Mouth Infections in Cats                                      

     Mouth infections in cats can be devastating.  Frequently they start at an early age and become chronic.  Many times we treat with multiple medicines and cleanings only to have it recur.  Frequently the solution is extraction of all or most the teeth.  The following case shows the progression of the disease along with the frustration of treatment.

     "Glinda" is a 5 year old Himalayan cat, born in April of 2002.  She first came to us March of 2003 with inflammation of the teeth and gums which was seen at the time of her spay surgery.  We performed a biopsy and the diagnosis was chronic active proliferative gingivits.  At the time she was only 11 months and already had a serious mouth problem.
     She was treated with antibiotics and improved.  Two months later she was back with inflammation and was treated with prednisone, a steroid.  Again she improved well as long as she was on the medication.
     She was seen multiple times over the next three years and each time she responded to new doses, new medications, food changes, etc.  However each time she relapsed, the condition worsened.
     By May of this year, Glinda had extreme pain, with stomatitis (inflammed and infected mouth), proliferation of the gingiva (swelling and increase in size of the gums), escalation of calculus and tarter formation.  (See before pictures below).  Glinda could hardly eat.  She hated having her mouth touched and even hid a lot due to her pain.  It was decided that her teeth had to be extracted.     



     On June 20, Dr. John Showalter, a veterinary dentist, visited our clinic, took xrays to determine the extent of the disease and decided that most of the teeth had to be removed.  The decision is based on the appearance of the surrounding tissues, the condition of the roots and bone on the xrays, cracked, pitted or broken teeth, recession of the gums and more.  He removed all but the lower canine teeth (fangs) and a few incisor teeth (front teeth) on the lower jaw.  This involves surgery and cutting flaps of gingiva, and removing some tissue and bone.  Sutures are put in place and they will dissolve over time.  
     I examined her on July 3 and she is healing well.  She is no longer painful and has already started eating both soft and hard nugguts!  Cats are tough!
     Cat mouth disease can be severe and chronic disease which is very frustrating to manage.  Frequently cats are on repeated medicines, need to have teeth cleanings under anesthesia, need crunchy foods, and need to have at home cleanings.  There-in lies the problem.  All of you cat owners out there know how much cats like to be handled, treated and pills put in their mouth (especially if its painful) and have their diets changed!  They are generally terrible patients with no patience.  So it may come down to whole mouth tooth extraction.  It may seem cruel but these cats usually do very well and will eat much more willingly without their teeth than with infected teeth.
     If you find your cat has bad mouth odor, drops food out of her mouth, then you should consider that she has gingivitis or stomatitis (whole mouth infection) and she should be seen by us soon.
     Glinda would agree!
     By: Dr Sharon Wirtz