Could your cat have toothache?

Cats are very good at hiding pain, and it can be quite difficult for you to look inside their mouths.

So, how would you know if your cat has toothache?

This was the case for one of our lovely patients, Eric, who is 12 years old. His owner noticed that Eric “just wasn’t quite himself” but could not pinpoint exactly what the problem was.

Upon gentle examination by GVC’s doctors, we noticed that Eric was very sensitive when being touched around the mouth and jaw and he didn’t like us opening his mouth to have a look inside.

We advised a dental procedure for Eric where we found that 2 molar teeth were badly inflamed and infected leading to a painful infection of the jawbone.

The teeth were extracted under a very carefully monitored anaesthetic for older cats and the bone infection was treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication.

Eric was happily eating and purring very soon after waking up from his anaesthetic and his owner reported that he was back to being the happy boy she had not seen for 6 months!

It is so important to have regular dental checks performed on your pets!

Please come and see us at GVC – we are here to help.