I fostering a 3-year-old cat from the shelter I volunteer at. She has been at the shelter all her life and was always one of my favorites, but until recently, I wasn't in a position to have more than one cat. I've had her for several months now, and within a couple days of adopting her, I noticed her breath was awful.
The shelter was founded by a veterinarian whose office is next door (he's now retired, and his daughter is the main vet there now) and while an animal is being fostered, we're supposed to take them there for all their medical care.
So, I brought her in and they diagnosed her with stomatitis. They gave me about 10 days worth of Prednisolone and then an anti-inflammatory. That settled it down a little, but of course, didn't cure it, so they've just been having me spray Chlorhexadine into her mouth once a day to stave off any secondary infections. They're reluctant to pull her teeth because she's so young, but from what I've read here and in other places, most cats are okay with no molars, after the initial adjustment period, of course.
She was fairly shy to begin with and has never really liked being held, but now that I have to try to catch her every day and spray some nasty-tasting stuff into her mouth, she's terrified of me and gets more stressed out. She's still friendly- she'll come and sit next to you, or sleep on me at night, but if I approach her, she runs like hell. It's gotten to the point where I rarely bother to even attempt catching her every day because it makes her so miserable.
I work in a dental office and a couple months ago, I went to a dental conference and they had a veterinary dentist, Dr. Gregg Dupont out of Seattle, giving a lecture. He's a former president of the American Verterinary Dental College. He did a whole section of his presentation on stomatitis and he said he believes it's the most painful thing a cat can go through, worse than breaking a leg. He said that pulling the teeth is the only solution, that trying to treat it with steroids and anti-inflammatories can only make things worse because it weakens their immune system and causes further problems. Well, after I heard that, I was ready to run out of the lecture and take her straight to the vet to talk seriously about pulling her teeth! But I didn't- I brought her back a couple of days later and talked to them about it. They were concerned, but still don't want to pull her teeth.
If I adopt her, I can take her somewhere else for a second opinion, but I'll have to pay for the surgery (if I went to them it would be about $250-$300; I called a veterinary dentist to see what their prices were and they wanted $1500-$2000
I'm not sure what the vet I normally see would charge.) I can find a way to get the money together- I'm willing to do just about anything for the medical needs of my cats, whether it's a second job, a loan from a bank or family member, selling an organ
but I just want some opinions on whether this vet is handling this appropriately or if I should find someone who will be more aggressive with the problem.
I've heard that many cats with stomatitis can be anti-social until they get the teeth removed and the pain is gone. I'm hoping that's the case with her.
The shelter was founded by a veterinarian whose office is next door (he's now retired, and his daughter is the main vet there now) and while an animal is being fostered, we're supposed to take them there for all their medical care.
So, I brought her in and they diagnosed her with stomatitis. They gave me about 10 days worth of Prednisolone and then an anti-inflammatory. That settled it down a little, but of course, didn't cure it, so they've just been having me spray Chlorhexadine into her mouth once a day to stave off any secondary infections. They're reluctant to pull her teeth because she's so young, but from what I've read here and in other places, most cats are okay with no molars, after the initial adjustment period, of course.
She was fairly shy to begin with and has never really liked being held, but now that I have to try to catch her every day and spray some nasty-tasting stuff into her mouth, she's terrified of me and gets more stressed out. She's still friendly- she'll come and sit next to you, or sleep on me at night, but if I approach her, she runs like hell. It's gotten to the point where I rarely bother to even attempt catching her every day because it makes her so miserable.
I work in a dental office and a couple months ago, I went to a dental conference and they had a veterinary dentist, Dr. Gregg Dupont out of Seattle, giving a lecture. He's a former president of the American Verterinary Dental College. He did a whole section of his presentation on stomatitis and he said he believes it's the most painful thing a cat can go through, worse than breaking a leg. He said that pulling the teeth is the only solution, that trying to treat it with steroids and anti-inflammatories can only make things worse because it weakens their immune system and causes further problems. Well, after I heard that, I was ready to run out of the lecture and take her straight to the vet to talk seriously about pulling her teeth! But I didn't- I brought her back a couple of days later and talked to them about it. They were concerned, but still don't want to pull her teeth.
If I adopt her, I can take her somewhere else for a second opinion, but I'll have to pay for the surgery (if I went to them it would be about $250-$300; I called a veterinary dentist to see what their prices were and they wanted $1500-$2000
I've heard that many cats with stomatitis can be anti-social until they get the teeth removed and the pain is gone. I'm hoping that's the case with her.
