Cat's teeth

Quenastoise

DH took Murphy to the vet recently for his annual booster.

After the cat had his shot, the vet told DH that Murphy would have to be wormed and flea'd (we couldn't see anything wrong with this coat) and later have dental surgery (then again, we didn't realise that something was wrong with his teeth, although obviously M. wouldn't come and ask for a Nurofen if in pain and we had never looked into Murphy's mouth).

We do want to look after properly after Murphy and have pet insurance to cover the necessary care, but how can we make sure that the vet is not over-zealous in her recommendations ? For one thing, Murphy would have to be put under to have this teeth cleaned.

Need a bit of common sense advice, really. Thank you in advance

SnowyOwl_2

It's easy to check a cat's teeth - if the breath is really smelly (like a dog's lol) that is a good clue to start with. Then just gently push up/down his lips at either side of his mouth. The gumline will probably be red, and that is the start of gingivitis (gum disease). The teeth should really be clean and white, but if there is any blackness or build up of thick yellowy scale then they need attention. There might be a big red horrible gap at the gumline. It's unlikely the front teeth will be affected, it's the big molars behind the canines that will be troublesome. Unfortunately the diets our felines are fed does nothing for their teeth - all that wet sticky canned food just sticks to their teeth and makes them rot. Biscuits are supposed to be better, but I've not witnessed much difference as my cats ended up needing dentals on either type of diet.

Dental work is important - any rotting teeth in your cat's mouth can have a very detrimental affect on your cat's general health as bacteria is more likely to enter the bloodstream through diseased gums.

I would be very surprised if your cat's teeth were covered by insurance, though I am sure inspection of your policy document will set out exactly what is and isn't covered regarding dental work.

One of my kitties is going to get his gnashers sorted on Monday - as far as I am concerned it's to be expected with cats due to the food they get. It'll be costly but it's as much for trying to prevent future problems as well as remove any bad teeth.

ERICS_MUM

SnowyOwl wrote: »

It's easy to check a cat's teeth - if the breath is really smelly (like a dog's lol) that is a good clue to start with. Then just gently push up/down his lips at either side of his mouth. The gumline will probably be red, and that is the start of gingivitis (gum disease). The teeth should really be clean and white, but if there is any blackness or build up of thick yellowy scale then they need attention. There might be a big red horrible gap at the gumline. It's unlikely the front teeth will be affected, it's the big molars behind the canines that will be troublesome. Unfortunately the diets our felines are fed does nothing for their teeth - all that wet sticky canned food just sticks to their teeth and makes them rot. Biscuits are supposed to be better, but I've not witnessed much difference as my cats ended up needing dentals on either type of diet.

Dental work is important - any rotting teeth in your cat's mouth can have a very detrimental affect on your cat's general health as bacteria is more likely to enter the bloodstream through diseased gums.

I would be very surprised if your cat's teeth were covered by insurance, though I am sure inspection of your policy document will set out exactly what is and isn't covered regarding dental work.

One of my kitties is going to get his gnashers sorted on Monday - as far as I am concerned it's to be expected with cats due to the food they get. It'll be costly but it's as much for trying to prevent future problems as well as remove any bad teeth.

This is exactly the same as my experience with my own cat. He had his teeth cleaned under sedation and whilst the vet was poking around he discoved a feline tumour on his gum which they could treat immediately.

Re fleaing and worming - do you treat him at home for these with the proper stuff from the vets, or just the Bob Martin brand from supermarkets (which I don't think is effective).

Cats are expensive to maintain, and maintenance is not covered by insurance.

SnowyOwl_2

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

This is exactly the same as my experience with my own cat. He had his teeth cleaned under sedation and whilst the vet was poing around he discoved a feline tumour on his gum shich they could treat immediately.

Re fleaing and worming - do you treat him at home for these with the proper stuff from the vets, or just the Bob Martin brand from supermarkets (which I don't think is effective).

Cats are expensive to maintain, and maintenance is not covered by insurance.

I'm not sure who this question was directed at but I'll reply anyway. I get the expensive stuff from the vet for flea/tick and worm treatments. Unfortunately for my own pocket I haven't got myself organised to buy them off the internet as they work out much cheaper after a bit of shopping around. The vet's mark up tends to be high, but these are now non-prescription items so getting them elsewhere isn't a problem, especially as I know exactly what my cats require.

I tried the Bob Martin pipettes years ago and wasn't impressed. Since then I've read some horror stories about them apparently causing fits in dogs and cats. That may or may not be true, but I don't want to take the chance. I much prefer to go with my vet's recommendation and get Frontline and Drontal products.

amszephyr

Quenastoise wrote: »

We do want to look after properly after Murphy and have pet insurance to cover the necessary care, but how can we make sure that the vet is not over-zealous in her recommendations ? For one thing, Murphy would have to be put under to have this teeth cleaned.

Need a bit of common sense advice, really. Thank you in advance

I don't think there'd be any vet who would recommend this unless it is completely necessary, given the obvious inherent risks associated with giving a cat an anaesthetic. I always take my father's cat to his annual 'service' at the vet and this time was told he'd need his teeth treated in this way.
While it was not particularly cheap (£70, if I recall) and was not covered by insurance, it means he is not suffering discomfort nor is at risk of developing more serious dental problems by leaving this untreated.
I'd certainly have Murphy's teeth treated.
And on the flea/worming front, Stronghold or Advocate on prescription from the vet are generally considered the most effective treatments, from what my vet tells me. If tablets are a problem, you can use Profender for worming treatments - although not at the same time as the other spot-on products.
None of it comes cheap - but it's worth knowing you're doing the best you can for your pet.

Quenastoise

Thank you for the advice - I guess we'll have to take a deep breath and let him go under.

We used the worming product from the vet, after that we were told to wait for 2 weeks and go for the anti-flea product (Frontline)

Murphy has been on dry food since the visit and been given Purina, which he likes (not sure if IAMS is a superior product), supplemented by ham and tuna. I don't know if either he's off his food since being wormed or if the dry food is more satisfying but he doesn't seem as hungry as with wet food. I guess a purely dry diet is not ideal either ?

Ms_Magnetite

Two of mine have had their gnashers done. One had two visits, a year apart, where he had a couple of teeth out - the second time was an emergency as he snapped a tooth on his crunchies. Think he was 9 and 10.

Another one had her teeth done for the first time before Christmas. Two teeth out and a scale and polish. She's nearly 13 and had developed breath that could strip paint at a hundred paces and had started refusing her morning crunchies.

Until they became outdoor cats for the first time last year when I moved, they only had flea and worm treatments after being kittens when they visited the vet or when I got a new pet. They also had all their vaccinations for the first time and were chipped to celebrate getting a garden - I am sure they'd thank me for it.


They have a mixture of foods - crunchies in the morning (can't face the smell of meat blobs at 6am),
2nd breakfast of some random treat meal (shared between 3) mid morning to lunchtime,
they get the occasional bonus of a slice of ham/beef/chicken at my lunch,
plus something as I cook dinner (a blob of raw mince/offcut of chicken breast/trimmings of fish fillets/the water from a tin of tuna, etc)
and then soft food at dinnertime.

Oh, and the occasional saucer of cat milk/goat milk if I'm feeling generous in the supermarket after totting up the cost of the litter, food and toys.

They've always had a mix (if they were feral, they'd eat different things and I think different tastes and textures are part of psychological enrichment, after all, they don't have to chase the Meowmix Down to entertain themselves) - they still needed dental treatment eventually.

SnowyOwl_2

Quenastoise wrote: »

Thank you for the advice - I guess we'll have to take a deep breath and let him go under.

We used the worming product from the vet, after that we were told to wait for 2 weeks and go for the anti-flea product (Frontline)

Murphy has been on dry food since the visit and been given Purina, which he likes (not sure if IAMS is a superior product), supplemented by ham and tuna. I don't know if either he's off his food since being wormed or if the dry food is more satisfying but he doesn't seem as hungry as with wet food. I guess a purely dry diet is not ideal either ?

Oh dear...ham and tuna are OK in small infrequent quantities! Unfortunately cats' kidneys are the weakest part of their anatomy and both ham and tuna are high in salt and they take their toll on the kidneys. A good tasty treat for your kitties is raw mince, or raw stewing steak.

My vet advises all his customers to put their cats onto dry food only, and he specifically recommends Hill's. I did this but one of my kitties developed a dreadful problem with the large intestine and nearly died. It's quite a rare problem and the vet was unable to work out what caused it, however my research suggests that a dry food only diet could have been a cause. The big issue with dry is that cats often don't drink enough water to compensate - at least with canned there is quite a lot of moisture in it already. Now I feed dry food and tinned, so best of both worlds, and some raw one or two times a week as they love it so much. I also put bowls of water around the house and they get lapped up by all three of the kitties.

And you thought feeding your cat was going to be easy, lol!!

Oh and my big kitty Teddy had his teeth done today, all went well and he's home now with some antibiotic tablets for the next three days. The total cost was £65.

rita-rabbit

Cat toothpaste - I use Logic on my two & fingers crossed they won't have to have `dentals'. It was suggested a few years ago by the vet. I run some along the gum line (both sides) putting a bit on a cotton wool bud.

Apparently dried only diets are dangerous for male cats as they can get blocked - I had to restart giving wet to mine when the Tom got seriously ill with urinary crystals last year - I feed them 50/50 wet/dried. Tinned is fine & much cheaper than pouches or failing that raw offal.

bacardi66

When my cats were about 6 I was told they would probably need to go in for dentals in the next year or so. I started feeding them Hills Science Diet Oral Care alongside a couple of pouches of Whiskas each every day. After that the vets always commented what good teeth they had and dentals were never mentioned again, my remaining cat is nearly 17 and every time he goes for a check up the vet admires his teeth but perhaps its more luck than anything else. He now has Senior Whiskas pouches alongside the Hills Oral Care.

I remember the cat we had when I was a kid by the time it was about 10 it didnt have any teeth left but it seemed to enjoy sucking on pieces of toast :eek:

Ms_Magnetite

bacardi66 wrote: »

I remember the cat we had when I was a kid by the time it was about 10 it didnt have any teeth left but it seemed to enjoy sucking on pieces of toast :eek:

I had one that lost all but three teeth when it was run over as a kitten.

At 17, she was still gumming furious little birds to death as supplementary nutrition