Max's Canine Teeth ..

eman · Member Joined: 21 Dec 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Canada

about 5 months ago, i noticed that Max's canine tooth was broken. i was worried because when i called the vet, she said that most likely it needs to be removed. but when the vet saw it, she said that it wasnt that bad and that it would heal on its own. now yesterday, Max was playing with Mini and i heard him hiss at her. he never hissed at her before so i went to see if something is wrong and i noticed that 2 other canine teeth are broken! i couldnt believe it Shocked

i dont know how they broke..but i remember checking his teeth a week ago and they werent broken. i am going to take him to the vet tomorow.
hopefully they dont need to be removed. Sad

he doesnt seem to be in any pain. he is eating and drinking..and playing.

anyone has any idea how a cat's teeth get broken? Confused

DeLaUK · Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 11:00 pm Post subject:

Its been a while since I worked for a dental vet, I do know that the canines break easier than other teeth, anything hard that they bite down on can cause a tooth to break. I dont know how old your cat is but as they get older they can lose them easier plus if there is any underlying dental/gum disease, any bacterial infections at all, that can make breaking easier.
I think your doing the right thing in seeing the vet though, have a thorough dental exam just to make sure its nothing more than breaking through 'trauma' (which doesnt have to be what we would normally consider severe).

Sorry, dont know if that helps at all. Confused

eman · Member Joined: 21 Dec 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Canada

thanks for replying..

he is one year old
here are pics of his 3 broken canines. the top ones are both broken and the left bottom one Sad

DeLaUK · Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:42 am Post subject:

Poor guy, what was he biting on? The 2 upper ones look okay except for there is some redness (or bruising....maybe) on the gums right above those 2 teeth, the lowere one, the tooth itself looks a little discloloured and the gum is a little darker (I should say though the colour on my computer isnt 100% but there are differences in those areas compared to what I can see above the other teeth.

Let us know what the vet says if you can. Hope the 'ordeal' isnt too bad for him.

vene · Super Senior Member Plus Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 4243

Wow. That looks painful even though he's not in pain. His teeth looks very clean aside from the breaks. What do you feed him? Do you brush his teeth at all? Good luck at the vet!

eman · Member Joined: 21 Dec 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Canada

thank you both for replying,
i couldnt take him to the vet today.
i will let you know what the vet says.
vene, he eats whiskas dry food. sometimes wet food..as a treat, but he only licks the liquid part and leaves the rest for mini. Mr. Green

yeah...i used to brush his teeth everyday but these days i have been really busy..so i brush them once a week.

Chessmind · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:29 am Post subject:

Hi eman. Let us know what the vet says when you take him. My best pal Handsome (R.I.P.) also broke two of his teeth when he lunged at the glass door, because there was a raccoon on the other side. Anyway, the nerves were not exposed, so he wasn't in any pain and also there was no chance of possible infection. Teeth are just really easy to fracture regardless if you are a fur animal or a human. I hope the vet visit goes well and it's not serious.

sunset05 · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:50 pm Post subject:

Poor kitty. Keep us posted on what the Vet says.

lunaguy · Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:04 am Post subject:

Wow, poor little guy. Lucky for him that he has a great human like you to care for him!

eman · Member Joined: 21 Dec 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Canada

thank you all for replying..
i took Max to the vet and she said that the 2 upper ones are ok. but left bottom one is bad. she said that the pulp is exposed. she doesnt want to take the tooth out unless she has to. so i have to watch the tooth in case it gets infected. and she said as long as he is eating and drinking..then that means it is not bothering him.

Chessmind · Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 4:30 am Post subject:

DeLaUK · Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:25 am Post subject:

Another thing to watch for is excessive drooling, pretty common with a painful tooth/mouth.

Ginger · Member Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 176 Location: UK

I have a cat who has terrible teeth (the vet says some cats just do) hes had 2 operations for removing teeth, he never stopped eating/drinking and he must have been in pain! As the others said also watch out for mood changes/ excessive drooling and also head shaking (which is what my cat does when hes got tooth pain)

DeLaUK · Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:38 pm Post subject:

I have a friend whos cats teeth all had to be removed, it didnt matter what they tried, the teeth would just crack. She was only about 3 or 4 years old at the time.

Once she had all of them out she had no problems 'gumming' down on dry food, she would rarely eat canned food, the biggest problem was keeping her indoors though, she had been and indoor/outdoor cat but without any teeth she had little to defend herself with if she was attacked.

vene · Super Senior Member Plus Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 4243

Hmmm. I've always wondered why Pumpkin drooled so much. She had many cracked teeth removed as well and has no problems gumming dry food or inhaling wet foods. She used to be so grumpy but was a changed cat with a very happy disposition after her teeth were fixed. Poor baby.