Cats with gingivitis; it’s a growing problem. It’s also a common problem. It is generally a painful condition for your cat to have. Eating becomes a problem – your cat is hungry, but as chewing is painful, she may run away from the food.
Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums. They become reddened, sore to touch and it can lead to loosening of the teeth. Gingivitis is very similar to stomatitis, which is technically an inflammation of the mouth.
Any inflammatory condition is deemed to be an infection, according to the medical and veterinary model.
This means that the first line of veterinary treatment is antibiotics. However, this does not address the cause of the inflammation, but simply the effect. This means that the condition is highly likely to return or simply not respond to treatment.
In addition, antibiotics are toxic to the system and lower the immune system, setting up further problems for the future.
The second line of treatment usually involves cortisone, which is a steroid. When steroids were first introduced, they were meant only for life and death situations, as the consequences are so dire. These dangers remain, despite the now common use of steroids for every condition that doesn’t respond to milder treatment.
Steroids damage organs, reducing the life of the user. They can cause serious conditions such as autoimmune diseases and cushing’s syndrome.
Again, the cause of the problem is not being addressed, so the condition may not respond or may return.
The ultimate veterinary treatment for cats with gingivitis is to have their teeth removed. Sometimes, all the teeth are removed. Not only is this draconian solution incredibly invasive and maiming to the cat, it usually is very expensive for you.
Even though this drastic treatment appears to sort out the problem, it still remains, as the cause has not been addressed.
The main (by a long way) cause of gingivitis in anyone is the diet. Despite the claims made by commercial cat food manufacturers, that they have the solution, the fact that this is a common and growing problem shows this to be untrue.
When you feed your cat a quality, natural diet, even if the cat is mature in years, the problem can disappear without any veterinary treatment at all. And if you start a kitten off on this diet, that can be a problem relegated to the past.
There are times when you do need to help your cat over this problem, such as if she has had extensive veterinary treatment. In these cases, homeopathic treatment offers you an excellent prognosis. But be warned that it is likely to return if you don’t feed her a quality, natural diet.
It is easy to treat cats with gingivitis successfully when you know the cause and some effective treatment which does not simply deal with the effects of the problem.
8 replies to "Cats With Gingivitis – Causes and Natural Treatments"
What is a natural diet and what does it entail?
A natural diet is one that is as close to that they evolved on, as is practical for us. It entails understanding the basic ideas for a based, nutritious, healthy, varied and delicious diet your cat will love and you will find easy to use.
I recently adopted a very sweet 8 yr. old female cat. She had a hx. sheet that stated she had had 13 teeth extracted 5 months previously for what the owner noted to be “bad breath, blood in her drool and sm. wt. loss”. Vet record showed “severe gingivitis/tartar with poss. tooth root abscess upper L & R molars”. She was treated with Clindamycin X 10 days and then had the 13 teeth extracted. That is the extent of her known hx. Initially I noted sm. amt. of clear oral secretions that were occ. blood tinged but otherwise she appeared healthy:good appetite for both soft food and kibble, physically active, good grooming, affectionate and no evidence of pain such as pawing at her mouth or resistance to touch. On her first vet exam she was dx. with severe stomatitis. She tested neg. for FELV/FIV and was treated for 10 days with Amoxidrops and a tapering dose of Flunisolone. It appeared that there was some improvement in the oral inflammation and her drooling pretty much stopped. Shortly after the meds were completed her oral sx. resumed. I do not plan to have any more teeth removed and would like to try a more natural approach. I am not sure how much of a natural diet I can get her take (so far she has refused raw meat and don’t know what she could tolerate with so many missing teeth). What would you recommend? Thank you.
The poor cat with all that history! Interestingly enough, the lack of teeth seems to have no bearing on a cat’s ability to eat a normal diet. I have come across several who manage even bones, just fine. I presume their palate hardens. So don’t let that interfere with any healthy choices.
I have a cat who was diagnosed with stomatis. I was told I need to either spend $800 and have all his teeth removed or have him euthanized. I didn’t have the money for the surgery, but didn’t want to have him euthanized, especially since he just had to have his leg amputated right before all this. I found a cat rescue that told me to give him liquid antibiotics for a week out of every month, which I’ve been doing for over a year which isn’t fun for either one of us, plus the problem is still there. Now there’s some sort of injection of antibiotics that lasts for 2-3 weeks that we did a couple of times now but it’s expensive. I have an appointment for Tuesday, just 5 days from now, that will cost $400-$700 to have all but his front teeth removed. I decided to get on the internet tonight and see if there was an alternative because that seems so invasive and permanent, and they can’t guarantee that it will make it better. So, I found this article and have some hope, but my cat, Elvis, is SO PICKY! He only eats canned food and sometimes I have to open 3 different flavors to find one that he will eat. I can’t imagine him chowing down on any natural diet type food, especially anything with bones. That seems very painful to even think about for him. I tried switching my two older cats that I had before Elvis, to a raw meaty bone diet (after successfully switching my dogs), but it didn’t work out. They wouldn’t eat the bones, but did eat some of the meat, but it didn’t seem like they were getting enough food, so I went back to commercial food. I have 3 cats and 3 dogs and a new businesses so I don’t have a lot of time or money. Any suggestions are appreciated. Exactly what kind of diet do you recommend?
Thanks for your email. I can’t help you in on a personal level without a consultation – see details above.
But much of the general information is found in my ebook. I suggest you make a start there and then ask me specific questions.
Many people fail before they start, just as you did, but there are ways round this. Support is invaluable when you make any changes.
I find this very frustrating and feel as if no one is willing to help anyone without buying something. I have had cats in the past for 15 and 17 years that never had any of these so called problems. I fell that the vets do nothing but add to the problem and charge charge charge with no results or comfort to the animals that they are supposed to care about so much. What are people on fixed incomes with no funds for this kind of thing supposed to do to help their poor beloved animals.
Everytime I visit a vet these days, I leave with more questions and no solutions and it is as if they don’t even care at all. I am at my wits end to find the people in this world that can give advice or information simply because they care about the animals comfort and well being. Am I alone in this?
I can understand your frustration. However, health is complicated. I could not come up with a treatment without knowing much more about your cat. Can I do that without payment?
I agree that vets add to the problem.
What I find interesting is that, despite your reservations, you still visit vets, and pay their high fees, yet find it frustrating to pay for natural care. I am at a loss as to know why natural health consultants don’t need payment.