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Expert: - 1/24/2012


Question
Hello! I have two quick questions to ask. First of all, my cat is about 13-14 years old and one of his canine teeth is REALLY loose, like its barely hanging in there. I know it bothers my cat, but not to the point that he doesn't eat (He eats both soft and hard foods.)I was wondering if the tooth is going to fall out on its own or if I should have a vet remove it.(P.S. its only the one tooth that is bad, all of his other teeth are perfect.) Secondly, though I know its not recommended, if I decided to remove the tooth on my own, could I use oragel? I have liquid oragel and was thinking of dabbing a q-tip with an EXTREMELY small amount and lightly touching the gums around the tooth. If I shouldn't use oragel, could you at least tell me the reason why? (risks, side effects, etc.) I'll probably just take him to the vet to take the safest route possible, but was mostly just curious! Thank You So Much!!!!

Answer
I wouldn't use oragel in a cat's mouth. I don't have a tube of it in front of me but many human medications are extremely toxic to cats .

If the tooth is wobbly loose, it will just fall out on its own. Most of the time this is due to bone loss in the gums.

Cats and dogs don't use their canine teeth to eat. They use their canines to grab their prey and hang on to them while they suffocate them with their paws. Sounds like a cheetah and not a cat or dog doesn't it? That's because our domestic pets don't hunt and use their canines at all, except in fighting. Well, cats do and yes they do use their canines to grab those mice and birds!  

So it's not unusual to see this kind of tooth loss in an older cat. It's actually quite common.

I would take him to the vets as you don't want to mess around with a situation like this on an older cat. It's just too risky. The vet might just reach up there and pull on it and it will fall out, or tell you to leave it.

Regardless, a trip to the vet is warranted just to have it looked at.  

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

Awards and Honors
Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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