Annual health check - dental problems!

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Raiden doesn't like the vet to look in his mouth, but they have a great way of holding him so they can look. They said his gums were severely inflamed and he had a lot of tartar build up, so they gave me an antibiotic to give him to relieve the inflammation. I will say Raiden eats a whole lot better now. Even though I did not want him to go through anesthesia to have them cleaned, he did fine. Came home and ate three cans of food! He was a tad wobbly for a while, but no side effects and he had clean teeth.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

I'm resigned to the fact they will probably need to be anaesthetised one day for teeth cleaning!

The so called 'tasteless' Dentagen, clearly does have a taste and an odour as even if I put a tiny drop in their water, they will have none of it. I don't want them getting a urinary tract infection so I've ditched that.

Hendrix will eat oral care biscuits, jagger (who has the worst gum inflammation) will even leave his normal dry if it has remotely touched the oral care biscuits. The other half keeps telling me he'll eat it if he's hungry but I know damn well he won't!

I've bought every dental chew toy on the market but whilst they get batted around, I have to work really hard to get them to have even a little chew, and jagger just wants to drown them in his water bowl.

I will persevere with the dental chews but I'm not holding out much hope. Jagger just isn't a chewer!

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

I have to check into dental chews or something similar. I initially thought I would brush Raiden's teeth, but that is not going to work! He doesn't like anybody messing with his mouth! Or ... I just wait for his annual checkup in March and they can tell me whether he needs another cleaning or not.

spitspot · **Joined:** Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:26 pm **Posts:** 734

Claire - I have started using ProDen Plaque off Cat for Oscar. Its a powder you add to food. You use the tiniest scoop ever! Oscar has two tins of wet food a day and I put half a scoop in each. Oscar still eats his food so it does not taste yucky. It's seaweed and they add brewers yeast to make it taste better. Apparently you get results in 3 - 8 weeks. Only had it for a week. The girl at the pet store said the plaque on her dog's teeth kind of fell off after about six weeks. Worth a go I say if he won't chew the chews! :rolleyes:

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Hi Melissa

The vet did mention this briefly but said there was no science behind whether it is effective or not so I pretty much forgot about it. But do you know what? It must be worth a try, like you say! I will get some and see if Jagger will eat it - he is so fussy, very little gets past him - but if Oscar still eats his food, it sounds like I may have a chance.

I guess the vet doesn't stock the seaweed supplement - hopefully I will be able to provide evidence that it works at their next visit :lol:

Thanks for the tip!

spitspot · **Joined:** Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:26 pm **Posts:** 734

I got a tub of it from pets corner. Not sure if you have that pet store near you? It was £14 but she said just keep receipt and if your cat won't eat it they will give you full refund. Can't really argue with that! If Jagger won't drink the water additive then this has got to be worth a try; it may just work! Amazon reviews seem more positive than negative too.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Yes I just ordered some from Amazon for £10.30 - there is no pet shop in town where I work anymore which is such a pain! Also read the reviews and sounds pretty positive to me!

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Oh well, just been to the vet for their annual check up and vaccinations and poor Jagger has to go back next week for a tooth clean and possibly a couple of extractions. Looks like he has gingivitis. He gets so upset going to the vet, just scrunches himself into the corner of his carrier, doesn't make a sound and just trembles. Hendrix on the other hand, literally doesn't shut up.

Hendrix was given a thorough check up for his tummy issues and she seemed happy with him, he's put back on all the weight he lost and she couldn't feel any issues in his tummy area. If there are any recurrences though, he's straight back for tests.

So good news for Hendrix, not so great for jagger. Dreading next Friday as we can't let him have any food after 10pm and jagger is a nighttime grazer and if there's no food for him, we are guaranteed to have a disturbed night! :evil:

spitspot · **Joined:** Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:26 pm **Posts:** 734

Great news for Hendrix but poor Jagger :sad:

Clare&magic · **Joined:** Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:44 pm **Posts:** 707

I use Hills prescription diet feline dental health.

I also clean their teeth twice a week with a finger brush for cats and cats toothpaste, my vet said they both had good teeth and gums.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Oh poor Jagger. It's better to get it over with. I was so happy Raiden didn't need any teeth pulled and he hadn't had his teeth cleaned EVER. At his last visit, they said the tarter was again building up but didn't need cleaning. I wish cats didn't get so stressed out at having to go to the vet.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Jagger wouldn't eat any of the dental oral health dry foods, we did try! He was having none of it, wouldn't even eat his usual dry if I mixed it in.

His gums look so red and when I googled gingivitis it said about drooling and I have noticed he dribbles a bit now if I'm fussing him. He never used to. Hendrix on the other hand has always dribbled and his teeth were OK!

Typical we have another vet visit just before Jon goes away again! :eek:

CMYKjill · **Joined:** Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:38 pm **Posts:** 1838

I have a container sitting on the counter but I have not opened it yet. I got it as a preventative measure so thanks for the reminder.

Skyblue · **Joined:** Sat Dec 05, 2015 9:24 pm **Posts:** 42

I tried the Plaque Off on my previous cat when she was 8 ½ and her teeth were looking a bit brown at the bases. I was sceptical, but in three weeks she had pearly white teeth, so it does work for some. Definitely worth a try.

I've taught my current cat to let me open her mouth and examine her teeth. We do it every morning. I ask her, shall we see teeth? and she makes her "yes please!" happy sound and sometimes even pushes her mouth open around my finger to get going faster :biggrin:

I could probably train her to let me clean them (slowly, patiently, with lots of bribery), but decided it wasn't worth doing, given how effective the Plaque Off seems to be. Hope it works for Jagger if needed in future.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

I did use plaque off on jagger after the health check last year but it clearly had no effect unfortunately. I guess it doesn't work for all, from what I can gather gingivitis can be the result of many factors, chemistry in the mouth, chewing action, etc. I will try brushing his teeth but I don't expect him to go for it to be honest. He is the difficult one for anything like that!

Annual health check - dental problems!

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