For many of us, our cats are almost like family members. Family members, we love, and that tolerates our existence because we feed them. But all jokes aside, anyone who has a cat is worried about some of the numerous health problems cats could experience. Among them, dental issues are most likely the most typical concern that happens in our beloved pets. Their teeth are very valuable to them, not only for digestive reasons but for the general quality of life.
That is why it is crucial to understand what kind of problems our cats have with their teeth and how those predicaments manifest. Catching these diseases on time is vital, and for a couple of reasons. For one, then you adjust their diet on time, and if you are wondering what food is best for them when they have dental problems, just check out mainecoonhawaii.com. But there are other reasons as well. For example, when cats have teeth difficulties, they tend to groom less, which can cause problems with their fur.
To help alleviate some stress that can come with the thought of health problems with our cats, like dental issues, Bivvy.com offers affordable pet insurance that helps put your mind at ease. With a pet insurance you can trust, like Bivvy, you can. So let us pay closer attention to how you can recognize the signs of dental issues in your cat.
Now, the first thing everyone should be aware of is that we should always be cautious when we check out our cat’s teeth. If someone is not sure what they are doing, they should never simply force open their pet’s mouth and stick their fingers inside, not knowing what to look for because even the timidest cat might react and bite us. Be sure to get your cat as comfortable as possible before doing this, and how to accomplish that?
Well, that is different for every cat, and no one knows your precious pet better than you. Once the cat is calm, we can start looking for problems. There is no need for the cat to open their mouth as wide as it can, and this is not the imitation of a human dentist inspecting our dental health. Just be sure that you can see well enough inside the mouth. If someone is frequently brushing the cat’s teeth, then they already know the procedure. That means we can continue to what you should try to find out in the first place.
First thing firsts, check are the gums red. Inflammation of the gums is pretty obvious to detect. Check the part of the gum where they are adjacent to the teeth. If there is unusual redness, that is the sign you were looking for. While this ailment is not too severe, it is often a stepping stone for more detrimental illnesses. So it is still vital to see it on time. Also, pay attention are the gums recessing. That means that the gums are going downwards from the crown of the teeth. That can present several problems, like wobbly teeth and several others. We don’t want our cat to lose any of her precious little teeth, so it is good to catch this on time too. A more serious issue might be if the gums are bleeding. If it comes to this, that means you didn’t catch it on time, and it would be best to go see a veterinarian as soon as possible.
It is also possible that you notice broken or loose teeth. It should look exactly the same in cats as in humans, but if you are unfamiliar with how any of this should look, simply google the problems we are listing here. There should be plenty of photos online. Concretely, we are trying to be careful because of tooth decay here. But while damage to teeth should be obvious, what you should really focus on are the gums. If you notice that the gums are swollen, that could be a potential problem. To be more precise, it might lead to some of the teeth falling off. Finally, there could be some lumps on gums. Some of them are harmless, some are dangerous. There is no way for you to know that a professional opinion is needed here.
But examining our pet’s mouth is just one of the possible indicators of dental problems. There are others as well, and everyone can try to be on the lookout for them. One of the signs would definitely be the wrong odor coming from the mouth. Usually, our little angel’s breath is nothing that unpleasant. So if you notice the poor breath, it could be one of two things. Either something was eaten that’s bad, or there is some serious dental problem. We should also pay attention to our pet’s eating habits. If it is avoiding dry food, using only one side of the mouth, if food falls from its mouth, or if it vomits, these all are symptoms of illnesses. Another thing to pay attention to is to see if the cat is drooling when it eats. Drooling can be caused by different dental problems, but be especially alarmed if there is some blood mixed in with the drool.
If you notice that your pet is pawing towards the mouth, that could mean that it is under some pain and that it doesn’t know how to make it go away. While that is an obvious sign, it could get even more transparent. If our pet is unable to close his mouth at all, that means his trip to the veterinarian is long overdue. Tilting head on one side or shaking it from time to time is usually connected with hearing problems. But it could be an indicator of dental issues as well. If your cat is also unusually aggressive when you touch the head, that is also a sign that there might be some pain it is experiencing.
As we have seen, there are two crucial things you need to do if you want to make sure everything is alright with your cat. The first is to inspect the inside of your pet’s mouth. The second is to pay close attention to changes in its behavior. As long as our tips are being followed, we are sure everything will turn out fine.
