cat gum disease - teeth extraction

[Aberlour]

I have an (around) 3yr old rescued cat who has gum disease. At first she responded well to steroid treatment but as time went on was eating less and less of the wet food they were planted in and wasn't getting the requisite medication. Recently when I went for a second opinion re treatment I was told that her teeth would have to come out sooner or later; it's an immune problem and will keep recurring. Rather than muck around with medicine that she might / might not take and risk her suffering more, I opted to do this in the next couple of weeks if we were going to arrive at that destination eventually. Now, of course, I've found that because her teeth are healthy and not yet loose, that it'll be a two hour op and the recovery will be more painful. Anyone know of a cat this young having teeth extracted even if they're healthy - they have no tartar. Any advice welcome.

[dropdedfwed]

I'd recommend seeing one of the "cat vets" in HK and getting their opinion, or a third opinion from another vet (some vets are well versed in cat medicine though have not sat the exams to be qualified college member etc in feline medicine). sometimes these can respond to steroid injections and intermittent courses of antibiotics. obviously any medications long term can have side-effects, but I am not convinced removal of the teeth is the best treatment if you have not fully explored other avenues. generally these cats do have healthy teeth, but when the gums are inflammed they are woefully painful. do a search on this forum for cat vets. where are you? that may help us finding u a cat vet...

DDF

[bsh]

If it's a condition called stomatitis, then ask your vet to remove all the teeth, including the canines.

My cat had this condition, most of her teeth were removed to cure this but it didn't work. She then spent a year and a half on various antibiotics and steroids without success.

It was only until the last four canines were removed that the condition disappeared. If you can, speak to Dr Maggie Bradley at 9Lives.

You can always mash up wet food for it and biscuits they will swallow whole.

[Aberlour]

Thanks DDF and BSH. I went back to my original vet on Sunday and the condition was greatly improved in less than a week. At the moment I'm going to try to control it with steroid injections (and antibiotics as needs be) but like you say, these have side-affects, as do all medicines, I guess - like the vet said, I'll just have to choose her poison! RE cat vets - I didn't realise some specialise in cats - I'm near mid-levels / central. As it is, I've had roughly the same advice re treatment from 3 vets, and googled it all so I THINK in the meantime I'll try to manage the condition and the teeth extraction will be a last resort. Thanks again