Examples: dehydration, chronic starvation, gingivitis, urinary tract syndrome, kidney failure, etc. If you find that your cat starts eating less, drooling, and having bad breath, parents should pay attention!
This could be a sign that your cat is sick. Please carefully observe whether the cat has other symptoms, and send it to the hospital for medical treatment in time. Most stray cats often suffer from feline stomatitis because of unsafe diets and unsanitary and unhealthy food. Severe stomatitis can lead to the death of cats. After all, cats are naturally sensitive and have sore mouths, and they will refuse to eat. Coupled with the turbulent living environment.
The stray cat suffers from stomatitis, and the consequences can be imagined without the help of kind-hearted people. So, if you encounter such a cat, try to send it to the hospital to save a life. Cat stomatitis is one of the most intractable cat diseases in clinical practice.
The characteristics of the disease include:
The etiology is complex, the treatment is difficult, and it is easy to recur. In some cases, a full mouth extraction is even required, which is very distressing, both in terms of treatment costs and the degree of cat suffering. Therefore, for cat stomatitis, prevention is better than cure, starting from an early age, so that the disease can be avoided as much as possible.
What is cat stomatitis
Stomatitis is an inflammation that But its development trajectory is not simply “clean mouth → dirty mouth (unclean, bacteria accumulation) → stinky mouth and rotten mouth (microbial infection)”.
The incidence of stomatitis is not only related to microbial infection, but also to immune factors.
Dental plaque, and even certain components in the teeth, may produce immune stimulation to the oral mucosa, which can induce inflammation, leading to mucosal ulceration and hyperplasia. Even in this process, the proportion of immune factors may be larger.
Therefore, whether it is to curb plaque and microbial infections with antibiotics and daily cleaning, or to suppress immune system function with drugs, it is a “scratch” and not a long-term solution. Only tooth extraction can fundamentally remove the potential risk of immune stimulation and improve the clinical symptoms of cats with stomatitis to the greatest extent.
Common symptoms of cat stomatitis
1, drooling, bad breath, eating pain, mouth Foaming, drooling, weight loss, depression.
2. Swelling and hyperplasia of the gums, ulceration of the oral mucosa, pharynx or tongue.
3. Missing teeth, the number of teeth is reduced, and the teeth are lost.
4. Oral mucosal congestion, erythema, and pharyngeal erythema.
5. Swelling in the laryngopharyngeal trachea, pharyngeal ulcers and blisters.
Category of cat stomatitis
1, gingivitis and Periodontitis
Periodontitis is inflammation of the periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, and alveolar bone, resulting in vesicle formation, gingival recession, and alveolar bone loss.
Studies have linked gingivitis and periodontitis to genetics, feline immunodeficiency virus, and regular oral cleaning.
2. Stomatitis
Inflammation that occurs in a large area in the mouth, the inflammation extends beyond the gums and spreads To the alveolar mucosa or even the lip mucosa,
severe inflammation and pebble-like hyperplasia in the back of the oral cavity, lateral to the oropharynx to the palatoglossal arch, this is stomatitis.
Some studies suggest that stomatitis is related to pathogens such as Pasteurella multocida, Capnophilus canis, feline calicivirus, feline herpes virus, feline leukemia and feline AIDS.
The complex etiology, recurrent episodes, and limited drug effects make stomatitis difficult to cure.
3. Squamous cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma is The most common oral tumor in domestic cats. These tumors may vary in appearance and may appear as ulcerated areas or lumps.
The prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats is poor, and the outcome depends largely on the diagnostic extent of primary tumor invasion.
4. Eosinophilic granuloma
Eosinophilic granuloma is associated with Type I hypersensitivity-related inflammatory mediator diseases.
The most common causes in cats are ectoparasites and other insects, environmental allergens (eg, atopic dermatitis), or dietary hypersensitivity.
5. Immune-Mediated and Autoimmune Diseases
By Lesions can manifest as erythema, erosion, ulceration, scaling, and crusting due to genetic, autoimmune, or infectious causes. The typical disease is pemphigus.
6. Metabolic disease
Acute uremia was defined as Rapid decline in kidney function, uremia and oral ulcers often accompany it.
Halitosis is often a feature of this syndrome. In severe cases, there may be extensive sublingual necrosis and shedding of the tongue tip.
7. Others
Oral cavity caused by foreign bodies, burns, etc. inflammation. Judgment based on history and clinical examination.
Tooth extractions for cats
In the treatment of stomatitis, extractions are often There are two types: full mouth extraction and full molar extraction.
Tooth extraction: All teeth are removed from the cat’s mouth.
Full molar extraction (also called half-mouth extraction): Only the premolars and molars are extracted, leaving the canines and incisors.
After molar extraction (left) and after full mouth extraction (right)
There are two different treatment methods because the extraction of canine teeth is difficult and may affect the jawbone. have adverse effects.
However, the unextracted incisors and canines may still become a breeding ground for plaque or produce immune stimulation to the mucous membranes. Will this affect the efficacy?
A retrospective study in 2015 demonstrated that there was no statistically significant difference in efficacy between full-mouth extractions and half-mouth extractions, but it remains unclear whether the conclusions of a single study are consistent with the facts.
Therefore, if conditions permit, full-mouth extraction is recommended “to avoid future troubles”. However, if the gingival tissue around the canines and incisors has no signs of inflammation, retention may also be considered.
Risks of tooth extraction:
1. Tooth extraction is a routine dental operation with major risks Divided into two areas: anesthesia and complications.
2. The risk of anesthesia is a commonplace. Due to the differences between individuals, parents and the attending doctor need to communicate carefully.
3. Complications of tooth extraction include oral-nasal fistula, hemorrhage, bone injury, etc. The most common complication is residual tooth root.
In order to avoid complications, two operations/processes are very important:
1. Dental X-rays can help to find the remaining roots and extract them, so as to reduce the residual root and cause oral inflammation possibility of recurrence.
2. Gum modification can make the healed oral cavity more flat and regular, and reduce the possibility of oral secretions or food remaining in the oral cavity causing infection.
Therefore, parents should ask the doctor whether the above two steps will be performed when communicating before tooth extraction.
Postoperative diet:
1. After tooth extraction, parents There is no need to worry about the cat’s food. Cats eat dry food and wet food mainly by swallowing.
However, a cat that has lost its canine teeth after a full mouth extraction may encounter difficulties when biting large pieces of food. Parents should also pay attention.
2. In addition, some cats may prefer soft-textured food when pain and inflammation are not under control after tooth extraction.
Therefore, you can choose canned food with mousse texture, or mix dry and wet food and grind it into puree with a mixer.
Cat Oral Care
In summary, it is difficult to cure cat stomatitis, and prevention is particularly important . Usually, owners should pay more attention to the oral condition of cats and clean their mouths regularly.
There are several ways to clean the mouth:
1. Use oral spray once a day with meals After 2h.
2. Brush your teeth regularly, about 3-4 times a week.
3. Scaling your teeth, once a year, depending on the situation, follow the doctor’s advice.
Specific operation method:
1. Oral spray, put the cat Open the mouth and spray the spray into the cat’s mouth.
2. For brushing teeth, it is recommended that the owner buy some gauze instead of toothbrushes, because most toothbrushes are relatively large, which is difficult for cats to accept. accept.
You can rub the toothpaste on the gauze and gently rub the teeth to get a satisfactory result. From then on, maybe cats love brushing their teeth.
3. Scaling. For owners, just take the cat to the hospital, and the rest of the doctor operates. However, general anesthesia is required for teeth cleaning. Before anesthesia, you need to fast for 8-12 hours, and do a preoperative inspection to assess the risk of anesthesia.
It is difficult for the owner to operate, scaling < oral spray < brushing teeth regularly.
In terms of price, oral spray < brushing
teeth.
Owners can choose a cleaning method based on their budget and how well-behaved their cats are.
For the cat’s healthy life, please don’t give the cat sweets such as chocolate, so as not to cause discomfort,
You can feed it Various bone bites such as vegetable sticks can not only exercise the bite force of the cat’s teeth, but also clean the tartar and tartar.
In summary, cat stomatitis is a disease related to the immune system, which may seriously lead to cat death and is very difficult to rescue.
The only thing that owners can do is to keep the cat’s mouth clean and help them improve their immunity.
Also, be sure to observe and check frequently, and seek medical attention in time if found.
