4. I feed him 4Health from Tractor Supply. Has anyone heard of any issues with their food?

 

[carebearbaby1]

No one knows exactly what causes resorption, some think it's an autoimmune response. Two years old seems early to start full dental cleanings, but if he needed it at two that might be why he has resorption now. Either way there's nothing to do but pull the teeth.

I feed 4 health also, none of my current cats have ever needed a dental and most are older cats

 

[neely]

The vet said, sometimes this just happens in cats.

The vet is right. Did you see a veterinary dental specialist?
You're doing everything a responsible cat guardian can do for Simon Peter. Unfortunately FORL is often genetic. Both our last and present cat had serious cases of FORL and needed multiple extractions but not all at once. We adopted both from a shelter so we had no idea about their past environment or history. However, we changed what they were eating immediately and they still developed FORL as they aged.

Here is an Article that I thought might be helpful which discusses Gingivitis in cats:
Gingivitis And Stomatitis In Cats

Simon Peter is absolutely gorgeous. Someone started a thread on orange cats and gingivitis that I thought you might find interesting: Orange cats and gingivitis?

 

[JulieHarr]

Thank you both for the info! Yes, the vet that did the surgery specializes in dental for cats and dogs. His routine vet never said anything last year, so I am thinking either they missed it or he developed it since then.

 

[stephanietx]

I have a 15 yr old kitty with feline herpes. Several years ago, she had resorptive lesions and needed to have 2 teeth pulled. The vet mentioned that it could be because of her compromised immune system or just her genetics. She hasn't had a problem since. We take her to the vet as needed and annually for her check up. We don't give her vaccines because of her age and compromised immune system. She has been on a grain-free mostly wet food diet for the past 13 years. The vet is correct, it does just sometimes happen.

 

[daftcat75]

FORLs aren't single events. Your cat will likely keep having issues with them. Expect the need for more extractions. Absolutely do annual checkups with X-rays. But also know that cleanings won't help with FORLs as they start below the gum line--hence why yearly mouth X-rays become more important. As another posted, FORLs is believed to be an autoimmune response.

General veterinarians have some training in pulling teeth. But they don't have nearly the kind of training or expertise that dental specialists do. Now that you know your cat gets resorptive lesions, get proactive and bring him into a veterinary dental specialist.

AVDC Veterinary Dentist Directory

These specialists often have very long lead times for consultation appointments. When I was calling around for my Krista, it was two to six months. Also, most of these dentists don't work out of animal hospitals. They want to deal with otherwise healthy cats only. In Krista's case, her eating slowed way down and her regular vets no longer wanted to pull any more teeth from her mouth. It was only the luck of a wildfire (if you can call a wildfire lucky) in one dentist's service area that cleared his schedule enough to see Krista in two weeks rather than two months. He was also working out of a VCA hospital so he had additional support available should she need it (like a feeding tube which was a strong possibility at the time.) He reviewed her X-rays with me and showed me that of the several general vets doing extractions in her mouth, many mistakes were made precisely because they weren't dental specialists. I asked him what I had been asking the general vets for a long time, "can't you pull them all rather than waiting for them to go bad?" Specifically, I said, "I want you to make this the last dental procedure she'll ever need." And thanks to an afternoon cancellation (thank you again to the wildfire), he was able to perform the procedure the same day as the consultation. After over two years of her struggling with FORLs and this up-and-down cycle of eating through pain and then not eating at all, I brought home a toothless cat that afternoon and we've never had another issue with her mouth again. She's a little messier than before. But she eats just as well, if not better, than before.

So what I recommend is that you get him to a dentist sooner rather than later. Because wildfires not withstanding, if you wait, you will not be able to get an appointment when you need one. Make the appointment before it comes to that and talk with the dentist about your options. He may recommend a full mouth extraction. And let me tell you, this is far better than cycles of slow eating/no eating, the possibility of a feeding tube, and piecemeal extractions.

 

[LTS3]

Dental issues can happen regardless of diet and home dental care. Both of my cats eat raw and one has had a few tooth extractions due to FORLs despite teeth brushing. Dry food does nothing for dental health despite what vets say and what a package label claims.

Does Dry Food Actually Clean Your Cat's Teeth? - TheCatSite

Cat food is always a hot topic on our forums. There are so many things to consider when deciding which diet is best for your cat that debates can be lengthy, and occasionally heated. When dry food is brought up, we sometimes hear people mention its anti-plaque qualities, often tooted by their...

thecatsite.com

Have the dental cleaning done to get the teeth in good shape and then maintain with regular home dental care. Teeth brushing is preferred over dental water additives and oral rinses and such. Daily brushing is ideal but if you can only do it once or twice a week, that's better than nothing. Your cat may still need an occasional dental cleaning even with home care.