Page 56 - Complete Cat Care: How To Keep Your Cat Healthy and Happy

Mouth and tooth disorders

Cats use their mouths for eating and for grooming themselves. The
mouth usually keeps itself healthy by producing saliva, but regular
checks and even brushing the teeth will help prevent problems.

Signs of a problem
■ Bad breath (halitosis)
■ Yellow or brown discoloration
of teeth
■ White or yellow deposit
(plaque) at base of teeth
■ Red gumline at base
of teeth
54 ■ Difficulty eating; possible
avoidance of some foods
■ Loss of appetite
■ Crying in pain when trying
Your cat’s health ■ Drooling saliva, pus, or blood
to eat, or pawing at mouth
■ Swelling on side of face
■ Gray discharge at gumline (pus)
■ Growth inside mouth or
on jaws

Keeping teeth healthy Gingivitis and stomatitis △ Vet checking teeth
It is important to check your cat’s Disorders such as gingivitis Your vet will examine the cat’s teeth, gums, and
lining of the mouth for problems such as tartar,
mouth regularly (see p.43) and (inflamed gums) and stomatitis gingivitis, bleeding, or injuries.
keep the teeth clean to prevent (inflammation inside the mouth)
the buildup of plaque. This is a are most often caused by the cat’s drool, and have difficulty eating
sticky film consisting of bacteria immune system reacting against or avoid certain foods. In severe
and food debris, which builds bacteria in plaque. Other causes cases, teeth may become loose
up after eating. Over time it can include infectious diseases such as or fall out altogether.
mix with minerals in the saliva, feline calicivirus (FCV). Stomatitis Your vet may anesthetise your
forming a hard, yellowish brown can also be due to a foreign body cat to remove tartar with an
deposit called tartar (calculus). lodged in the mouth or a reaction ultrasonic descaler and to polish
Your vet may be able to suggest to a household chemical. the teeth. Loose and diseased
antiplaque foods or additives. In gingivitis the gumline is dark teeth are likely to be removed.
Brushing your cat’s teeth at least red. If left untreated, the gums Antibiotics are usually prescribed
once a week can also help. You may recede or separate from the to clear up infection, along with a
need to use special cat toothpaste— teeth, leaving inflamed pockets pain-killing drug.
never human toothpaste—and where infection can take hold
a cat toothbrush (or wrap your (periodontitis). In stomatitis the Dental abscess
fingertip in gauze). Lift the lips inside of the mouth is red and This is a pus-filled swelling that
gently, then brush or massage sore. In both cases the cat may be develops at the root of a tooth, due
along the teeth and gumline. in obvious pain (see box, above), to infection entering the tissues. It

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