Thread: Bad teeth and gums

Originally Posted by rrdoug

I have 2 year old maine coon and he has reocuring gum problems.They get bright red and hurt him.Then they give him atibiotics and it gets better.But it comes back.He eats alot of raw talopia fish and hard food.Loves water.Any ideas???He also has very,very ,tiny teeth in the front.Thanks,this is my first post.

Unfortunately, tooth problems seem to be not uncommon in cats. The main thing we do is that I brush each of our four MCs' teeth nearly every night, plus we do various other things like feeding supposedly tooth healthy treats/food (e.g., Science Diet TD, Temptations Dentabites, Hartz Crunch'n'Clean). Have not had luck with water additives (cats would not drink the water). Both of our girls have had to have dentals at the vet.

There is a vet dentist at one of the vet specialty groups in St Louis (where you seem to live). One of our girls went to him when she was having some issues. Knows lots more about pet dentistry than standard vets--but is quite pricey. Still might be worth a visit/consult. The vet group is: Associated Veterinary Specialists (AVS) and the vet is Dr. Ulbricht.

He told us that the single best thing you can do for your cat's teeth is to brush them. I highly recommend that you get one of these special cat toothbrushes: Virbac Animal Health | C.E.T. I have found these much easier to use than most cat/pet toothbrushes. Also, there is a good cat toothbrushing video from Cornell: Brushing Your Cat's Teeth | Partners in Animal Health (this is where I first saw the above toothbrush).

We also used to use the chlorhexedine rinses, but the cats hated them and the dentist said they were not as effective (and our experience with brushing confirms that).

All cats have tiny little incisors between their canines. Our girl ended up having the lower ones extracted as they were loosening and her gums were becoming infected. Dr Ulbrect said this was not that uncommon. Two years later she has had no further tooth issues!