Topic: Gingivitis (Read 11865 times)

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #37 on:** February 10, 2007, 18:32:48 PM »

Fingers crossed that it is nothing too serious - she was with me from 15/16 weeks old, and I never saw any sign of her losing teeth, so it could be connected with that, it might be worth mentioning to the vet when you next see them - I haven't had a cat that age before, so dont know how normal it is to see their baby teeth come out. It might be worth changing vet, but it might also be worth seeing what happens when you go back first.

becky · « **Reply #36 on:** February 10, 2007, 16:41:20 PM »

hello,

Yeah thanks for that guys. Like you say, dont think there's much else to add. Will take all the info on board and see how we go.

She's been playing happily all day as usual (it's amazing how much fun a bit of paper can be)

But yeah, thanks for all your info, it's been great and probably catch up with you all soon,

Take care,
Becky and not too stinky Tinky xxx

Ela · « **Reply #35 on:** February 10, 2007, 16:37:06 PM »

Quote

I think antirobe tabs are specific antibiotics for the mouth area

Antirobe are for other areas as well, Badger is on them just now and his op was as far away from the mouth as it could be. Antirobe are excellent for mouth probes though.

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #34 on:** February 10, 2007, 16:34:31 PM »

Nothing much to add to this thread except to send healthy vibes Tinky's way, but I wanted to say that you can get Plaque Off at Jollyes too if you have one near me, although it is more expensive than online (£9.99). I've been giving it to Jaffa and Mosi for a few months now.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #33 on:** February 10, 2007, 16:17:16 PM »

Antirobe can treat other areas aswell, its just very good for oral probs.

As Ela has mentioned, before you moan about the vet nurse giving a jab, it must be the second part of her course as shes not yet a year so cant be an annual booster. So that was legal.

Hope stinky tinky stops smelling soon

Ela · « **Reply #32 on:** February 10, 2007, 13:08:02 PM »

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #31 on:** February 10, 2007, 13:01:03 PM »

I think antirobe tabs are specific antibiotics for the mouth area as Gandolf was on them for a couple of years on and off for a recurring mouth problem

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #30 on:** February 10, 2007, 12:17:47 PM »

I give Lexy 1cm of Logic Gel on her food (as if madam would EVER let me near her to put it on her teeth!), once a day. That's purely because she has a bit of tartar build up.

When Lexy had her injury Metacam drops were prescribed and only maximum of 4 drops a day on her food. I landed up giving her 1 to 2 drops maximum a day. Vet was very clear on it at that time.

If Lynn is reading this she can also give you a guideline on what VNs should do as she used to be one.

I would be concerned with anyone telling you worst case scenario especially if proper tests have not been conducted. It just scares you silly especially as gingivitis is so common. Poor you Becky.

becky · « **Reply #29 on:** February 10, 2007, 12:07:03 PM »

Antirobe caps

Ela · « **Reply #28 on:** February 10, 2007, 12:02:27 PM »

Which antibiotics were perscribed?

becky · « **Reply #27 on:** February 10, 2007, 11:42:23 AM »

Hello,

Yes I've contacted the vets and they've said to stop using the metacam if it doesnt seem to be altering anything (which it doesnt) but to give her the antibiotics and take her back and see if the inflamation has gone down, then we can talk about gingivitis etc and get things clear.

Becky

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #26 on:** February 10, 2007, 11:30:26 AM »

Hi again Becky

Don't overlook Tinky's bad breath as this might point to something more than inflammation due to losing her teeth. (Stinky Tinky indeed! Better not tell her you call her that on the Internet

) When Freddie first arrived, his breath would knock you over which was all to do with his teeth probs.

If I were you I would ring the vet today to put your mind at rest. You mentioned that Tinky is usually a slow eater but eats treats quickly enough. Has her normally eating altered at all whilst using the metacam? It is pretty fast working stuff. If you haven't noticed any difference by now, I agree I would stop using it altogether but use the antibiotics.

I'm off to give Tom a Metacam drop now but he had his last drop on Tuesday.

Ela · « **Reply #25 on:** February 10, 2007, 11:14:58 AM »

Nursing duties are the main part of their work. These include:

holding animals and keeping them calm during treatment
giving injections and drugs (under direction of the vet)
collecting blood, urine and other samples and carrying out in-house lab work
sterilising instruments
taking x-rays
preparing animals for operations
assisting during operations by handing instruments and maintaining levels of anaesthetic
carrying out minor procedures such as suture removal.
Other duties often include:

taking care of in-patients (feeding, watering, cleaning quarters, grooming and exercising)
conducting clinics for suture removal, post-operation checks and second vaccinations
giving advice and information to owners about the care of their animals.

Perhaps you will see the list and if your vet nurse did anything not one this list then you should have a word with the vet. Please note it does state second vaccinations may be given by vet nurse. When you mentioned 2nd injection did you meant the 2nd injection 3 weeks after the first or the booster 1 year later. Because that would change the ballgame re the injections.

Amanda (mad4moggies) · « **Reply #24 on:** February 10, 2007, 10:49:26 AM »

Thats right Ela, they can give those sorts of injections if asked to and watched by a vet but not vaccinations as these require an overall health check first of all which a vet is supposed to do.

Ela · « **Reply #23 on:** February 10, 2007, 10:43:40 AM »

Quote

I had no idea it was against the law for vet nurses to do injections.

I think they can give injections and drugs (under direction of the vet)

becky · « **Reply #22 on:** February 09, 2007, 18:36:29 PM »

I had no idea it was against the law for vet nurses to do injections. If I would have known that I wouldn't have allowed her to do it and I would have had a few strong words for them.

Right, I'm swapping vets, I dont think I've been given accurate information at all and I'm not happy and I'm not doing anything that will be detrimental to Tinky's health. I also think I'm going to stop the metacam, it sounds like it could be doing more harm than good and it's not necessary.

But, what I might do is give her the antibiotics and take her back to them in two weeks and see what they say, I'm seeing the vet when we go back anyway. Then, if I'm not happy then I'll get a second opinion but definetly swap after that.

And I'll go armed with all the information you've given me so they cant fob me off with something ridiculous. Or I might even phone them tomorrow and ask why on earth I've been given metacam.

I dont know, I'm quite angry now that we may have been duped and I'm doing something that's no good for her, which I hate the thought of and think that they should take some responsibility for.

Will go and take some deep breaths and have a think.....................................

Amanda (mad4moggies) · « **Reply #21 on:** February 09, 2007, 17:40:06 PM »

Oh dear, it is a bit worrying that they have got vet nurses giving vaccinations! As many of you may know this is against the law and could get them in a lot of trouble. There was a vets near me that was doing that and the vet in charge ended up having to go to court. It looks as though at some point in the future vet nurses will be taking over the role of giving vaccinations but as it stands at the moment this is definately not allowed.

Where i work we always take the syringe out of the Metacam box when we give it to clients for their cats. When using it for cats you must totally ignore the syringe as this is solely for dogs weights. I agree with a lot of the comments made by other people. If Tinky just has gingivitis then there shouldn`t be any reason for Metacam, and in some ways antibiotics, as using things like Logic gel and Plague Off should show better results. If the gingivitis gets worse an is causing a problem then you might want to look into any other underlying cause such as Calici virus.

I think i read further down that Tinky is about 7 months old. Cats lose their baby teeth between 4-6 months and during this time their gums can look very inflammed and sore so maybe this is also a reason for the inflammation. I`m not a vet so i wouldn`t want to try and make a diagnosis but it`s just an idea!

Becky, whilst you are using the Metacam (and especially as Tinky seems to have had too much of it to begin with) it might be an idea to give her wet food only to keep her kidneys well hydrated to be on the safe side.

Did your vets tell you how much to give her? Was it the vet/nurse?

Millys Mum · « **Reply #20 on:** February 09, 2007, 17:06:03 PM »

Its £6.89 on vetuk http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=298

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #19 on:** February 09, 2007, 15:44:09 PM »

I've been using Plaque Off for two of my cats and I think its doing the job of keepin plaque off the teeth because their teeth look really clean - but they both still have gingivitis. I got my plaque off from the vet, but you can get it online too at various sites including http://www.naturalpetcare.co.uk/petshop/product_info.php?products_id=406 - but there might be cheaper sites.

becky · « **Reply #18 on:** February 09, 2007, 15:27:52 PM »

Funnily enough yes it was the nurse that did the booster shot!!!

Ok, I'll have a look for the gel thingy.

Thanks a lot

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #17 on:** February 09, 2007, 15:20:38 PM »

Sounds like a good plan - out of interest, was it the vet nurse who did the booster? You can get Logic Gel from the websites I told you about for Frontline, and someone can tell you where to get Plaque Off, I have never used it. Neither are that expensive.

becky · « **Reply #16 on:** February 09, 2007, 15:15:40 PM »

Hmmmmmmmmm, well I dont know what to think now!!! I think the dosage we have been given to give her in the syringe does only equate to a few drops, but it's hard to say. I'll stop using the syringe though to measure it and just put one drop on the food.

She doesnt seem to be in pain eating but she will eat things quite slowly but this could be due to many things, the fact that she's still quite shy and gets nervous if we go into the room whilst she's eating she'll stop and come back later. She's also quite small so it may be that she feels full after a certain amount. But she always eats all the dry food that I put out for her. When we give her treats she gobbles them up quickly without any problems!!!

I did think it was odd that it said it was treatment for dogs on the bottle of metacam but again, you just follow the vets advice as you think they know best. And her breath does really stink (stinky Tinky!!!) and has done for quite a while and when they showed me her gums do look red so I do believe that they're inflamed. However, with not having had a cat before I didnt know if it was normal for the breath to smell like that and I dont really look at her gums much.

I think what I may do is just put one drop of the metacam on her food once a day until Monday perhaps. Then I've been told to start the antibiotics on Wednesday (because she has to wait a week after her flu jab until we can start the antibiotics) then we go back to the vets two weeks on wednesday and see what they say. In the meantime I'll also try to get some of the stuff you've mentioned to put on her teeth to try and keep the plaque and tartar down. What do you think?

Becky xxx

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #15 on:** February 09, 2007, 07:34:11 AM »

mark - I think the injectable Metacam (what the vet will do) is licenced for cats, but the drops they prescribe aren't - I haven't had any issues with using them though, but I wont use more than 3 drops a day and will complain if they want me to use it more than a couple of days. I wouldn't use it if it didn't seem necessary though - in Tinky's case, it doesn't sound like it is necessary.

Mark · « **Reply #14 on:** February 09, 2007, 00:26:08 AM »

On their site it says that Metacam is the "First approved NSAID for cats." - This could be for the states, although I believe their Food & Drug admin is very stringent. It seems that it is mainly aimed at postoperative pain management for osteo type surgery (the vet next door said this is the most painful kind)

However, I don't think vet nurses are qualified to give potentially life-threatening advice. I would always ask for something in writing.

my tuppence worth.

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #13 on:** February 08, 2007, 23:06:15 PM »

Hi Becky

Not at all happy about veterinary nurse diagnosing and prescribing. Sorry to any vet nurses out there but this sounds odd. Perhaps the nurse was just passing on the vet's comments?

Metacam drops are not however licensed for use in cats. That's right isn't it everyone? Surely we've been here before recently with my boy Tom who is now on 1 drop every 4th day for his arthritis in back legs. I would not use these drops at all unless they were needed as all non steroidal anti inflammatory pain killers have the potential for adverse effects on kidneys in cats altho I appreciate older cats are more at risk esp with long term use.

I know that the metacam drops are regularly prescribed by vets for cats even tho unlicensed as they are so effective at killing pain but, if Tinky isn't showing any signs of pain, I would use say one small drop a day (in case she is masking any discomfort) for a max of say 4 days and see how she goes. Have to say though, I would telephone and insist on speaking to vet direct as I do not understand how Tinky could be eating OK if she has a bad case of gingivitis. What do I know?!!!

Sorry Becky I really don't mean to alarm you. I don't think Metacam is known to be harmful short term in small doses but why take chances with an unlicensed drug (licensed for use in dogs as you will see on the literature in the packet) if Tinky doesn't appear to need it? And why pay for something that may not be necessary? On the other hand, cats are good at masking discomfort especially in the mouth area and it may be that she has very inflamed gums. The vet should however be telling you all this.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #12 on:** February 08, 2007, 21:48:46 PM »

It does sound a high amount of Metacam, I have only ever been told to use drops, nothing on a syringe - and the highest has been 3 drops but that was for something more severe than gingivitis. I would try things like logic Gel and Plaque off - just another thing for those of you reading this who dont know about Tinky - she is about 7.5 months old now - surely it isn't that bad if she is so young and it isn't affecting her eating? Does she have bad breath at all Becky?

Amanda (mad4moggies) · « **Reply #11 on:** February 08, 2007, 21:43:32 PM »

Hi Becky,

This sounds like too much Metacam to be using. There is a certain dose for cats depending on what they need it for and their weight. Usually it works out at between 1 and 3 drops a day. You really, really don`t want to be overdosing on this drug. I don`t want to worry you but i was reading an article just the other day in our monthly vet nurse magazine about a client that mis understood the dose and it caused a lot of problems for the cat.

It sounds slightly unusual that you were given Metacam for gingivitis if it is not causing Tinky any problems. This is because there are hardly any painrelief tablets/drops that are licensed in cats at the moment so they are only used when really needed. If she has straight forward gingivitis then this can usually be corrected if you start cleaning her teeth which might be easier said than done! Whilst the teeth have plaque on, a soft substance, then you can try to resolve this. It`s when it calcifies and turns into tartar that veterinary dental treatment is needed.

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #10 on:** February 08, 2007, 19:59:50 PM »

So it was a nurse who thought it could be due to FeLV? The nurse shouldnt be offering diagnosis anyway. But even some some vets always seem to want to offer you the WORST case scenario, rather than the more likely causes, such as the calicivirus

Gingivitis seems to be a common problem these days, some of mine still have it, even though theyve been crunching on chicken wings etc for the past year, although their teeth are nice and clean. 2 of mine tested positive for the herpesvirus (one of the other cat flu viruses) and they have gingivitis.

becky · « **Reply #9 on:** February 08, 2007, 19:03:28 PM »

Hi,

Thanks so much for all your input, it's so good to get advice from people who have experienced similair things. It is much appreciated

To be honest, she's absolutely fine, she's eating fine and has been since she moved here, I never would have suspected anything unless the vet would have said anything. Her behaviour is fine, she's playing and giving kisses and cuddles as normal, which I think is why I was even more shocked last night when they said something could be wrong.

And honestly, the nurse who told us didnt mention that it could just be a virus, she just mentioned about leukaemia straight away and kept saying things like, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I may have taken it out of context but she didnt really put us at ease in any way. If I were in her position I would have sid something like, "she has gingivitis which we'll treat with antibiotics, come back in 2 weeks and we'll see if it's gone down but if not it could be a virus. The worst case scenario could it could be is leukaemia but this is very rare etc" but she didnt do anything to reassure me and then just started going on about where leukaemia comes from etc. So I dont think she was very good really, but I mentioned to Desley before that I wasnt happy how she handled Tinky etc.

I dont mean to be awful to the nurse, she could have just been having a bad day but I'm going to ask to just see the vet from now on as she is really good and I do have a lot of faith in her. I think it's someting to watch.

Just another question though, someone mentioned about using the Metacam painkiller sparingly, why is this? Just want to know as I've been given that for Tinky and want to make sure I'm doing it properly. I just give 2 little lines on the syringe of the painkiller once a day mixed with some wet food or tuna which is what the vet has recommended. does this sound about right?

Becky xxx

Millys Mum · « **Reply #8 on:** February 08, 2007, 18:01:00 PM »

Gingivitis is commonly caused by the build up of tartar so you can use products such as Logic Gel & Plaque Off, to keep the mouth healthy. Your vet may reccomend you a bag of biscuits called hills t/d, im not too impressed with them so would suggest a raw chicken wing for her to munch on

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #7 on:** February 08, 2007, 16:47:45 PM »

Tinky is a girl!!! Rosella, the virus he menitoned would be Calici rather than FeLV, it is the biggest cause.

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #6 on:** February 08, 2007, 16:32:51 PM »

I had no idea that gingivitis could be in any way linked to Felv. My neighbours cat suffers from it on occasion and recently my brother took one of his gingers, Tango, to the vet. I asked my brother if gingivitis was mentioned, which seemed likely from the symptoms, but he said no the vet had just mentioned he may have a virus by which I now assume he meant Felv. The vet has put Tango on anti biotics and metacam painkilling drops (I warned my brother to use the drops sparingly and not for very long). I agree that it is quite a big assumption to make though as I'm sure it can be down to any number of things. I suspect that the vet told my brother a whole list of could be this and could be that but he heard the worst case scenario louder than the others? I know that is certainly how I would react initially. How is Tinky today Becky? Is she eating OK coz it can be a painful condition.

ccmacey · « **Reply #5 on:** February 08, 2007, 16:04:39 PM »

Hi Becky how bad is his gingivitis? I have cat with chronic gingivitis and the vets have said its his immune system attacking his gums. They are many reasons why a cat has this so I wouldn't go worrying yourself for the worst yet.

shecat · « **Reply #4 on:** February 08, 2007, 16:00:06 PM »

Hi Becky

My cat Firbee had gingevitus and my vet basically told me the same thing. i.e. it could be Felv (feline leukaemia ) Fiv or Calchi virus (spelling wrong) Calchi virus if I remember correctly is a cause of cat flu. That is when I found cat chat. For your peace of mind it would be a good idea for him to be tested. Firbee was fine he did have Calchi virus but the gingevitus only ever flared up if he was upset and stressed (not often) and was treated by a steroid injection. He unfortunatley got lost last year, but until going missing he was the fittest and happiest cat. Gingevitus can be controlled and please remember that Felv and Hiv is not that common and it is more likely to be caused by the cat flu and also cats that dont have any other problems can have gingevitusl without an underlying cause. So please dont worry.
x she

Ela · « **Reply #3 on:** February 08, 2007, 15:48:12 PM »

Quote

that it could be a sign of leukaemia,

That is only one of many things it could be and possible worse case scenario. Over the years we have had numerous cats with gingivitis not one has ever been tester leukaemia poss.

Rather than worrying perhaps if there is a recurrence you can have the little one tested then at least you will know one way or the other.

JackSpratt · « **Reply #2 on:** February 08, 2007, 15:42:43 PM »

Hi Becky. Unfortunately gingivitis isn't something you can really stop from recurring as far as I'm aware. But it shouldn't be too expensive to treat as far as I'm aware.

becky · « **Reply #1 on:** February 08, 2007, 15:35:12 PM »

Hello,

This is Becky, Tinky's new mummy. Hope everyone is ok.

Just needed some advice as we took her to the vets yesterday for her second flu injection and the vets said that she has gingivitis so gave us antibiotics and pain killers for her but mentioned that it could be a sign of leukaemia, which I found incredibly upsetting and distressing and to be honest, spent most of last night in tears in the fear that there's something really seriously wrong.

However, quite a few people, Desley included have since reassured me that gingivitis can be quite common so I just wanted to know if anyone else has been in the same boat and what they've done to stop it recurring etc

Thanks,
Becky xxx

Author Topic: Gingivitis (Read 11865 times)

ccmacey