gingivitis - any ideas?

[unseeliechylde]

its not too bad - all his teeth are still white, so there is little or no tartar, it's just the gums are red around the very back teeth in the jaw, both sides, top and bottom. He does get a mix of dry and wet food already. I just feel that though he is chewing fine, he isn't using the  very back teeth to do it, so they are getting "missed" by the chicken wings. His other teeth are great - I just don't want these back ones to get any worse, which is why I was thinking of some topical gel or spray that I can rub just on the affected teeth.

[Millys Mum]

Is the gingivitis bad enough to affect his eating then? Maybe a course of ABs would be enough to sort it out. What does your vet think?
At Lolas booster her teeth were picked up on, she had some tartar forming and gums abit pink, a couple of wings sorted it out. Shes a good chewer of them tho 

[Alonewolfhound]

Hi this is my first day on here however i noticed this. I recently rescued a birman stud cat that on taking to the vets was in very very poor condition, one of these was in fact bad gingivitis, that was 10 weeks ago now, I basicaly mixed dried food in with the normal food for him, to start with he licked most of it off eating very small amounts obvously in some discomfort, i persisted in this and slowly the amount of dried food in the mix was made larger and larger now 10 weeks later he is almost back to his correct weight, his teeth are now white not yellow and i have the dried food out for him all day and just feed him pouches morning and night. (he now eats like there is no tomorrow and eats the dried food as easily as the wet food.) Has become the biggest softy we have with the loudest pur i have ever known.
(P.S.) vet has now cleared him of gigivitis and still thinks we used a toothbrush or something to get the yellow off his teeth.
Hope this helps
alonewolfhound comes form the fact i have been on the internet for years and always used this as i love wolves and cats cant keep wolves so cats have to do lol

[unseeliechylde]

My concern would be for them consuming it. I worry about things other than food being eaten 

How do you get a cat to spit mouthwash?! 

Good point - to be honest, I'm not sure how I'd apply it anyway, so it may be something of a moot point insofar as he may have objections of his own! I was thinking of spraying the Chlorhexidine onto a clean rag, wrapping it round my finger, and just rubbing the affected gums so he wouldn't have it sprayed directly into his mouth?

So, assuming this stuff is not the best option, and that the gingivitis is preventing him making the most of the chicken wings, is there anything else I can use as a topical treatment for the gingivitis? It's only on his very back teeth, so I don't want to use a "toothbrush", as it would involve shoving it into the back of his mouth, which I doubt he'd be happy about!

I don't want to be too heavy-handed about it, so I'm not keen to go the vet-dental route, as it seems a bit overkill.

[Millys Mum]

My concern would be for them consuming it. I worry about things other than food being eaten 

How do you get a cat to spit mouthwash?! 

[unseeliechylde]

lol don't panic, Gill - it's only recommended as a short term thing because of "possible" side-effects, which are rare. It can cause harmless discolouration of the tooth enamel, and some people are a little sensitive to it, so that their gums (though healthy) can become sensitive. It can also aggravate sensitive teeth, and if small amounts are ingested on a routine basis it can excacerbate acidity and heartburn.
Ideally, corsodyl should be used about once or twice a month to keep gingivitis under control, in addition to a daily brushing, flossing and mouthwash routine.
That's why I'm wondering about this cat stuff - would it be safe as, for example, a once a month topical application to encourace the gingivitis to clear up more quickly, and to prevent a future infection? I would of course look to use stuff like chicken wings etc on a weekly or twice weekly basis, as a less invasive long term preventative.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I been using chorsadyl for years!

[unseeliechylde]

Eeek - Well, I've ordered it now I certainly don't intend it for long-term use. It sounds like corsodyl for humans - it's okay to use in the VERY short term to treat an "outbreak" of gingivitis, but shouldn't be used for more than 1 week (can you tell I used to be a dental nurse?  ).
The overall plan is to let the "wings do their thing" , I'm just looking for something to use once or twice to calm the infection and inflammation, as I suspect it may be causing him some discomfort and so discouraging him from really making the most of the wings.
In this case, should I try it, or is there something else I could use instead?

[Millys Mum]

If you give the wings time they may help too as it improves the health of the mouth not just removing tartar. The chewing process creates enzymes which help alot 

Theres also a product called plaque off, its made of seaweed.

I wouldnt want to treat a cat orally with chlorhexdine, you never know what lies behind longterm use of these products. I know Gillian brought up something about a supplement you put in drinking water for oral health which has an ingredient in it which has always been thought to be unsuitable for cats 

Having looked at Lotties link it looks alot like hibi scrub  which actually is chlorhexidine gluconate 
Great for acne 

[unseeliechylde]

  that looks perfect - have ordered some, so hopefully that will clear things up

[Team Svartalfheims]

Chlorhexidine spray for cats might be worth a go http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=1425

[unseeliechylde]

Riley had his boosters and health check last week, and everything is perfect, except he has some gingivitis around his hindmost pair of carnassials, both sides, upper and lower
I've recently started giving him chicken wings, as per advice on another thread. He's taken to this reasonably well, and I know this will prevent tartar etc, but is there anything I can do to help the gingivitis? If he was human I'd use corsodyl gel, but as you can't even give it to kids, there's no way it would be safe for cats!
I've tried him with "toothpastes" and brushes, but he's having none of it