Cats and cavities

"Ivor Jones" wrote in message

>
>
> "Upscale" wrote in message
>
> : : Just got back from my Vet and I've been told me that my
> : : Deetoo has serious cavity problems. She says that two
> : : rear teeth might have to be extracted now and said that
> : : over the following years, she will probably lose the
> : : rest of her teeth. Right now my cat is on antibiotics
> : : to control the gingivitis and a cat dental specialist
> : : will examine my cat in a week.
> : :
> : : My baby is only 2 1/2 years old. I was told that this
> : : can happen to cats who are older, but does occasionally
> : : happen to younger cats because of genetics.
> : :
> : : I tend to trust vets because I believe they're held up
> : : to a certain standard of conduct, but a friend of mine
> : : is convinced that most vets are scammers just to take
> : : in extra profits. My friend has played with my cat and
> : : is convinced that there's nothing wrong with her.
> : :
> : : Anybody have experience with this, cat cavities and
> : : conduct of veterinarians? I'm in Canada so this is a
> : : Canadian vet.
> : :
> : : Thanks
>
> I can't speak for Canada as I'm in the UK but most vets I've come across
> here genuinely care for the animals or they wouldn't do the job.
>
> If you're suspicious of your current vet then the only suggestion I can
> make is try another. Is your friend trained in feline dentistry..? If not
> I would take what they say with a pinch of salt; personally I'd be more
> inclined to trust the vet.
>
> See what the dental specialist says.
>
>
> Ivor
>
You can also ask for the x-ray photos, and take them to any dentist who can
read them and verify what your vet says.
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

"Ivor Jones" wrote in message

>
>
> "Upscale" wrote in message
>
> : : Just got back from my Vet and I've been told me that my
> : : Deetoo has serious cavity problems. She says that two
> : : rear teeth might have to be extracted now and said that
> : : over the following years, she will probably lose the
> : : rest of her teeth. Right now my cat is on antibiotics
> : : to control the gingivitis and a cat dental specialist
> : : will examine my cat in a week.
> : :
> : : My baby is only 2 1/2 years old. I was told that this
> : : can happen to cats who are older, but does occasionally
> : : happen to younger cats because of genetics.
> : :
> : : I tend to trust vets because I believe they're held up
> : : to a certain standard of conduct, but a friend of mine
> : : is convinced that most vets are scammers just to take
> : : in extra profits. My friend has played with my cat and
> : : is convinced that there's nothing wrong with her.
> : :
> : : Anybody have experience with this, cat cavities and
> : : conduct of veterinarians? I'm in Canada so this is a
> : : Canadian vet.
> : :
> : : Thanks
>
> I can't speak for Canada as I'm in the UK but most vets I've come across
> here genuinely care for the animals or they wouldn't do the job.
>
> If you're suspicious of your current vet then the only suggestion I can
> make is try another. Is your friend trained in feline dentistry..? If not
> I would take what they say with a pinch of salt; personally I'd be more
> inclined to trust the vet.
>
> See what the dental specialist says.
>
>
> Ivor
>

Hi,

I'm in the UK also, and tend to agree with Ivor. The fact that Deetoo is
taking antibiotics for gingivitis suggests that the vet has discovered a
genuine problem. Was Deetoo having trouble eating? What made you take her
to the vet in the first place?

As Ivor suggests, you could always get a second opinion, or why not google
on gingivitis in cats, and see what you learn. If nothing else, it will
help you understand Deetoo's vetinary treatment better, and may also prompt
some useful questions to ask (or test) the vet.

Spider
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

>> : : Just got back from my Vet and I've been told me that my
>> : : Deetoo has serious cavity problems. She says that two
>> : : rear teeth might have to be extracted now and said that
>> : : over the following years, she will probably lose the
>> : : rest of her teeth. Right now my cat is on antibiotics
>> : : to control the gingivitis and a cat dental specialist
>> : : will examine my cat in a week.
>> : :
>> : : My baby is only 2 1/2 years old. I was told that this
>> : : can happen to cats who are older, but does occasionally
>> : : happen to younger cats because of genetics.
>> : :
>> : : I tend to trust vets because I believe they're held up
>> : : to a certain standard of conduct, but a friend of mine
>> : : is convinced that most vets are scammers just to take
>> : : in extra profits. My friend has played with my cat and
>> : : is convinced that there's nothing wrong with her.
>> : :
>> : : Anybody have experience with this, cat cavities and
>> : : conduct of veterinarians? I'm in Canada so this is a
>> : : Canadian vet.
>> : :
>>
>> I can't speak for Canada as I'm in the UK but most vets I've come across
>> here genuinely care for the animals or they wouldn't do the job.
>>
>> If you're suspicious of your current vet then the only suggestion I can
>> make is try another. Is your friend trained in feline dentistry..? If not
>> I would take what they say with a pinch of salt; personally I'd be more
>> inclined to trust the vet.
>>
>> See what the dental specialist says.
>>
>
>I'm in the UK also, and tend to agree with Ivor. The fact that Deetoo is
>taking antibiotics for gingivitis suggests that the vet has discovered a
>genuine problem. Was Deetoo having trouble eating? What made you take her
>to the vet in the first place?
>
>As Ivor suggests, you could always get a second opinion, or why not google
>on gingivitis in cats, and see what you learn. If nothing else, it will
>help you understand Deetoo's vetinary treatment better, and may also prompt
>some useful questions to ask (or test) the vet.
>

I go along with the others about seeking a second opinion. Unless
your friend is a vet or vet tech I would go with wath the vet says
before what they say.

I just had my 15 year old Kitty to the vet for dental because her
breath was so bad, They ended up extracting 2 teeth and extracting
the roots of 2 more that were broke off before I took her in.

Now her bad breath is gone and I can tell the difference in the way
see eats that she feels a lot better!!

Just a point of information here. That is that unlike people most cat
cavities develop from the inside out so according to an articles by a
vet in Cat Fancy magazine so it may be hard to spot cavities just by
looking in their mouth. I guess they do it by exray.

Good luck with you furball.
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

In article ,
"Upscale" wrote:

> Just got back from my Vet and I've been told me that my Deetoo has serious
> cavity problems. She says that two rear teeth might have to be extracted now
> and said that over the following years, she will probably lose the rest of
> her teeth. Right now my cat is on antibiotics to control the gingivitis and
> a cat dental specialist will examine my cat in a week.
>
> My baby is only 2 1/2 years old. I was told that this can happen to cats who
> are older, but does occasionally happen to younger cats because of genetics.
>
> I tend to trust vets because I believe they're held up to a certain standard
> of conduct, but a friend of mine is convinced that most vets are scammers
> just to take in extra profits. My friend has played with my cat and is
> convinced that there's nothing wrong with her.
>
> Anybody have experience with this, cat cavities and conduct of
> veterinarians? I'm in Canada so this is a Canadian vet.
>
> Thanks

I'll tell you my experience, which is not exactly like yours but might
give you a slightly different perspective. My cats have a good vet. I
trust his skills. But he is also in the business of selling products
and services. He has been "gung-ho" on dental cleanings ever since his
practice began offering this service.

He discovered that of my cats had two little pink spots that looked like
places where the gum extended slightly down onto the tooth. These, said
the vet, were the feline version of cavities (don't recall the technical
name for them off the top of my head), and would require x-rays to
determine whether the teeth should be extracted. The teeth would
eventually become painful, he said, and it was merely a question of
whether they could be just "watched" or whether there was already
extensive damage. He gave me some written info describing the
condition, and I also researched it on the web. Sure enough, these
cavities do present as pink spots. Since anesthesia was needed to do
the the X-rays, he said, and since my cat had a little tartar (only
Stage 1, but she was going to be "out" anyway) he would clean her teeth
at the same time. Reasonable.

She went in and spent about 6 hours in a cage before it was her turn
with the tech who does the cleaning-- a specially trained person,
although I had not been told that the vet didn't do the work himself.
Anyway, OK. But this cat is one of those who objects dreadfully to
caging, riding in the car, being in unfamiliar environments, strange
animals, etc. Well, I thought, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta
do. So she spent the whole day there, had the anesthesia, had the
x-rays, had the cleaning. The little pink places that looked like gum
tissue turned out to be gum tissue. A hefty bill was paid for what
turned out to be nothing, but oh well. It was hard on my cat, though.

When we got home, she pulled the fur away from the place where the
catheter he been inserted into her leg so that she could keep it nicely
licked. Over the following weeks, she "over-groomed" that leg so that
the fur from knee to foot was mostly gone, then she started to include
the other front leg, then the back legs. Other than that, she was fine,
with no apparent anxiety or behavioral change. This over- grooming of
her legs became established as a permanent habit, though. A year later
she (being a long-haired cat) resembles a sheep. I am not going to have
her put on Prozac to address the situation, as she is perfectly
"herself" and happy, it might not help, and I'm not about to expose her
to yet another possible iatrogenic affect of yet another treatment.

All told, I am more leery of medical intervention than I was to start
with, and somewhat less likely to just go along with recommended
treatments unless one of my cats actually has symptoms.

What is quite different in your case is that Deetoo apparently has
gingivitis. Of course this must be dealt with. At least you will have
two opinions after the specialist has seen Deetoo, although I'd be
suprised if a dental specialist didn't recommended whatever full
state-of-the-art dental procedure he/she has in his/her bag of tricks.
I would just caution you to be conservative, and to consider Deetoo's
age and whether she has discomfort, in making your decisions.

Diana
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

>> : : Just got back from my Vet and I've been told me that my
>> : : Deetoo has serious cavity problems. She says that two
>> : : rear teeth might have to be extracted now and said that
>> : : over the following years, she will probably lose the
>> : : rest of her teeth. Right now my cat is on antibiotics
>> : : to control the gingivitis and a cat dental specialist
>> : : will examine my cat in a week.
>> : :
>> : : My baby is only 2 1/2 years old. I was told that this
>> : : can happen to cats who are older, but does occasionally
>> : : happen to younger cats because of genetics.
>> : :
>> : : I tend to trust vets because I believe they're held up
>> : : to a certain standard of conduct, but a friend of mine
>> : : is convinced that most vets are scammers just to take
>> : : in extra profits. My friend has played with my cat and
>> : : is convinced that there's nothing wrong with her.
>> : :
>> : : Anybody have experience with this, cat cavities and
>> : : conduct of veterinarians? I'm in Canada so this is a
>> : : Canadian vet.
>> : :
>> : : Thanks
>>
>> I can't speak for Canada as I'm in the UK but most vets I've come across
>> here genuinely care for the animals or they wouldn't do the job.
>>
>> If you're suspicious of your current vet then the only suggestion I can
>> make is try another. Is your friend trained in feline dentistry..? If not
>> I would take what they say with a pinch of salt; personally I'd be more
>> inclined to trust the vet.
>>
>> See what the dental specialist says.
>>
>>
>> Ivor
>>
>You can also ask for the x-ray photos, and take them to any dentist who can
>read them and verify what your vet says.
>

One thing that I learned is not to tell the second vet what the first
one said until AFTER the second one tells me what he finds or thinks!!
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

"Diana" wrote in message
> What is quite different in your case is that Deetoo apparently has
> gingivitis. Of course this must be dealt with.
> I would just caution you to be conservative, and to consider Deetoo's
> age and whether she has discomfort, in making your decisions.

Thanks. I've decided to see what the specialist says after the week on
antibiotics and then wait a little bit not going straight to the two tooth
extraction the regular vet advised. As well, there haven't been any x-rays
taken yet, so I'll request those and take Deetoo and the x-rays to another
vet for a regular checkup to see what they say. If I get the same advise,
then I'll have the advised extraction done.

The current vet is more expensive than most and is not willing to offer any
type of payment schedule which makes me resent her and that may be causing
me to look at her more as just being in the business for the money. She may
well be an excellent vet, but I don't have any comparative experience with
any other vet to make a more informed decision.

I'll update everybody when I get the second examination done. At the same
time, I might well find another vet I like more and is not as expensive.
Only downside would be that the current vet is within ten minutes walk from
where I live and anybody else would require vehicle travel time to get
there. That makes a big difference to me since I use a wheelchair to get
around.
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

"Spider" wrote in message
> know you're also in the hands of a specialist now. Hopefully, he/she can
> answer all your questions and will, as Diana thoughtfully suggests, take
> Deetoo's age and health into consideration before proceeding.

Deetoo is back home now. 7 teeth were removed including one of her canine
teeth. It bothered me to hear about the canine tooth because a cat without
one of its canine teeth to me is like missing a front tooth on a person.
Aside from that, she's her regular self. Playing, running around, eating her
hard kibble which is all she eats and being very affectionate. In fact, if I
hadn't gone to pay the $835 amount and bring her home, I wouldn't known she
had any teeth removed at all. She keeps her mouth closed as far as I've
seen, so I don't know what the inside of her mouth looks like with those
teeth removed, but I'm not going to force her to open her mouth until she's
ready because her jaw is probably sore.

If or when this happens again, I'll be shopping around for a new vet,
because I do know this one is more expensive than others around my area.
Only reason I've gone there is that it's only five minutes walk from where I
live and the rest would require considerably more transport time to get
there. However, aside from being more expensive, this vet is doing
everything else I'd expect from a professional. One of her staff called me
today to confirm that Deetoo was doing all right. I'll take Deetoo back into
the vet in a week for a no-charge follow-up. Also included in the $835
charge were a 10 days worth of antibiotics, a trans-dermal pain killer,
canned, moist, soft food if Deetoo couldn't eat her kibble, instructional
literature, teeth cleaning supplies and more.

Considering what I paid, I expected to be a little more upset, but I'm so
relieved that Deetoo appears to be her happy, playful self that I'll let it
go. I guess in a way, vets do take advantage of emotions people have for
their pets, because after all, she is my baby and I'll probably always feel
that way.

D.
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

"Upscale" wrote in message

>
> "Spider" wrote in message
>> know you're also in the hands of a specialist now. Hopefully, he/she can
>> answer all your questions and will, as Diana thoughtfully suggests, take
>> Deetoo's age and health into consideration before proceeding.
>
> Deetoo is back home now. 7 teeth were removed including one of her canine
> teeth. It bothered me to hear about the canine tooth because a cat without
> one of its canine teeth to me is like missing a front tooth on a person.
> Aside from that, she's her regular self. Playing, running around, eating
> her
> hard kibble which is all she eats and being very affectionate. In fact, if
> I
> hadn't gone to pay the $835 amount and bring her home, I wouldn't known
> she
> had any teeth removed at all. She keeps her mouth closed as far as I've
> seen, so I don't know what the inside of her mouth looks like with those
> teeth removed, but I'm not going to force her to open her mouth until
> she's
> ready because her jaw is probably sore.
>
> If or when this happens again, I'll be shopping around for a new vet,
> because I do know this one is more expensive than others around my area.
> Only reason I've gone there is that it's only five minutes walk from where
> I
> live and the rest would require considerably more transport time to get
> there. However, aside from being more expensive, this vet is doing
> everything else I'd expect from a professional. One of her staff called me
> today to confirm that Deetoo was doing all right. I'll take Deetoo back
> into
> the vet in a week for a no-charge follow-up. Also included in the $835
> charge were a 10 days worth of antibiotics, a trans-dermal pain killer,
> canned, moist, soft food if Deetoo couldn't eat her kibble, instructional
> literature, teeth cleaning supplies and more.
>
> Considering what I paid, I expected to be a little more upset, but I'm so
> relieved that Deetoo appears to be her happy, playful self that I'll let
> it
> go. I guess in a way, vets do take advantage of emotions people have for
> their pets, because after all, she is my baby and I'll probably always
> feel
> that way.
>
> D.
>
Glad she's home and okay. Your current vet may be expensive but, you know,
another vet may not provide the extras you mentioned. Add to that the cost
of transport and inconvenience, and you may be better off with the vet you
know, and whom you acknowledge is professional. It's up to you. I've read
you on here enough times to know you stop and think, so I'm sure you'll make
the right decision.

Good luck to you and Deetoo.
Spider
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities 

The brown coating is tartar, it builds up differently on cats and dogs than on people. If she seems sore when eating then you definitely have a problem. Your cat could easily live to 16 or 18 years old so take care of it promptly. Dental disease leads to heart and organ problems in animals just like it does in people. Dental procedures can be costly, call around and get some estimates. Here in the northeast US, you can expect to spend between 2 and 3 hundred dollars. If teeth need to be extracted, the price can go up.
 >> Stay informed about: Cats and cavities