My Poor cat has some serious gum/teeth problems?

I have a cat who is about 15 or 16 years old. In the past two years , she's been haveing a lot of problems with her gums and teeth. She has had several teeth pulled by the vet, and because of her age I think she's also straight out lost some. My dad's taken her to the vet numerous times because her gums will become so inflamed that they bleed, and each time the vet does a cleaning and that is all. Soon after the cleaning, normally once her antibiotics are done, her gums once more become inflamed. At this point my dad does not see the point in taking her to the vet again for the same treatment tnhat doesn't work, but I'll convince him to take her back soon enough in hopes the vet will try something better for her. \





But for now i need something that might make my cats gums feel better. We've already switched her all hardfood diet so that she gets some soft food a day because it seems easier for her to eat.





Please any advice is great!

My Poor cat has some serious gum/teeth problems?
I would have no idea but i could recommend you to try to put ice or make her lick ice. This may help temporarily.
Reply:Try taking her to a different vet
Reply:I second taking your cat to a different vet - or at least at the next vet appointment, talk about managing your cats tooth problems, vs just a straight cleaning, and being sent home. You might even want to find a specialist in cats, if you are lucky to live near one. In trying to find a different vet, call first, discuss your cats problems in detail and what you've tried in the past. If the new vet says same thing, find another.





As for food I would switch to an all wet food diet. Hard food will be painful on her gums, and it really isn't that good anyway. And it doesn't clean teeth like the manufacturers claim.





The other thing to ask your vet next time you bring in the cat is find out if this is a tooth problem, or is this a gum problem. I don't know very much about periodontal cat diseases, but I have met some very nice cats who have had all their teeth pulled for one reason or another. They live quite nicely on wet cat food only, and live a very nice cat life.





If your Dad doesn't want to take the cat to the vet, the vet might be willing to prescribe the antibiotics without seeing the cat, especially since this is a recurring disease. IT would save you some money, and your cat won't get as stressed out.
Reply:I'd suggest taking her to a different vet - there are many causes of tooth/gum disease, and "bad teeth" is only one of them. There is a fairly common condition called stomatitis that causes very painful gums. This is treated with steroids, and often by pulling all the teeth. It's sort of an auto-immune disorder - the body is kind of 'allergic' to the teeth. Cleaning her teeth just isn't going to do anything for this type of condition.





In the meantime, switch her diet to all canned as that will be much less painful for her to eat.

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