Cat teeth

Hello, I have a 3 year old cat and noticed a bit ago that her breath was getting smelly so I decided that I should make her a vet appointment. She went to her appointment today and the vet told me that she has feline stomatitis and needs all of her teeth removed. He didn't really explain much to me about it so I'm looking for more information. Should I get a second opinion? Where does this come from? Should all of her teeth actually come out? I just have alot of questions about it, she seems healthy so I'm not sure what's going on. Picture of my girl so we don't get lost. Thank you

Hello!  She's a very handsome cat and although she's wide awake, that picture reminds me of a poem from my chidhood, 'Cats Sleep Anywhere.'  Now then, about stomatitis.... If you go to the Vet Help Direct blog, Yvette Bell has written a very informative blog, called 'Why is my cats' mouth so sore,' that may give you some background.

I can appreciate that it must be very difficult to have taken a cat into the vets with what you perceived as slightly smelly breath, to be told by your vet that the best step would be something quite so dramatic.  A complete mouthful of dental extractions wouldn't be something that a vet would offer lightly.  Perhaps a good thing to do would be to read the blog and to sit on it for a day or so, and write down as many questions as you can think of.  You might want to know what will happen if you leave the teeth where they are, or whether you can remove them in two lots, whether blood tests will be needed and about the cost (some vets worry that you'll think they are merceinary if they bring the subject of money up.  However, money is a fact of life and no vet will think badly of an owner for asking for a quotation or estimate).  Some vets would rather refer you to a feline dentist for a second opinion / the surgery, although specialist animal dentists are rare.  A routine appointment isn't a lot of time to absorb a lot of unexpected information so in this case, it sounds as if it would be worth going back to your vet, armed with a list of questions, until you have all the information that you feel you need to make the best choice.

Please would you let us know what happens with your girl's teeth in the end?

Hi Liz, Thank you for your replies, I truly appreciate your insight on this. I'm definitely going to take into consideration what you have suggested. I'm at the point right now where I have questions and I would like a second opinion just to be certain that removing all her teeth is the right thing to do. Thanks again.

Thankyou.  That can be helpful sometimes.  The situation you are describing is definitely in keeping with what we know about cats teeth, but of course we havent seen your cat.  For any medical situation, I would always ask to be referred to a specialist or someone with a special interest in cat medicine / cats' mouths, rather than another first opinion vet (because even if they were to say different things, how would you know which to trust?)    Usually we would reccommend asking your vet to arrange a second opinion for you (either within the practise or outside it) or at least just let them know; this way,  they will send the previous history to the second vet, which can be helpful.  There may be a blog post about second opinions too (if not, let me know and Ill see that we write one)  I look forward to hearing how you get on.