Basic Facts About Dental Disease in Cats

Dental disease in cats occurs when your cats oral hygiene is poor. This causes bacteria to grow in your pets gums and cause tooth decay and other oral problems. Just like in the case of humans, tooth and oral diseases can be prevented by maintaining good and healthy oral hygiene.

Give Your Pet A Healthy Diet

You will understand that your cat has a dental disease if you notice bleeding gums and teeth, ulcers in the mouth, loose teeth, bad smell in the mouth and poor appetite to boot. Dental problems need to be urgently attended to as they can have a negative effect on the overall health of your pet.

If your cat has a severe tooth disease, some of the bacteria can travel downwards to the body while chewing or eating and this can cause different infections in the body. First of all, we must remember that caring for your cat includes taking care of its teeth as well. If you take care of your pets teeth from the very beginning, then you can keep such painful tooth diseases at bay. The diet that you give to your cat should be healthy and not include sticky food particles that are difficult to remove. Good quality commercial cat foods available in the market do not have substances that stick to the cats mouth. You can also use a good quality pet treat for your cat so that while your pet chews on it, his or her teeth also get cleaned.

Clean Your Cats Mouth Regularly

Just like in human beings, poor oral hygiene causes many different dental diseases in cats too. Tooth decay, tooth infection, swollen gums, gingivitis and even periodontitis can occur in cats. If the problem is severe, the treatment is elaborate and needs to be done urgently by a vet. Especially in an oral disease like periodontitis, the plaque caused by the bacteria is very difficult to scrape off. An X-ray of the full mouth has to be taken. Also the treatment might hurt, so it is done under the effect of anesthesia. However, the treatment is essential as otherwise your pets health will deteriorate as the problem increases in gravity.

Daily care of your pets teeth is the first and most important step towards preventing dental disease. You should clean your pets mouth regularly by using toothpaste thats suitable for pets. Gently clean and rinse the cats mouth after you finish cleaning the teeth. Check your pets mouth from time to time to see if there are any loose teeth, swollen gums or any other dental problem. It is advisable to treat dental problems as early as possible as these are extremely painful and can worsen if left untreated.

In case of serious problems like periodontitis in which pockets form in the gums and the teeth are covered with plaque, the vet might need to do a surgery if required. For this, some tests have to be carried out on the cat to determine other health problems like feline diabetes. Such treatments are time consuming and incase of a surgical treatment, one has to also provide the right post operative care for the pet.

It is best to prevent dental diseases in cats rather than go through the hassles of curing them.