Bonnie's tooth

I am sure I mentioned before that Bonnie has strange teeth - too many teeth for her mouth as the vet says. Just lately she seems to struggle on occasion to close her mouth and we have finally managed to prise it open to have a good look. One of the tiny teeth at the top, in between her canines appears to be loose and I think that is where the trouble is. Now for the quandry about whether to leave it to drop out naturally, or take Bonnie to the vets. It isn't a question of cost, but rather that Bonnie suffers terribly from anxiety each time we take her to the vets. I have never seen an animal quite as petrified as Bonnie gets even as soon as she realises where we are heading. This has been the case ever since she was neutured - prior to that she was all right. Also, when she gets anxious, her catflu flares up, which invariably leads to another trip to the vets. She doesn't appear to be hurting at all, it just seems to be a bit of a nuisance to her at the moment - and with bank holiday looming, it might be as well to see if it drops out of its own accord.

Joanne

I would leave it as it is Joanne, keep an eye on it just incase infection takes hold, but if it's not hurting her it seems to be the better option to leave things as they are. Stress seems to be more of a worry than her tooth, and you don't want her getting cat flu.

Agree with Kath on this one, it's probably best left alone to sort itself out if going to the vets will stress Bonnie so much. If she's still eating ok and there's no blood, it'll probably just drop out of it's own accord without her/you even noticing it's gone.

Ian

Thanks Kath and Ian. Those were my thoughts but I did need someone to concur, just to give me a bit of reassurance. Bonnie is definitely eating ok - like a pig as usual. Bonnie stresses so much at the vets that I really want to avoid that if poss.

Joanne

Oh definately, i would think you would have more to deal with if youtook her to the vets, the tooth will probably fall out on it's own anyway, or when she's eating she'll end up swallowing it.

Fudge has lost a upper fang, I don't know how (probably a fight with Jimmy) or how long it'd been gone before I noticed, but it must have come out without bothering her as she's never stopped or had problems eating.

Ian

Now that you have said about Fudge, it reminds me of our dear departed Joseph. When he was about 7 or 8 we had to take him to the vets to have a canine removed as it was infected. We had realised there was a problem when he wasn't eating properly. Some years later we noticed, just by chance that another of his canines had disappeared. Then, by the age of 16/17 we investigated his strange sucking of food and found that he had no canines left. They must have dropped of their own accord, and did not prevent him from eating at all but caused a really strange noise when he eating. Bonnie's tooth is looking more precarious today, so I should imagine it won't be long before it falls out.
Joanne

Joseph is proof that it takes a lot to get between a cat and food

Fudges gums look a bit 'iffy' with plenty of dark patches on them, but they've always been there so I'm guessing it's just pigmentation.

Ian

Bonnie's tooth has gone. I prised her mouth open last night just before going to bed and saw the gap. The tooth had still been there earlier in the day. It certainly has not caused any problems with Bonnie eating.

I should imagine Fudge's gums are down to pigmentation - especially as she appears to be in good health otherwise and it has always been like that.

Bonnie does suffer from gingivitis regularly, but apparently some cats just do. She has been tested for all sorts of different illnesses that can cuase ginigivitis and they have all come back negative. The vet said that some cats just have gingivitis for no particular reason, it is just part of the way they are, and coupled with Bonnie's too many teeth, the poor thing does have problems in the mouth department - but it never stops her from eating!!!

Joanne

Check under your pillow Joanne, Bonnie might have put the tooth there expecting a treat

Ian