Gingivitis or gum inflammation is an extremely common finding on examination of most pet's mouths. In those patients where there is a direct association with plaque accummulation a good reponse can be achieved by reducing the bacterial challenge to the patient through regular cleaning either daily at home or periodically through professional dental scaling and polishing.

Inevitably with most cats their enthusiasm for having their teeth brushed on a daily basis means that most owners rely on us to clean the teeth under anaesthetic.

Where the problem of gingivitis arises through an abnormal immune reponse this can be very frustrating and expensive to treat. Those patients, like "Oscar", develop what appears to be a complete plaque intolerance which means that even a small amount of build up produces a very badly inflamed and often painful mouth. The gums look very red and angry and will bleed very easily.

Often the only course of treatment which provides complete remission involves the extraction of all teeth. If there is nowhere for the plaque to attach then there should be no associated infammatory response. It is vital through x-rays to ensure that no tooth root fragments remwain as they can contribute to the disease persisting. It is also important to ensure that the 2 common viruses which affect a cat's immune system so adversely are not present (leukaemia and AIDS).

Despite these measures "Oscar" had remained refractory to treatment and the changes in his mouth had proliferated badly. Biopsies ruled out mouth cancer and confirmed his condition as "plasmacytic gingivitis/stomatitis".

Fortunately, using a combination of antibiotics and steroids, he is now currently experiencing a period of welcome remission. It is hoped that in time, with no teeth present, that he will eventually be able to be weaned off his medication!

Surprisingly, his ability to eat food of any consistency, even dried food, seems completely unimpaired and thus he has been able to sustain his entire frame of 7kg (15.4lb) without any great difficulty!

Terry Dunne BVMS, Cert SAO, MRCVS

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