Thursday, February 16, 2017

#TBT Guest Post: Cats And Dental Disease, "Mario Da Cat's" Story

FROM CAT CAT WITH CAREN AND CODY:February is National Pet Dental Health Month and because many of our readers weren't following us when this published in 2010, we decided to repeat it. Even Mario doesn't know!! We are pretty certain he won't mind.


 I hate going to the dentist (do any of us actually like it? Well frankly my husband does but that is another story!) I have periodontal issues that necessitate that I see a dentist every three months. While sitting in the chair I remembered how my former cat Bobo suffered from periodontal issues. Leaving periodontal disease untreated in humans and in animals can cause a myriad of problems, one glaring problem is heart disease.

It is ironic that after one of my own visits to have my gums deep scaled I met Mary on Twitter (the Mom of @Mariodacat) who was telling me about the dental problems that Mario had experienced. I asked her if she would share Marios' story with the rest of us, she graciously agreed and I am honored to share it with all of you:

Mario's Story
as told by "M"

I was thrilled when Caren asked me to do a guest blog post regarding my cat’s (@Mariodacat – on Twitter) dental problems and how he became toothless at the age of 4. Hopefully it will bring awareness to the importance of having your animals teeth cleaned when your veterinarian recommends such. If your vet recommends brushing, it can be done with proper training.


We adopted Mario from our local shelter in October 2008. A week later we were in having his teeth cleaned, and one had to be pulled as it could not be saved. He kept having recurring infections after that. Finally, after 4 changes in antibiotics (which clearly were not helping) our veterinarian said Mario might be one of those rare cats that are allergic to his own bacteria in the mouth. She recommended seeing an animal dentist in another city.

After many blood tests, extensive
 X-rays (Mario did have to be put under anesthesia for that), the dentist called us and said Mario’s teeth would have to be removed. When normal veterinarians remove teeth, they do the best that they can with their skills & equipment. Probably 99% of the time, it’s good enough for most animals. But it was determined that Mario was allergic to his own bacteria in his mouth. The dentist found little tiny bone fragments remaining from what his regular vet had pulled. These could not normally be seen without the specialized equipment that a dentist has.

He pulled all of Mario’s teeth, except the 4 canines, that first visit & cleaned up the hidden fragments left behind from his visit to our local vet. We were sent home with toothpaste for cats, a tiny brush, taught how to brush his teeth, and of course, more antibiotics. The Dentist stressed the importance of brushing daily. Well, even with our faithful brushing the infection still did not clear up. It was then determined that the 4 canines would also have to be removed.

By the time Mario had been with us a year, all his teeth had been pulled, we were missing a few $1,000 dollars, but we gained a very happy, healthy, loveable cat. He is able to eat dry kibble and, of course, canned cat food for a treat.

There wasn’t anything that we could have done to prevent this from happening, as we didn’t discover the problem until we had adopted him. But we are very grateful to our dentist for being aware of the problem and referring us to a specialist.

If you have an animal that has recurring infections in the mouth area, question your vet on whether or not your pet might be allergic to the bacteria in his/her mouth. If your vet hasn’t even heard of it, I would encourage you to contact an animal dentist in your state. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. Had we not been referred to a dentist for animals, Mario probably wouldn’t be around today. Peridontal disease in animals is very serious and can be deadly. The infection can eventually enter the blood stream and that is when it becomes deadly.

Mario wrote about his ordeal in his blog – Mario's Meowsings. It was written by him (with me, his human) typing for him so it is very lengthy, but informative. If you have an animal that you think might have a similar situation, I would encourage you to read it.





21 comments:

  1. Mario is one of our good friends, so we knew a little about his dental issues - but not quite in this much detail! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Allergic to your own bacteria - that would really stink.

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  3. Hard to imagine what misery poor Mario had until they realized what was the cause. He's doing GREAT now but what a TOUGH ROAD it's been for him! Pays to have SHARP vets keeping an eye on our teefs AND the rest of our furry selves!

    Hugs, Angel Sammy

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  4. Thanks for sharing Mario's story with us. Dental care is important for good health and happiness. Our Mr Buttons has FIV and that can be a problem for toothies. He has a few left. Some were pulled and some fell out on their own. He is happy and nomming away but we keep an eye on him and have regular check ups.

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  5. I never really thought about a pet dentist before, but now I know! I think that Angel would benefit from a specialist, so I'm going to start my research. Thank you for this informative post!

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  6. Cody and Caren, it's such an honor to be featured in your blog agian. We feel like movie stars or something like it for kitty blogs. We do feel that it is a very important message, so feel free to use the story any time you wish. The word needs to get out.

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    1. WE are the ones who are HONORED to have YOU on our blog!! Thank you for allowing us to do so again! We agree, it is an extremely important message. ((((hugs)))) and love!

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  7. Very informative! Thanks for sharing.

    Purrs xx
    Athena and Marie

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  8. Mario is such a sweet guy. I have referred several kitty parents to his story. Terrific post!!!

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  9. Very informative post ! Being allergic to your own bacteria, poor Mario ! We're glad he had a good dentist ! Purrs

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  10. We will book mark this when the need for us to visit the vishus dentist arises.

    Emma and Buster

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  11. Wow, thank you for sharing this. Mario is very lucky to have ended up with the right humans to care for him so well.

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  12. cody....dood....we noe mario wood be buzzed happee ta see hiz self az de star two day; even if thiz post iz talkin bout goin two de place oh eeeeeeeeevil...mario...if yur reedin thiz ~~~~~~~ waves two ewe dood !!♥♥♥

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  13. Excellent post, I knew Mario didn't have his teeth, but I didn't realize the cause. He is lucky to have such dedicated folks.

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  14. My vet says my teeths are furry good and nothing needs to be done.

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  15. Thanks for sharing Mario's story again. We knew he had dental issues and had to have all his teeth removed. We're glad he's doing so well now.

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  16. We love Mario and we're glad they figured out what the problem was.

    The Florida Furkids

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  17. We're glad Mario is doing so well! Isabella had stomatitis so had to have all her teefs pulled too. She had teef issues from the time she was adopted but the vets didn't know what it was until mommy told them. An animal dentist did the surgery and couldn't save any teefs but at least Bella is happy and pain free now!

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  18. I remember reading that and also Mario's mommy told be about it back in 2011. He is doing fabulously well.

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  19. Thank you for sharing Mario's story. That was interesting about the remaining bone fragments and how they couldn't be detected without a dentist.

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  20. Oh My Catness. We know Mario, but had no idea about this trouble he had. Glad he is healthy now:)

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