Kitten - Gingivostomatitis

Hi everyone,

Turns out my approximately 7 month kitten has gingivostomatitis. Vet said to brush teeth daily and use Ora Clens 1 TDC capsules but if that doesn't prevent things from getting worse, to do a full mouth extraction. I want to get a second opinion just to be on the safe side. The vet we saw is not a dental specialist but she does the extractions all the time. The closest actual board certified dental vet is almost 2 hours away. Does it really make a difference to see a specialist nowadays when regular vets are performing these procedures all the time?

Her symptoms are red gums and not so great breath. Otherwise eats and plays good.

Thanks

That's very young for any sort of problem. This is a link to information regarding gingiostomatitis from Cornell's vet center. If it were me, given this is a kitten, I would opt for a consultation with a veterinary dental specialist.

Thanks. I will call Monday to see when is the soonest we can get in to the specialist.
This is what her mouth looks like.

Hi! My cat had very painful stomatitis several years ago. The dental specialist recommended the teeth brushing too. We were lucky and my guy had great results from using Virbac CET toothpaste daily. It completely resolved it! Good luck

A couple cats in our rescue with stomatitis have had good luck using these WorksSoWell caplets.
I’m not sure if it’s the same stuff as the TDC your vet is recommending…
One of my foster kittens had some gum inflammation at about 11 months old and daily tooth brushing with the CET toothpaste helped her noticeably. (She and her siblings had calicivirus as babies, so I had been keeping an extra close eye out for mouth issues.)

Elaine and Ember said:

A couple cats in our rescue with stomatitis have had good luck using these WorksSoWell caplets.

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Thanks, I'll ask the vet about it.

I scheduled an appointment with a board certified dental vet specialist for early December, and we also have a full mouth extraction surgery date scheduled just in case we need it so we're not waiting forever. She's young so thinking she'd have a faster and better chance at recovery if we nip this in the bud rather than letting it fester and start to bother her.

Hi there! I had a fella with this back when I didn't even realize animals needed dentals.
Even after my poor guy had lost if his teeth removed from being bad, he'd still get the symptoms and pain. No one told me that would still be an issue even after most the teeth were gone.
I had been using cbd for cats for a few other cats as an anti-inflammatory fix, and figured.... Why not?
Oh wow what a difference it made and pretty quickly. He was still getting flare ups at least once every month before this. Gums swelling, bad breath, drooling and sometimes blood tinging the drool red. I started giving him only 1.5mg twice a day, and just like that, it was over. He had to go up to 2mg his last 4 months. But in the 2yrs he was on this, he never once had a flare up or any of the symptoms. I was so happy for him. As far as I know, the only interaction to watch for us it should not be given within 2hrs of any steroids. But can be given after.
I also used it on a couple cancer kitties and another with arthritis, all with great results.

Hi all, it's time for our appointment with the dentist tomorrow. I'm dreading it because it's an almost 2 hour long drive and I don't know what they're going to say or if I'm moving too fast and jumping the gun by taking her so soon to a specialist. I hate to stress the cat out. I'm trying to gather a list of questions to ask and am doing research ahead of time. If there's anything else I should ask or keep in mind, please let me know. I’ll update when we get back.

babyg said:

Hi all, it's time for our appointment with the dentist tomorrow. I'm dreading it because it's an almost 2 hour long drive and I don't know what they're going to say or if I'm moving too fast and jumping the gun by taking her so soon to a specialist. I hate to stress the cat out. I'm trying to gather a list of questions to ask and am doing research ahead of time. If there's anything else I should ask or keep in mind, please let me know. I’ll update when we get back.

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I know I'm late in seeing this, but I hope everything went okay for your baby. In my experience, I felt like I should have leapt for an FME much sooner after seeing how much relief it gave my little guy

kira913 said:

I know I'm late in seeing this, but I hope everything went okay for your baby. In my experience, I felt like I should have leapt for an FME much sooner after seeing how much relief it gave my little guy

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Hi, thanks for asking! The dentist said she has juvenile gingivitis, NOT stomatitis, so I was glad about that. Said if I brush her teeth and apply 1 TDC to her gums every day, hopefully she will outgrow it by two to three years old. She did want to do xrays to see if there is any bone loss and if so, extract those teeth and also do a cleaning, but I don't want to put my cat under for something we don't even know exists, plus she said about cleanings every 6 months and again, I'm not taking the risk with anesthesia like that, especially since I'm doing home care. So hoping she will outgrow it and it won't develop into stomatitis later.

babyg said:

Hi, thanks for asking! The dentist said she has juvenile gingivitis, NOT stomatitis, so I was glad about that. Said if I brush her teeth and apply 1 TDC to her gums every day, hopefully she will outgrow it by two to three years old. She did want to do xrays to see if there is any bone loss and if so, extract those teeth and also do a cleaning, but I don't want to put my cat under for something we don't even know exists, plus she said about cleanings every 6 months and again, I'm not taking the risk with anesthesia like that, especially since I'm doing home care. So hoping she will outgrow it and it won't develop into stomatitis later.

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So glad to hear it!! And I completely agree with you on trying to avoid unnecessary procedures. I'm jealous that your cat lets you brush her teeth! My old stomatitis kitty Angus would have smacked me Trying to slowly ease Pants into teeth brushing with no dice so far.

Fingers crossed for you! That 1-TDC is good stuff

I found what really made a difference is when I started "brushing" her teeth with reusable gauze finger cots for dogs/cats off Amazon. I love them. So much easier than a toothbrush, and the dentist liked them too. But honestly even with those my girl still doesn't like the home dental care. I don't think many cats do lol. I try to make it as pleasant as i can by rewarding her with a Churu when we're done. Sometimes I will take a thick towel and wrap it around her and that seems to make her feel more calm and secure. I'm hoping she gets more used to it as time goes on.