I adopted Marble on October 1st when she was 6 months old. Shortly afterward, I began to notice bad breath. Very bad breath. I was puzzled — her adult teeth would have just come in so how could there be a problem? I went to the Veterinarian. Sure enough, she had gingivitis which is not normal at that age. But her adult teeth had just come in there she didn’t have much plaque or tartar. I was told her gingivitis is mild to moderate, not severe. Marble’s gums do not look as bad as some of the pictures in the articles.
I learned there is a disease called Feline Juvenile Gingivitis. The cause is not known, but it’s believed the immune system is hypersensitive to plaque — link. My Veterinarian told me the treatment was home dental care and more frequent professional dental cleanings (every 6 months).
But even if I did all this, my Veterinarian told me she couldn’t promise me Marble would not need some extractions. If an owner is diligent about home dental care and frequent dental cleanings, the condition sometimes recedes by ages 2-3. Other times it does not. If an owner is not diligent, then it will quickly advance into feline juvenile periodontal disease and the kitty will lose some, most, or all of his or her teeth.
While brushing (with pet toothpaste- not human) seems to still be the gold standard of home dental care, my Veterinarian understood most cats do not tolerate having their teeth brushed. She wrote to me in an email “I know that home dental care can be a big pain - I am not good with my own pets home dental care especially the cats. Ideal case is home dental care minimum of 3 days per week if at all possible.” She suggested using pet dental wipes because cats tolerate them better (but still do not like it). You can get them at your Veterinarian or on Chewy (here, here and here) or Amazon (here and here). They all have the same main ingredients Chlorhexidine Gluconate 0.1% and Sodium Hexametaphosphate so I assume there is not any difference? I’m currently using the Mokai pet dental wipes and the company says it stands in solidarity with the black community.
Marble recently had her first dental cleaning and my Vet noted her gums have improved modestly since October so the home dental care seems to be helping. She is actually more optimistic now that Marble may not need any extractions. The digital X-rays were all normal no periodontal disease as of now. She also wants to start Marble on the prescription diet Hills T/D which cleans the teeth. Here is a video by Hills about their prescription food Hills T/D.
I did not do home dental care with Cleo because like most cats she did not tolerate it, but Cleo did get routine professional dental cleanings and in her 19 years never needed any extractions. The downside is that home dental care does stress the cat. The dental wipes have a minty odor so if I open the container she will walk away and then position herself in a place not easy to pick her up. Yes, Veterinarians will tell you that ideally you should do home dental care, but there is a difference between what’s ideal and what’s practical. I wouldn’t be doing home dental care with Marble if she did not have a dental health issue it would not be worth the added stress. She would get needed dental cleanings at the Vet.
One comment my Veterinarian made scared me. When she first diagnosed Marble she added the comment “It’s not Stomatitis” meaning the inflammation does not extend beyond the gingiva. I had not heard of Stomatitis so I googled it and it’s one of the worst if not the worst diseases a cat can get the entire mouth is inflamed and the cat will often wind up needing a full mouth extraction.
But dental care is very important in pets. This article talks about the four stages of dental disease in cats. It’s important to have your cats teeth cleaned before significant attachment loss occurs and the cat needs extractions. If you do not do home dental care, the Veterinarian will need to do clean your cats teeth more often. I believe Marble is at stage 1 — gingivitis — however keeping her there will be the goal of home dental care and more frequent cleanings.