Will my cat be ok if his teeth are removed?

[Willowy]

One of my mom's cats lost most of her teeth (she has a couple fangs left but no back teeth). She gets mostly canned food, but she still eats her kibble just fine.

LOL, I know I said this, but I forgot to mention that she also eats birds. Mostly those she finds already dead because she's getting too old to hunt. One flew into the window last week and all that's left now is feathers. I have no idea how she does it but. . .:dk:

 

[callista]

LOL, I know I said this, but I forgot to mention that she also eats birds. Mostly those she finds already dead because she's getting too old to hunt. One flew into the window last week and all that's left now is feathers. I have no idea how she does it but. . .

Well, obviously she cuts it into perfect bite-size pieces with kitteh laser vision!

 

[taristupp]

My cat is currently dealing with Stomatitis- where the teeth are causing an allergic reaction and causing pain.  He has already had 6 teeth removed, and the vet said all of them will probably need to come out.  I am just wondering do you know if your vet wants to pull them all at once?  If that is possible I would go that route because it was 300 for just 6 teeth, then the pain medication and the antibiotic.  I can't find where it's bad to have them pulled at once.  My husband brought this cat from the city garage and it's just cost money money money.  I love animals, but in this economy we just don't have it to spend all on one cat, I have 2 dogs and another cat.  I am willing to go with taking the teeth out, but if that doesn't cure it, I will have to put him to sleep.  He is in so much pain now, it's Sunday and I can't get to the vet, and he fights me tooth and nail to get any medication down him.  I just pray that once all the teeth are out he will be ok.  The facts are that it cures 90percent of the kittys, but I will have that cat in the 10percent range.  I will try changing food too, this has me so upset, I worry myself sick when my babies are ill. 
 

 

[tobytyler]

Oh sweetie,

I am so sorry.  It would actually be better to do it all at once so there is only one anesthesia.

I am just  hoping he is a good candidate for the procedure right now.  He probably needs pain meds, fluids and antibiotics first to get in better condition for surgery.  Please either contact and ER clinic on call right away or get there the very first thing in the morning and explain what you have posted here. 

You are not at a point right now that you have to make any decisions regarding euthanasia.  This sounds like it could be fixable, you just need to get your cat healthy again. 

Welcome to TCS

  Please keep us posted.  Let us know how he is doing through out the day.

 

[txcatmom]

The facts are that it cures 90percent of the kittys, but I will have that cat in the 10percent range.

I'm so sorry you are going through this.  We are too.  The 90 percent is debatable.  I've done a ton of research and read anywhere from 30% - 90%.  If you are hoping extractions will provide a cure it is very important to have a dental specialist or regular vet who is very experienced.  There is no room for sloppy technique because every single trace of dental root needs to come out...that involves taking x-rays before and after to confirm all the root is out.

And, it is fine to have a bunch of teeth extracted at once.  Our Lucy had all her teeth behind the canines extracted at once.  Unfortunately, hers was not done by a specialist and, although they told me they were going to use x-rays, they didn't.  She is still having to use steroids to control the pain and inflammation. 

 

[camib]

I recently had to remove all my cat's teeth due to auto-immune stomatitis. We found our beloved Sheldon only months earlier at a local shelter, and on our first visit to the vet, we found that Sheldon had been underweight and living in pain for a long time, although his temperament never suggested such a thing. After 3 surgeries, he is happy and healthy, having gained weight and energy! The cuspids were the last teeth to be removed, and the trickiest as with those teeth, there is a greater likelihood of an abcess, but our cat did not suffer any loss of jaw integrity. Our vet had warned that his skin or lips might droop or sag more due to the structural support teeth provide, but that wouldn't be much of a concern.
I can tell you that Sheldon keeps his mouth open every once in awhile (when hungry or purring) and drools a little, but he also eats and plays with his sister just fine! If anything, we have seen him become more talkative and playful since his extractions.

I am sure most doubts concerning feeding have been dispelled, and we were skeptical at first, too. Our vet suggested mixing a little water in with our wet food to form a paste, but Sheldon doesn't discriminate between wet or dry, he will happily eat anything.

I am not sure that having all the teeth extracted in one surgery is the best option. Sometimes certain teeth can be saved, but perhaps not. I do know that extracting the teeth requires a very skilled and knowledgeable vet, whose skill and precision may waver if having to complete the entire tedious task in one go. Furthermore, a loss of all the teeth at once can be quite traumatic for the cat, who may have difficulty eating at all while healing. Sheldon was able to favor on side of the mouth through each recovery, which made it bearable for him to feed.

I know my vet has seen cases like this before and that her past extractions have all seen similar success, so I can't really comment on statistics, but I can say that extraction really can work.

This situation was unfortunate, but I am thankful for Sheldon every day, and am happy that I chose to extract his teeth. He has never seemed happier, which leads me to believe that he had been suffering from extreme pain before the extraction alleviated it.

 

[jclark]

I have a 14 yr old Main Coon who just had 8 removed 3 weeks ago. Prior to the surgery he would eat kibble, canned (Pate type), basically anything (loved tomato based foods).

Now he won't eat anything but soft-treats.  Maybe a few bits of kibble, but won't touch his favorite canned.  I've tried 5 flavors of canned.  At this point I'm having to give him an appetite enhancer (he absolutely hates the taste and it causes him to tear up) in order to get him him to eat.  I can't keep him on the appetite enhancer so I have to keep trying to find something he'll eat over the next week or so or I'll end up having put him down.

BTW..Health wise he's in top shape. X-Ray, blood work, urinalysis, everything came back normal except he's way underweight.

 

[luke2901]

My Moody will also have some teeth removed on March 22nd.  I'm wondering how long after the extractions will his mouth be feeling okay to eat?  Is it common for the vet to send home paid medications and if they don't should I ask for some? 

He has also lost some weight over the past few months, is this common for cats with poor dental care to not eat as much because of the pain.  The vet drew blood to check for other health disease he may have that could be contributing to his weight loss.

 

[vball91]

You should definitely ask your vet those post-surgery care questions, along with what to do if he doesn't eat for a while after the extractions as well as how to administer pain meds.

I think that mouth pain could contribute to his not eating as much, but you should also ask the vet to check to see if anything else is causing the weight loss.

 

[luke2901]

Well I got the news back on Moody's bloodwork.  All his vital organs are in wonderful shape for a cat of 13 years.  So the vet said all is okay to go ahead with his dental work this Friday.  What a relief!

 

[mewlittle]

i don't know about the kibble and being toothless you can give him canned food if you worried about him chocking on dry

 

[danitaapy]

My cat Maximus has juvenile gingivitis and stomatitis (he started when he was only 2 years old!) The vet kept putting off extracting all his teeth but his pain became so bad that he was pretty much starving and would have pain induced seizures! Finally the vet took out his teeth starting with the left side as it was the worst then the right side a month later. It's been 5 months and he has gained all his weight back and was back to eating dry food a week after he came home. He is a much happier cat! 

 

[catwoman707]

Exactly!

In rescue I see this often, and currently have a feral cat Lucy Lu who I trapped as I could see she had a problem with eating and was VERY skinny.

She has stomatitis as I suspected, mouth and tongue ulcers so it's so painful to eat she would only eat enough to survive.

Had all her teeth removed, and has been here getting thicker, healthier and fatter, and is now twice her weight! (4.5 when I got her, now close to 9lbs)

If you look at a cat's vomit, it's barely chewed.

Your cat will be fine! Canned for a week or 2, then dry and supplement with canned for weight gain once daily.

 

[peter bohanna]

I have a young cat who was missing for two days and then she returned but in bad shape. Her jaw is messed up and some teeth out and bad eye. She seems to be in pain and wont eat or drink. I think it would be wise to get her checked by a vet and possibly removal of teeth. I was wondering how much surgery would cost to get her teeth removed

 

[tjcarst]

Peter, I am not sure on the cost. Call your vet and ask, as it varies from vet to vet.

 

[lesliew]

Hi, my cat Bella had almost all of her teeth pulled out last November.  We found her on our doorstep a few years back.  I never knew anything was wrong except that she started to have this foul smell to her.  When the vet said she might need a few teeth taken out, I agreed but I didn't think it would be that many.  I felt terrible that I didn't realize something was wrong.  What aggravated me is that I bring her in for checkups every year and nothing was ever noticed.  Could all this have happened in one year's time? The vet said that she was already missing some teeth and that it was probably her immune system.  Well she only has 8 teeth left.  I give her both canned and kibble.  She has no problem eating and is very happy and sweet.  However, I am noticing that her bottom front teeth (what's left) look irritated again.  I hope this isn't bad news again.  I don't want to put her through any more.  I am hoping maybe a little antibiotic will help.  But can she survive if all of her teeth are gone?  She is only 5 years old.

 

[maewkaew]

Sure , she could survive.   She may survive longer without teeth than if she keeps having bad dental infections,  that can actually even cause damage to other organs.    

There have been a lot of cats with dental problems that had to have their teeth out and felt much better after,  and they can easily eat  canned food.  

I dont know if that will be necessary for your cat.    if she has an infection now,  maybe some antibiotics will take care of it and then start brushing her remaining teeth regularly.   and get more thorough cleanings at the vet every year or so.

 

[kittylove542]

My parents are about to foster/adopt a toothless cat from their local shelter. His name is Gummy

.  I'm not sure of the details but he had a medical condition which resulted in needing all his teeth extracted and he will be on a certain medication for the rest of his days. He eats normally and looks great. They can get along fine (if not better) with no teeth. Good luck!

 

[lesliew]

Thankyou for the response.  I feel a little better now!  We love our animals!

 

[mservant]

Hi, my cat Bella had almost all of her teeth pulled out last November.  We found her on our doorstep a few years back.  I never knew anything was wrong except that she started to have this foul smell to her.  When the vet said she might need a few teeth taken out, I agreed but I didn't think it would be that many.  I felt terrible that I didn't realize something was wrong.  What aggravated me is that I bring her in for checkups every year and nothing was ever noticed.  Could all this have happened in one year's time? The vet said that she was already missing some teeth and that it was probably her immune system.  Well she only has 8 teeth left.  I give her both canned and kibble.  She has no problem eating and is very happy and sweet.  However, I am noticing that her bottom front teeth (what's left) look irritated again.  I hope this isn't bad news again.  I don't want to put her through any more.  I am hoping maybe a little antibiotic will help.  But can she survive if all of her teeth are gone?  She is only 5 years old.

Like Maewkaew has mentioned, brush any remaining teeth. If you don't do this once or twice a day at the moment I'd start right away as even this might manage the irritation. Then when you get to the vet you will know whether an increase in dental care has been supportive or not and it may influence the decision.  My 2 1/2 year old had stomatitis, tonsillitis, and gingivitis from about 9 months and was on and off antibiotics and pain/inflammation relief for at least a year. SO far we've been extremely lucky and managed to maintain all his teeth with strict diet and twice daily brushing with an enzyme toothpaste. I know it could all go nasty again at any time, esp. as he's now been diagnosed with FHV 1 and the vet isn't sure if that wasn't part of the earlier mouth problems. At least I know more about what can be done and how cats cope without teeth now so if it does have to happen I'll be slightly better prepared (I don't want to imagine how I will feel when I do need to make that decision).  He pretty much always has a fine red line around a couple of teeth but it varies which ones. If I miss brushing even for a day his gums look pretty angry again so it really does help.