Dental work

[moondiamond]

Hi everyone, hope you and your kitties are well. haven’t written in awhile but was hoping for some advice/input for my 3 year old (almost 4) SV, Dexter. I’m quite anxious because I think he is having some dental or mouth related discomfort. He had his last checkup less than a year ago, and the vet did say he was starting to get some plaque on his teeth and would likely need a cleaning by the following year, which we had always planned on doing. The vet did not feel the dental cleaning was imminently required at that time. So it’s been nearly a year now and we will be going to the vet again for this within the next week or so - just trying to settle on a date that we can leave him at the clinic all day for a dental cleaning. In the meantime though, I am worried because after he is done eating, he is doing this odd “chewing on nothing” sort of motion with his mouth. It seems to be happening mostly on the one side, he does this little Elvis lip sort of thing!!! Today I also noticed that while he was eating, he gagged a little bit and spit out some half chewed food (I’ve seen half chewed food in his bowl/eating area before - it’s seldom and hasn’t been a regular occurence, but noticed it again today). His appetite is the same (he seems to have a healthy appetite and is always right on the ball at mealtimes, meowing at me and waiting to be fed - he is on raw only plus crunchy dental treats once or twice a day). No problems with the litter box, and when I check inside his mouth and gums, they seem to be a normal pink colour with no obvious redness or inflammation. He threw up this week once too, but I think it was because he ate a decent amount of grass and it was the only thing in his stomach at the time. I just don’t know if everything with the weird chewing motions, then the gagging, is related or if I am just being paranoid and looking for things. I’ve been really upset all day about these issues and eagerly waiting to find out when our appointment is with the vet. Just wanted to hear from you guys in the meantime!

 

[WitchyWoman]

Take a fecal sample to the vet to check for parasites. The chewing motion/gagging could be a symptom of worms.

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

Agreed, take a fecal sample. Try to make sure the sample is no more than two hours old, and you have to get it before he covers if possible.

 

[moondiamond]

Just wanted to come back with an update, as we took Dex to the vet today. He has some gingivitis on his back teeth, and will be getting a dental cleaning. The vet also said it looks like he may also have some resorption of one tooth that could need extraction, but they will know for sure once they do the dental cleaning and x-rays at that time. It’s sounding like that is probably the case though, and probably the reason for the grinding and mouth pain vs. it just being gingivitis. I’m glad it’s not due to anything more sinister, but feel badly that he has mouth pain and possibly a bad tooth, although the vet said we probably couldn’t have prevented it. So hopefully he will have a cleaning and possible extraction to resolve his pain and grinding. Just kinda wish we could’ve caught it sooner

He also had some routine pre-op bloodwork which included a screening blood test for heart disease. The vet gave us the option of including this in the blood test, so we decided it could never hurt to have him checked out. I’m a little anxious about the results, because we had a Siamese cat before who had cardiomyopathy; he lived for about 18 months after diagnosis, but managing his illness for those months, and then his untimely passing, was very traumatic for me and still upsets me immensely to this day (it’s been 4 years). We do know that Dex does not have a heart murmur, and his family lines have had their hearts checked at the University of Guelph, so I am thinking very positively that we will have a clear workup, but I’m still a little nervous just because of my past experience.

Dental surgery will be within the next week or two, whenever we can get an appointment. In the meantime Dex is his normal happy, playful self and I feel much more secure about the reasoning behind the grinding. Thanks for taking the time to read this and sending all the SV parents here my love and well wishes.

 

[Patti]

I'm glad to hear that things seem to be going well for Dex now and hope the dental cleaning will resolve any lingering problems!

 

[moondiamond]

Thanks Patti! We got his first round of bloodwork back too, and all levels are in the normal range. Vet says kidney, pancreas, liver, and overall organ function looks great. Just waiting on results from the proBNP heart enzyme which I’m quite anxious about, but definitely feeling positive all will be well with that too. Then time to book surgery and hopefully alleviate my boy’s discomfort!

 

[Patti]

Great news, wonderful to hear that everything is coming back normal!!

 

[moondiamond]

Just coming back with another quick update on Dexter in case anyone is reading this thread.
proBNP test was normal! So relieved my little guy's heart is healthy. I was super stressed about this test.
Surgery is planned for next week to get his teeth cleaned. One more hurdle to overcome before I can fully relax about this round of vet appointments!
But everything is looking good and will be all better once his teeth have been looked after.

 

[admin]

Glad all is well with Dex and his heart! Thanks for the update!


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[Patti]

More good news, it's all downhill from here