My Adopted Cat Just Lost A K9 Tooth!

[rachaelbauder]

I adopted Mr. Biggs a few months ago. He had his shots, declawed and fixed. He had 1 missing K9 tooth I noticed after I brought him home. Tonight we found another K9 tooth on the floor! My poor baby only has 2 left. His other teeth are not in good condition either. He was an outdoor cat who needed a home so bad, he was so malnutritioned and neglected that I failed to look at his teeth when I went to meet him. What do I do? He hates wet food because he was never given it. I've tried many times, as I tried gourmet and regular wet foods prior to this. I'm afraid he won't be able to chew his food right which will cause vomiting. He has a very sensitive stomach. His diet currently includes Iams and water and a supplement of Whiskas milk for a treat. Can anyone please tell me your experience if you have had one like this. You could tell the tooth was rotted. He is not in pain as he is not crying or whining and did eat some of his dry food earlier. Am I worried for nothing?

 

[daftcat75]

Cats don’t cry or whine with mouth pain. It’s likely something they don’t believe we can help them with so they suffer in silence like any good prey animal would hide its pain.

Some signs he may have dental pain:

1. Licks his lips. This could be nausea. It could be hunger. It could be satisfaction. But it could also be discomfort or pain.

2. Shakes head while eating. Or the wince and shake. Or he may just be a food flinger. Since cats can’t grind their food, if it doesn’t shred, they toss it.

3. Stops eating. May still show up at meal times but just sit and stare at the food.

It’s very difficult to assess how much oral pain a cat may have because a lot of these behaviors could be something else too. If you can help it, don’t let it get to #3. If your cat stops eating and needs teeth extracted, how many days of mouth rest do you suppose your cat can tolerate before he needs a feeding tube for nutrition?

This isn’t a theoretical situation. My Krista is going through it right now. I know kitty dentals are expensive. But waiting on their teeth can be so much more expensive!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. If you haven't already done it, you might just want to have a vet look at his teeth and give you an assessment of their condition at this time - just so you know what your are dealing with. If it turns out that he does need some dental work, then I would start trying to get him to eat some cooked chicken or turkey chopped up finely (if his stomach will tolerate them) so you can see if they might be options for him while recovering from any dental work that might be needed.

There are other foods you could try in prep for recovery (as long as his stomach can tolerate them):

· Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury/low/no sodium brand is called SafeCatch
· Salmon, mackerel
· Sardines (make sure there are no bones)
· shredded cheddar cheese, string cheese
· whole cooked eggs (the white must always be cooked) or raw egg yolk now and then

After the gums heal, regardless of how many teeth he might lose, cats can eat dry food without any issues.

 

[rachaelbauder]

Cats don’t cry or whine with mouth pain. It’s likely something they don’t believe we can help them with so they suffer in silence like any good prey animal would hide its pain.

Some signs he may have dental pain:

1. Licks his lips. This could be nausea. It could be hunger. It could be satisfaction. But it could also be discomfort or pain.

2. Shakes head while eating. Or the wince and shake. Or he may just be a food flinger. Since cats can’t grind their food, if it doesn’t shred, they toss it.

3. Stops eating. May still show up at meal times but just sit and stare at the food.

It’s very difficult to assess how much oral pain a cat may have because a lot of these behaviors could be something else too. If you can help it, don’t let it get to #3. If your cat stops eating and needs teeth extracted, how many days of mouth rest do you suppose your cat can tolerate before he needs a feeding tube for nutrition?

This isn’t a theoretical situation. My Krista is going through it right now. I know kitty dentals are expensive. But waiting on their teeth can be so much more expensive!

Thank you so much for the info! Those key points are very helpful! Mr. Biggs isn't having those problems yet thank goodness! I'm so sorry to hear about your Krista tho. I will have you both in my thoughts!

 

[daftcat75]

Thank you so much for the info! Those key points are very helpful! Mr. Biggs isn't having those problems yet thank goodness! I'm so sorry to hear about your Krista tho. I will have you both in my thoughts!

Don’t use those as your sign posts. The point I was trying to make is that cats hide their pain. Cats are prey animals and signs of weakness are how prey animals get eaten. I was trying to illustrate that mouth pain can present itself in very subtle, maybe not even perceptible, ways. When Krista’s teeth were bothering her the first time, the only sign I got was that she was peeing my walls instead of the litterbox. I pulled my hair out for months trying to treat this as a behaviorial issue. It wasn’t until I took her in for something else and mentioned this that the vet opened up her mouth and said, “Her teeth are going bad. She’s peeing your walls as a cry for help, or out of frustration.”

If you’re waiting for your cat to tell you how much pain he might be in, you may be waiting a very long time. Prioritize the kitty dental whatever you need to do to afford it. It will only get so much more expensive if you wait.

 

[Kflowers]

Cats can eat dry food without teeth. One of mine lost all of her teeth by the time she was 17, she could still eat dry. We had Sweet Gum at the vet for an x-ray of her spine. Apparently, she'd just finished breakfast before we left. Her stomach was full of dry food. On the x-ray you could see each individual piece. Each looked exactly as it had when I poured it into her bowl. No chewing needed.

PS Her spine was okay.

 

[denice]

I would take him in and get his teeth looked at, he probably is in need of a dental. A condition called tooth reabsorption is common in cats. It's like a cavity that starts below the gum line so it isn't visible. They believe it's autoimmune in nature, my vet said that they found the condition in cats that were in the tombs in Egypt. As a warning, dentals can be expensive. There is the cost for anesthetic and dentals should include xrays to find issues that aren't visible. Even if he ends up having a number of teeth extracted he will be fine. Even cats with no teeth do fine.