Thread: Weight problem?

He is a beautiful boy!

I can't help with any ideas, but I hope it gets sorted out for you!

I don't think the weight is so bad. He probably isn't going to be a large chunky MC male, but not all are from what I have read. We also had a male MC that was long and lean (unlike our current two), but he ended up dying around two years of age, so don't know how he would have developed. And yes, yours does have a couple more years to put on weight.

As for the gingivitis, this can become a serious problem so I would deal with it now. One of our females had very red gums around the same age and there was a good deal of concern about her developing stomatitis. She was also not eating well. Found that she had a loose and infected lower incisor (the little teeny tiny teeth between the canines). That got pulled and she was put onto antibiotics, and she immediately started eating much more. Took her to a vet dental specialist who did detailed dental xrays that most vets are not equipped for, and he removed the rest of the lower incisors due to root issues and did a cleaning, and more antibiotics. This totally cleared up her mouth and she has had no further issues (more on that below).

My suggestion is to have a vet put the cat under and carefully examine and clean the teeth, and follow the cleaning by a round of an appropriate antibiotic. There is no way that a vet can really see what is going on in the mouth without putting the cat under. Gingivitis is a reaction to bacteria on the teeth, so you need a cleaning to get it off or else anything else you do is going to have a minimal effect. And yes, a cat as young as yours can definitely have plaque and tarter.

A cleaning and antibiotics should drastically reduce or even eliminate the gingivitis. Then you need to make the commitment to try to keep his teeth clean of bacteria. The vet dentist said that the very best thing you can do is daily tooth brushing with pet toothpaste. We do this with all four of our MCs now, and it has definitely improved the quality of their gums. The two that have had to have cleanings before have not needed further cleanings for two years at this point, and their gums continue to look very good. I can post more info on tooth brushing if you are interested. There are also additives for water that have been shown to reduce plaque, but ours won't drink the treated water.

this has made me think.... should we be cleaning our cats teeth???

NCarver, thank you so much for all the information. I really appreciate it!!!!!!!

Lately, i'm really really busy, but under the circumstances i'll try to find a vet and get an appointment. I really hope things will turn out well for my cat.

Again, thank you!

P.S. Btw, your cats are really something!!!!!! Very nice!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Scrapdragon

He is a beautiful boy!

I can't help with any ideas, but I hope it gets sorted out for you!

Τhank you!!!!!

Originally Posted by Scrapdragon

this has made me think.... should we be cleaning our cats teeth???

Not at 4 mos. But probably later.

My impression is that quite a few MCs end up having gingivitis and other tooth problems. I know that our three older cats have all had various levels of gingivitis. As I noted, the vet dental specialist stated that brushing the best thing you can do for their teeth. We had been using the chlorhexidine rinses, but the cats hated them and they definitely had not helped as much as the brushing. It sounds hard, but you really don't have to do that good job brushing as the pet toothpastes are enzymatic, so you just need to get it onto their teeth and it helps a lot still. The best part is that they actually like the flavors of the toothpaste, so are not too uncooperative.

The best brush we have found for cats is this one:
Virbac Animal Health | C.E.T.

Brush is somewhat hard to see in the above page, but you can see it in this video:
Play Entire Video | Partners in Animal Health

We had tried several different toothbrushes on the cats but this is by far the best. First saw it in the above video, then had to hunt it down on the 'net and order. We have four, labeled for each cat!

We also prefer the CET toothpaste such as:
Virbac Animal Health | C.E.T.

Our cats love the poultry and seafood flavors, but refused the mint. One of the vet assistants told me though that her cats love the mint, so it is a preference. We buy the toothpaste online now as it is a lot cheaper than at the vet and we go through a couple of tubes a month doing all four MCs most nights.

Our breeder has been using the water additive and has said it made a big difference in her cats. Ours all refused to drink from the water dishes that had it added, however, so we gave up. There have been a couple of studies that showed significant reductions in tarter in most cats when using it. I was a bit concerned about one of the ingredients however.

Originally Posted by NCarver

We also prefer the CET toothpaste such as:
Virbac Animal Health | C.E.T.

The toothpaste is called Enzymatic in the UK.

Originally Posted by NCarver

Our breeder has been using the water additive and has said it made a big difference in her cats. Ours all refused to drink from the water dishes that had it added, however, so we gave up. There have been a couple of studies that showed significant reductions in tarter in most cats when using it. I was a bit concerned about one of the ingredients however.

I know the ingredient but can not think of the name! But I do know that Dentagen Aqua made by Genitrix does not have the ingredient

Hi Blue Gato,if your cat is eating ok he can't be suffering that much from his mouth although it would obviously be nice to get him sorted,at the moment it could be you who is more upset about it than he is.I have seen a lot of mouths working in a vets for as long as I have & you sometimes wonder how they cope but a lot of the time they seem too, in the wild they would have too & at the end of the day they are animals that have been domesticated by us. Bruce has had bad gums from a very early age but his teeth are spotless & he crunches through the large kibble with no problem at all so I would rather just use an odd course of ab's if required then put him under the stress of anaesthetic unless really necessary.
As for the weight of your boy at the end of his growing time he will be what he is meant to be,you are making sure of that by how you are looking after him.....
As for cleaning teeth I haven't gone that far but provides an interesting image of lining six cats up outside the bathroom before they go to bed, toothpaste on their little brushes,rinse & spit please !

Having read posts that have appeared while I was typing with one finger it seems that some of you do line them up,perhaps I will give it a go {used to use the meaty flavoured one for the dogs}