Don't Forget a Regular Dental Exam for Your Cat

Cat lovers need to make sure that a dental checkup is part of every trip to the veterinarian. Like all mammals, cats are vulnerable to a variety of dental diseases and problems, some more serious than others. Having your vet give your favorite tabby a thorough dental examination at least once a year is an important step in ensuring a long and healthy life for your cat.

If a cat is to develop a serious dental problem, it's most likely to do so after receiving its permanent teeth. Just like human children, kittens first develop a set of "baby" teeth before they receive their permanent ones. In kittens, this first set of twenty-six temporary teeth is usually in place three to four weeks after a kitten is born. At the age of three to four months, permanent teeth begin replacing this temporary set. By the time it becomes a full-fledged adult, a cat will have a total of thirty permanent teeth arranged in two rows of sixteen upper and fourteen lower teeth.

Because cats don't eat foods rich in sugar or drink highly acidic soda pop, cavities are generally less widespread in cats than they are in humans. Unlike humans, however, cats can't brush or floss, which makes them quite susceptible to a gum disease called gingivitis. More than 70 percent of cats have some level of gum disease by the time they turn three. Symptoms of gum disease are inflamed gum tissue, a build-up of brown or yellow tartar or calculus along the gum line, and persistent bad breath. A vet can address these issues by removing the tartar and calculus deposits, which in turn reduces inflammation and mouth odor.

A broken tooth is also a fairly routine dental issue with cats. The tooth most often affected is a cat's sharp upper incisor, which is sometimes damaged by a fall or by food that is simply too hard to chew. If your cat has a broken tooth, it may or may not exhibit signs of pain. But a cat with a fractured or broken tooth will frequently sneeze uncontrollably, a sure signal that it's time to visit the vet.

While gum disease or a broken tooth usually prompt cat owners to visit a vet without much delay, regular checkups can also help to ward off or identify more serious conditions. Oral health problems in cats are sometimes indicative of more serious conditions like resorption lesions or viral infections like feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency or feline calicivirus.

Having a vet check the oral health of your cat on a regular basis can add many happy years to the life of your pet. Finding a vet for your cat is often as easy as asking a friend or relative who also has a pet. If you're a solitary cat lover looking for a vet, check your local or online yellow pages for a list of qualified veterinarians in your immediate area.