My poor cat has lost a tooth.?

Question

It broke off somehow, and there is only a bit of it left showing through her gumline. She still eats and plays, and everything else.
But what I want to know is can I do anything for her that doesn't require me taking her to a vet? Perhaps a pain reliever of some sort? I'm open even to good ol natural medicine, i dunno. Anything.
I feel bad for her, even though she doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain really, i just want to avoid it becoming worse. :(

Answer 1

This happened to my cat too. You will have to keep a sharp eye on it. When there is some tooth left it will likely become infected. This can be very dangerous because the infection can get into the bloodstream and cause blood poisoning. Even if your kitty isn't displaying pain, she must be hurting. Many animals won't show their pain because if they were in the wild they would instantly become easy prey - so they are protecting themselves by acting like they're fine. Please call your vet.

Answer 2

If she's not showing signs that she's in pain (still eating and drinking normally, if she plays with toys in her mouth, does she still play with those the same way?), I would let her be until you take her to the vet next. If she seems to be in pain, you should take her in. Unfortunately, depending on how far down the tooth broke off, she may have exposed the living portion of the tooth, which is both painful and dangerous. If bacteria get into that portion of the tooth, it can feed directly to the bloodstream. The tooth could also die while still in her jaw, causing similar issues due to decaying tooth matter. The tooth should be pulled in that case. At any rate, it needs to be mentioned to the vet, sooner if she's in pain, or as soon as you start to see signs that she may be in pain. If it hasn't broken off deep enough to expose living tissue, she is probably fine with a "stubby" tooth. There are animals that have all but 2 or 3 teeth pulled due to decay, gum disease, etc. They do fine, so with her stubby tooth, she actually has a leg up on them :) Best of luck with her

Answer 3

It happens occasionally, they can get loose teeth in the sockets, or knock a tooth loose when missing a jump, or the root could have decayed. It happens sometimes. Just make sure the cat isn't in pain, that all the root came out (a vet may have to check with a special poke tool, just make an appointment for them to do a quick mouth check). Parts of teeth left in can get infected in the jaw.

Answer 4

If she doesn't appear to be in pain, i.e> hissing at nothing, withdrawing from petting the area, etc, she probably isn't in pain. This is a normal thing. Keep an eye on her for infection. My cat was withdrawing from face rubbing and hissing at nothing. When I took him to the vet he had 3 abscessed teeth and had to get them all removed. Don't try medicine unless the vet gives it to you. You could make matters worse.

Answer 5

I don't know of anything you can do for pain, but don't stop giving her dry cat food. The same thing happened to our cat once, and the vet said that dry cat food helped keep his teeth strong, and that if we gave him only soft canned food, that eventually all of his teeth could become weak and break off or fall out.

Answer 6

My previous cat lost both her front teeth at the age of about 9. She was fine. Don't worry about it.

Personally, I would take her to the vet. Do not give her anything for humans or you could kill her.

Answer 7

Are there any veterinary schools near you? You may be able to get free services from a student about ready to graduate. Or, if you are on a tight budget, try to find a vet who will allow you to pay her on payments. You may also be able to find help through the local animal rescue shelter. They will sometimes help with vet bills to families who are in a financial crisis. Mainly they try to help with spay and neuter but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Hope she's okay.

Answer 8

I would take her to the vet. My adult male cat recently had 2 teeth removed because they were rotting from the inside out and I would have never known. Most of us can't brush our cats teeth like we brush our own because they won't tolerate it. He never showed any symptoms, it was during a normal check-up that the vet caught it.

Answer 9

Take her to the vet for a check up and ask them...it's probably something they will have to remove eventually. Watch your cat for symptoms of pain...

Answer 10

If you don't want to take her to the vet, I would keep the healing process monitored. If her gums get real puffy and red, you might have take her to the vet and get get her on an antibiotic.