Calico virus and tooth removal

[rrrrrreatt]

One of our cats has had gingivitis and bad breath which has been getting progressively worse since we got them a month ago.

We went to the vets last night for their vaccinations and I asked the nurse to take a quick look. She got the vet who said it looked like Calici virus and our cat would probably need all his teeth removed soon. The vet then looked at our other cat (not particularly bad breath and less awful gums) and said he also has signs so may need his teeth removed.

The vet is going to do a virus blood screening in 2 weeks when our cats are in for neutering to confirm it’s Calici so we can start treatment. The cats are fine in themselves - eating, drinking, generally causing mayhem!

Has anyone got any experience of this? Is there anything we can do to keep them in the best health possible?

Also does anyone know roughly how much this sort of surgery is? Our insurance doesn’t cover this and when I asked the vet they just said “expensive”!

My cat is having 5 teeth out tomorrow. She had x rays. and a poke around last week. It was supposed to be done in one go. As we knew she needed one out. To find out she needed five out was a shock. Even the bet hadn't expected it. It's costing £800!!
I wi see if it's worth having her tested for that virus as she's only 3 years old. What were your cats symptoms?

No experience with current infection, but I have a rescue that previously had cat flu and subsequently had all but her fangs removed.

She eats everything no problem, but does prefer a little water with her dry food. She's also quite prone to runny nose / eyes when the weather is colder but I don't know if more so than a cat who has never had cat flu.

Not sure about that. A quick Google suggests it is a respiratory issue but can cause painful ulcers in the mouth. Certainly nothing about removing teeth. Are they vaccinated?

Our cat’s only symptoms are really red gums, stinky breath and slightly weepy eyes. They sneeze from time to time but my partner who’s had cats before said it’s not more than other cats. We have no history at all for them though - we don’t know if they were previously unwell or vaxxed before they came to us.

They came to us for one night after a few months sleeping outside because all the shelters were full. They’re not chipped and we can’t locate their owner so they’ve stayed! The vet did say sometimes people abandon poorly cats if they can’t afford the vet bills so that could be why they were outside.

I could find some articles about cats needing their teeth removed due to Calici virus and I’m not resistant to doing it if their tests are positive, the vet knows more than me. I just want to make sure we have the money to pay for the care they need and we fully understand what we should be doing as well. I’ve never had a cat before and they had such a rubbish life so they deserve the best now.

Interested to know how your cat is getting on and how many teeth were removed as we are just starting this journey.

My cat had a couple of teeth out almost 2 years ago. He had gingivitis and stomatitis. My insurance wouldn't pay. I have since changed insurance and obviously declared tooth issue. They will cover teeth 2 years post last tooth issue, hoping that if there's a recurrence we'll be able to claim. The surgery cost around £500 he has a slightly red gum just now so I've started cleaning his teeth with stomodine to try to hold off any further issues. It's not easy but I'm managing to do it.

They’re happy as Larry! They both had all their teeth removed except their fangs so it was quite major surgery. I was surprised how quickly they recovered afterwards, within 4-5 days they were on minimal pain meds and up to mischief again.

It hasn’t impacted on their eating too much, they still have small kibble and pouches. They can’t eat big chunks of food because they can’t easily chew it up so if I’m giving them cooked chicken etc I tear it into small pieces before I put it in their bowl!

The surgery was about £850 each cat, our total bill was £1700. We were very fortunate to get 0% finance via the vets and I have no regrets. They bring me such joy, I had no option but to fix their teeth.

Ahh, pleased to hear @rrrrrreatt cats are doing so well, I guess removing the teeth removed the pain. Do you mind me asking what the after operation care was like? I imagine a few days inside but did they have one of those head cones to allow the wound to heal?

@IOnlyComeOutAtNight they were allowed out after they’d had a check up 7 days after surgery to make sure they were all healed.

The only wounds were in their mouth so luckily a cone wasn’t needed - they hate the cone of shame!! You can only give them soft food for the first few weeks too, ours had different surgery dates and we had to switch both to wet only to avoid any kibble snaffling.

Medication wise, we gave them metacam for 7 days as well as cat morphine for 4/5 days. This might be really obvious to you but the cat morphine has to go in their mouth on their gums/tongue - if they swallow it they don’t get the full benefit. They’re our first cats and my partner mixed it into the food because our cat hated the taste but that then meant he was in pain. We felt incredibly guilty when we realised our mistake!

Good luck with your cat, it really isn’t as bad as it feels before and in the first few days post-op. Cats are really good at hiding their pain but sore teeth/gums can really impact on them over time.