Dental problems...what are the signs?

Question

I am taking my 12 year old cat to the vet this morning, I want to ask all the right questions. He has been drooling, pawing at his face and generally rather unhappy, I seems clear that he is in discomfort. I am suspecting dental issues, but would like to know what others experienced with their cats with dental issues.

Thank you!

Answer 1

My cat had this problem months ago....due to my cats' discomfort, she was pooing outside the litterbox, believe it or not.... and she also had very bad breath....As it turned out she had severe gingivitis and and had to have 6 teeth pulled...

Answer 2

Drooling, and pawing at the face are definitely signs of dental problems.  Cats are predisposed to developing dental problems as they age, and seeing as your cat is 12 years old, he will most definitely need a dental cleaning.  Other signs include dropping food out of the mouth when he is eating, being reluctant to eat, vomiting, etc.  Your veterinarian will look inside the mouth to see if there are any obvious signs of dental disease, but it is difficult to know if there will be any extractions until the cat is actually under anesthesia for the dental.  Just to forewarn you, your vet will probably want to run some pre-anesthetic bloodwork before putting him under anesthesia.  I don't know the rates of your vet, but that bloodwork can be pretty expensive.  Good luck!

Answer 3

one sign is bad breath also strange behavior at feeding time i.e crying for food but will run away from the dish or picking food up then dropping it again as though it was hot. i know this because my 7yr old cat has not long had most of her teeth out.hope everything goes ok for your cat.  

Answer 4

well yes it's obvious he has dental problems, there aren't really any questions to ask, all the vets will do is look in his mouth, and if there is an obvious problem, then they will keep him in for a dental if not they may want to delve further, it sounds like your cat may have gum disease or maybe just an infected tooth if so the vets will just put him under Anaesthetic and remove the tooth/teeth, but if it is a gum disease they will give him medication