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Teeth

NikkiA

Site Supporter
Hello all,
I am posting because about a month ago, I noticed that Mickey's breath was smelly. I called my vet, and made an appointment for a tooth cleaning for Micky. The vet habitually has trouble examining Jarvis' mouth, so I made an appointment for a tooth cleaning for him too. We bought thought it was preventive.
The appointment was yesterday.
My boys Mickey and Jarvis needed all of their teeth except for their canines extracted. Apparently many of Jarvis' teeth had already fallen out.
Jarvis and Mickey are both 5 years old.
I'm posting this just in case anyone else on the forum has a kitty from A1. You might want to get their teeth checked. I've made an appointment for Diablo to be sedated and have his teeth checked later this month as well. I am pretty upset that their teeth were in such bad shape, and I had no idea, so I am hoping that by posting this, I might help someone else avoid the same circumstance.
 

Rafiki

Site Supporter
Wow. That is awful.

What do your cats eat? I have been told that a raw diet helps prevent tooth decay and I wondering how valid that is. Obviously a grain filled diet would contain carbs and that could lead to tooth decay that a meat-only diet would avoid. But also I was told that chunks of meat help clean the teeth. My pixie (who refused to eat anything that is not either raw or freeze dried meat) was found to have 1 tooth missing at 3 years old but it is unclear from the x-rays if the tooth ever existed at all. Lately he wants ground meat over chunks. He refuses to have anyone look at his mouth and I am wondering if something is going on with his teeth.
 

NikkiA

Site Supporter
The boys (and our little girl Rey) are on a grain free diet. It is an RX diet because Mickey has some food allergies. They also eat raw and cooked chicken, beef, and duck, and cooked pork. Jarvis and Mickey get 1-2 oz daily of cooked or raw meat, plus their canned and dry RX food, depending on what I am making for Mike and I for dinner. Jarvis' wet food is the same RX as Mickey's is, just because I can't put out separate foods (Mickey will lick Jarvis' bowl when he is done). I had read the same thing you did, that raw food could help their teeth, but my vet said that was a myth. I do not know if he is or is not correct.

They have good blood work, I get it checked every year, we just did it in June. I called the vet in July for mickey because his breath was smelly.

The vet said that for them to have teeth that are this bad, it has to be genetic, that is why I mentioned that they were bred at A1. I was just shocked because they are so young, and I would understand it if they had deficiencies, but they supposedly do not. . .
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
I doubt it has anything to do with A1... More than likely it has to do with food. Sounds like they have odontoclastic lesions? There is a huge article on this condition this month...I need to find out where I read it.

It is said to come from too much calcium/magnesium in the food, but they aren't sure yet... Many, many cats have this issue and to say it is genetic is a very far reach.


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Remi's Mommy

Site Supporter
A raw diet is by far the best for any carnivore. Any type of Kipple will cause overtime gum disease and lots of teeth. I switched my Pomeranian a year ago to a roll diet, and the vet cannot believe the difference in her total health, her teeth at nine years old still look like a young dog. No more bad breath, and the tartar on her canines was gone in about six months.


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Remi's Mommy

Site Supporter
Also freeze dried turkey necks do a fantastic job in teeth cleaning. When they strip the tendons it becomes a fun tooth flossing


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Patti

Admin
Staff member
Ugh, so sorry to hear this! So how does this impact what you have been feeding them? Will you have to change their diet now that most of their teeth are gone? :cry:
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
I'm sorry to hear that. Years and years ago my mum purchased a retired Burmese show cat, and within the year she needed all her teeth removed. She lived to a hale and hearty 20 just gumming her food. She insisted on only eating kibble for most of her life too...

I believe that raw meaty bones are the best teeth cleaners around. My first Savannah was remarked on by my vet for having great teeth at 10 years of age, he insisted on raw chicken drumsticks from ~6 months of age, gnawing on those I think did a lot of good. We do what we can though, it really is a common cat thing to lose significant amounts of teeth with age. I made my first dental appointment for my British Shorthair at 5 or 6 and he needed almost half his teeth removed, I talked to a friend that had his cousin and he already had a lot of teeth gone too. I think it probably is hard to separate genetics from food causes though... we should all be brushing our cats' teeth every day but every time I try to envision how that would go I shudder!
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
One of my F2s has bad teeth. He has been on a whole prey diet from the age of 16 weeks. I get his teeth checked every year and his first extractions came 3 months after a checkup. My vet was as surprised as I was. All 4 of his molars were extracted. She thought perhaps some bone fragments had become lodged between his teeth or under his gums that he couldn't remove and she also brought up the genetic aspect but I think she tends to use genetics as a blanket possibility whenever she can't determine the cause of something.
 

NikkiA

Site Supporter
The boys seem to be recovering well. I am far from an expert, but they did not seem to have lesions on their gums previously, and their gums are not currently bleeding.
For Jarvis, one tooth broke when the vet tried to clean it, and the others that he still had were, in the words of the vet, being held in place by tarter only.

My understanding is that Mickey's teeth were almost as bad. The vet did not mention odontoclastic lesions. I am not very familiar with them, but the photos I found on the internet (yes I know not very reliable) show bleeding teeth and gums. Our poor boys teeth were not bleeding, but were completely rotten. Brown and decaying.

Re: diet, no, I do not plan to take Mickey off his prescription diet. As he will lick Jarvis bowl, no, I do not plan to take Jarvis off of Mickey's diet either. Diablo I will schedule for a dental cleaning. I do not know if there is too much Ca or Mg in their diets. I am not a chemist.

Rey's teeth are fine. Unlike the boys, she will actually let Dr. Stockett look at her mouth. Rey and D have had their first fun times with a tooth brush this week- Patti, you would laugh. Rey likes chewing on the tooth brush, but doesn't like the fact that I want to hold her during the process.
 
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