klmama Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 One of my adult dc adopted a sweet 1yo cat with a lot of gum inflammation. The vet gave dc an estimate for removing four molars - $1300. Yikes! Dc is going to get a 2nd opinion on the best approach -- it seems a 1 yo cat shouldn't have such bad cavities that all those teeth would need to be removed, KWIM? Have you dealt with gum inflammation in young cats? Old cats? Did anything help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 I don't know where you live, but my old cat has had major gum inflammation issues (stomatits), and it's been hell. We had all of her teeth removed, and it was just over $300. I would seriously consider calling around about prices. That said, the tooth removal was very successful, and having no teeth has not been remotely an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 Does she eat canned food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 2 minutes ago, klmama said: Does she eat canned food? We feed her canned food twice a day, because it is healthier and we try to prevent kidney issues, but we also keep a bowl of dry food out, and she snacks on it with no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 Thank you for the info. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 Dental disease and gum inflammation is actually pretty common in young cats. Gum inflammation is often caused by an immune response to bacteria. I have a cat who was diagnosed with stomatitis at a young age and had almost all her teeth removed. She was miserable before the removal (dental and gum disease is so painful), but she has thrived ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 13 hours ago, Terabith said: We feed her canned food twice a day, because it is healthier and we try to prevent kidney issues, but we also keep a bowl of dry food out, and she snacks on it with no issues. 12 hours ago, Selkie said: Dental disease and gum inflammation is actually pretty common in young cats. Gum inflammation is often caused by an immune response to bacteria. I have a cat who was diagnosed with stomatitis at a young age and had almost all her teeth removed. She was miserable before the removal (dental and gum disease is so painful), but she has thrived ever since. I'm glad both of you report good results after extractions. Selkie, do you feed your cat canned food, too? For both of you, I'm wondering how this affects your ability to go away for the weekend. Do you have to ask someone to come in a couple times a day to feed your cat, rather than just leaving food out for her? Or is she able to handle dry food for a few days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 21 minutes ago, klmama said: I'm glad both of you report good results after extractions. Selkie, do you feed your cat canned food, too? For both of you, I'm wondering how this affects your ability to go away for the weekend. Do you have to ask someone to come in a couple times a day to feed your cat, rather than just leaving food out for her? Or is she able to handle dry food for a few days? Yes, she gets canned food. We have seven cats and they all get canned food 2x/day. They have access to dry food 24/7, but they all prefer canned food. For my (almost) toothless kitty, I would not leave her with only dry food to eat. She nibbles at dry food, but I don’t know if she could eat enough of it to meet her caloric requirements. Also, I’ve read that dry food can exacerbate mouth pain and inflammation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 One of our cats needed to have nearly all her teeth removed around age 1 due to gum disease. She has maybe 3-4 teeth and is 10+ years old now. She gets about a Tbsp of wet food 1x/day and dry the rest of the time. Cats don't really chew their food; they might break it down a bit, but they do not grind their food. Your cat will be perfectly fine with dry food for a few days if you go away. Make sure it's high quality and not full of fillers. And always have water available! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 (edited) Dd just got an estimate for having several teeth removed in her young cat, Brooklyn Astoria area, $2000. She commented that the vet had offices in Manhattan and ... somewhere else I forget ... anyway, the non-Brooklyn offices charge a lot more for office visits and she suspects the surgical team is simply charging Manhattan prices for everyone. The $2000 included some sort of treatment that was comparable to humans getting a fluoride sealant. We were at about $400 to $500 to have a single tooth removed plus cleaning for elderly cat in fall 2020 here in the midwest, reasonably upscale area. Edited to add: Geriatric cat had various tooth issues we were getting taken care of, but then developed kidney issues so couldn't be put under for cleaning/surgery. In the end I think eating became painful for him, and that just hastened the final downward spiral. So with that in mind, I'd get as much as possible done early. Don't wait around. Edited AGAIN to add that I'm sharing this all with DD (because my kids are used to hearing WTM forum wisdom) and she commented to the effect of medications likely getting harder to come by over the next couple of years so she'd like to take care of things now while she knows the medical personnel and medications are here. Edited July 6, 2022 by GailV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 1 hour ago, klmama said: I'm glad both of you report good results after extractions. Selkie, do you feed your cat canned food, too? For both of you, I'm wondering how this affects your ability to go away for the weekend. Do you have to ask someone to come in a couple times a day to feed your cat, rather than just leaving food out for her? Or is she able to handle dry food for a few days? So, my in laws live in town, and when we leave town, we have always had my father in law come by and feed them. We also have another cat who goes crazy if not let outside regularly, so he comes by and gives wet food, lets Obama in or out, scoops litter. If we literally were going away overnight, I might not bother and just leave out the dry food, but usually when we travel, it's for a week, and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving them alone for that long without the wet food or other basic attention. We also have several friends who I regularly cat sit for, and I could ask them in a pinch, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 My cat has congenital gingivitis. She had it before we adopted her, she should have been around 1 years old. We had the bulk of the teeth removed the vet gave us a choice of removing it all then or keeping some. We decided on keeping some (4) and brushing her teeth daily. It's been 6 years and she recently lost one of her 4 teeth so only has 3 left. We decided with the vet that the next time it looks like she needs teeth cleaning we will remove the remaining teeth. The vet thought this cat would only have her teeth for one or two more years when she did the first removal. It happens and all teeth related procedures related to cats are expensive because they have to put the cat under and everything. The cost for the teeth removal was I want to say $2k, but I don't keep track on how much I spend on my cats (I seem to have an uncanny ability to adopt cats who have high vet bills). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 Honestly, with given gas prices, depending on where you're located, it might be cheaper to come visit me and the monolith and get your cat dental surgery here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 LOL! I think given the distance it would be a wash. Thanks for the suggestion, though! ☺️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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