My cat has chronic gum inflammation, should I remove his teeth?

I am sorry to hear that Sweety has a painful mouth. Unfortunately, gingivitis/stomatitis in cats can be very severe and quite debilitating. It can be made even worse in cats that have other immune issues, such as allergies or FeLV/FIV infections. Antibiotics and immune-suppressive medications can be used in mild cases. Thorough dental cleaning will help many of these cases more than just medical treatment. However, many cats will need all or most of their teeth pulled to ease the pain. The pain and inflammation is caused by an immune reaction to the tartar. Since we can't completely prevent tartar build up on the teeth, often removing the teeth is our only option. Obviously this is quite a bit more expensive than a simple teeth cleaning. I recommend discussing your options with the veterinarian that has treated Sweety as far as medications or financing for the dental cleaning. Here is some more information that you may find helpful: https://www.petcoach.co/article/7-smart-solutions-for-pet-care-financing/ http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=170

It depends how bad the gums are at the moment, i usually recommend at least one week of antibiotic treatment prior to the procedure and continue the antibiotic treatment another 2 weeks after the procedure. if you are talking about total extraction (often it can be done without extracting the canines), it's important to provide adequate pain relief for after the surgery as some cats may stop eating if the recovery involves a lot of pain. wet food feeding is usually a must after the surgery for as long as needed.

I find that only 2 treatments definitively help stomatitis. The first is to remove the teeth that are in the portion of the mouth that is affected. Current theories are that stomatitis is an immune-mediated reaction to the teeth themselves that may be precipitated by feline viral diseases (typically chlamydophila and calici) and that is why steroid drugs also help to calm the inflammation and improve the condition of the gums. Antibiotics are very limited in their efficacy, because they don't address the true problem.

Yes! I would take him to the vet for an exam. The swelling you are seeing is due to infection. Over time the infection will loosen the dental ligaments and the teeth will fall out. This is a painful condition and should be addressed with a dental cleaning, some antibiotics and maybe a long term antimicrobial rinse for the mouth that you can do at home. Hope this answers your question. If you have more questions you are welcome to post again.

I'm sorry to hear that Monkie has such significant oral inflammation! Gingivostomatitis can be quite painful and it sounds as though your vet has already tried any available medical intervention. As I'm sure you're aware, this condition often occurs in conjunction with a calicivirus infection. Many cats carry this virus and an amino acid supplements, such as L-lysine, can be beneficial in addition to dental procedures. Your vet's treatment plan of a gingival biopsy and full mouth dental extractions seem appropriate for this painful condition. Most cats do quite well with full mouth dental extractions, and some even return to eating dry food again. As she recovers from her dental procedure, Monkie may need to eat both canned and dry food. If she won't eat canned foods, talk to her vet about soaking her ProPlan kibble in water for 15-20 minutes before feeding it to her, as this generally softens it pretty well. I hope this helps you to make your decision and that Monkie is feeling better soon!

Unfortunately gengivostomatitis (gums inflammation) can be a very frustrating disease. It is a very good news that Symba is FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) negative but inflammation might be also secondary to infection as feline herpesvirus or feline calicivirus (an oral swap could be done and viruses can be isolated in laboratories). If neither herpes or calicivirus are involved, it is very likely that the inflammatory disease is due to an abnormal response of the oral immuno-system. In the future the disease might remain stable and no other treatment are necessary but if the symptoms get worse might be necessary to start: antiinflammarory drugs, drugs to suppress the immune system and control the proliferation of bacteria within the mouth. In severe cases surgical management (removal of all of a cat’s teeth) might be the only solution.

I'm very sorry to hear about Taiga, this is a horrible condition. With the combination of gingivitis extending into the pharynx, it sounds like your vet has diagnosed what we would know as gingivostomatitis in the UK. Which basically means the mouth as well as the gums gets horribly inflamed, ulcerated and sore. It is a tricky condition to treat but very much needs to be tackled head on as it is so painful. It would be a great idea to get your vet to run bloods first as a general health check for possible complicating factors thsy could effect treatment options, also an FIV FELV panel would be useful. Regarding treatment the key is to reduce the bacteria in the mouth and try and suppress the immune system. Various drugs combined with oral rinsing can help to achieve this, however results can be unsatisfactory and any benefit is temporary. You could certainly try and see how well Taiga responds. The other option for severe gingivostomatitis is full extraction of the teeth as you mention. Although it sounds extreme once the teeth are fully removed the mouth heals and there is no more inflammation as the source is gone. I would strongly recommend approaching a vet with extensive experience in feline dentistry as it is imperative that all teeth are removed fully. This may end up being the best option, but in the mean time bloods and meds will help. I hope you find a comfortable solution for Taiga.