Can Cats Feel Toothache ? Here Is The Answer !
Talking about toothache, of course we have all felt it and this is of course not a pleasant thing and of course painful. When suffering from toothache we will also feel how difficult it is to eat.
Every time we chew food, the feeling of pain in the teeth or gums will make the mouth feel sore. This can torture ourselves and often make us lose our appetite. Toothache in humans is probably common and occurs frequently.
Then what about cats, can cats also suffer from toothaches like humans experience ? For those of you who are curious to know the answer, you can find out by reading Anggora's article below.
Overview Of Cat Teeth
Cat teeth themselves consist of 4 types of teeth :
Canine tooth
Incisors
Premolar teeth
Molars
The type of cat teeth itself is similar to humans, which has 2 types of teeth, namely baby teeth or we can call them temporary teeth and the other one is permanent teeth. When a cat is under 2 months old, the cat will have a type of milk teeth or temporary teeth.
Only after the cat is over two months old will these baby teeth fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth. Milk teeth in cats alone number 26 while when cats grow up, cat teeth will increase and become 30 teeth.
These permanent teeth will continue to be cat teeth and cannot be replaced. If these teeth fall out, the teeth will not grow again and the cat will become toothless.
That's why if you want your cat's teeth to be strong, healthy and not easy to fall out, do routine maintenance and check your cat to the vet. You need to know that cat teeth never have cavities
Unlike humans, cat teeth will never have cavities at all. Cat teeth will not be able to cavities as experienced by humans and dogs. How come ? This is due to the difference in structure between the teeth that cats have and those of dogs and humans.
Cat teeth themselves do not have an occlusal table, namely the horizontal surface found on the teeth. Due to the absence of this occlusal table, cat teeth will not develop carious lesions. That is why until now there has never been found a hole in a cat's teeth.
The problem of cavities is only found in one of the cat tooth fossils from the 13th century.
Then Can Cats Get Toothache ?
Even though cat teeth can't have cavities, cats can still feel toothache. There are three common dental diseases that affect cat teeth. These diseases include :
Gingivitis
Gingivitis is a disease that causes a cat's gums to become inflamed. Inflamed gums will feel very annoying, painful and also reddish in color. This disease is generally caused by plaque attack or bacterial infection.
At first, plaque will accumulate which over time becomes hardened due to absorbing minerals from the saliva or from the cat's gums, then this plaque will turn into tartar. Actually, it's not tartar that causes cats to experience inflammation of their gums.
But this tartar only makes the gap between the gums and teeth open which allows bacteria to damage the barrier between the teeth and gums and allows it to creep into it.
The body's immune system that sees this will of course activate its defense. If the body's immune system feels that the bacteria that enter is a strong type of bacteria, the cat's body's immune system will activate gingivitis.
Apart from being a bacterial infection, gingivitis can also be caused by other things such as leukemia virus, immunodeficiency virus, calici virus, severe kidney disease, diabetes or diabetes mellitus.
When a cat is exposed to one of the diseases above, the cat will usually suffer from gingivitis which is accompanied by inflammation, a line of red mucus in the mouth which is known as stomatitis.
Periodontitis
This disease is an advanced disease of gingivitis. In periodntitis itself, the lining that is on the lower gums weakens as a result of damage due to bacterial infection and inflammation caused by the cat's own immune system.
Damage to this layer can make the cat's teeth loose or fall out. Periodontitis is generally always caused by gingivitis that is left alone and not treated as soon as possible.
Tooth Resorption
Tooth resorption is a condition in which a cat's teeth are damaged. Usually this starts with damage to the center of the tooth which will continue to other parts of the tooth. The cause of this condition is still unknown, but according to Angora himself, it is most likely that the cat is chewing food or something that is very hard.
So slowly the cat's teeth weaken and experience internal cracks and when a cat eats a hard object, this crack will trigger greater damage where the cat's teeth will be damaged and broken.
Tooth resorption is the main cause of loose teeth in cats. The percentage is around 30 to 70%. When a cat experiences tooth resorption, the vet will prefer to remove the cat's teeth.
If A Cat Has A Toothache, What Should We Do For Our Cat ?
The only thing we have to do when our beloved cat has a toothache is to take the cat for treatment to the vet. Because it would be impossible for us to handle this ourselves at home.
To treat dental problems in cats, doctors usually prescribe certain medicines or perform certain medical procedures that are needed, such as pulling teeth, cleaning minerals or plaque and tartar on cat teeth and carrying out other medical procedures.
How To Prevent Cat Teeth From Tootache ?
The method is actually easy, namely just by taking care of the cat's teeth every day. These treatments can take the form of :
Brush your cat's teeth every day
Pay attention to cat food
Pay attention to what cats often bite
Doing checks to the vet every month
Cleaning plaque and tartar
And others
By carrying out routine and disciplined dental care, the health of the cat's teeth can be guaranteed and we will no longer have to worry that our beloved cat will experience a toothache. That's the discussion about whether cats can suffer from toothache.
Hopefully this Anggora article can answer your questions about this and can be useful for you.
