chipped tooth

On Thu, 06 May 2004 16:11:42 -0500, Brad Stone
wrote:

Hi there,

I have a 13 year old indoor male kitty who I adore. He's in great
health. But at a routine annual physical today, my vet (who I also
adore) noticed that the very tip of one of his canine (fang) teeth has
been chipped off. I'm guessing that only about a 16th of an inch is
missing. Maybe only a 32nd of an inch.

She said that vets now know that even a small chip off a cat's tooth
can reach down into the pulp and that this can cause pain and cause
other serious problems. So she wants to put him under to get a good
X-ray to see if the chip is, in fact, down into the pulp and then
extract the tooth if it is. Yikes. It seems like such a tiny chip. My
vet is wonderful and she knows how much I love my cats, so she probably
sides on caution in situations like this. But maybe this is being too
cautious? I don't want to put Tiger through the stress of this (and
possibly unnecessarily remove a good tooth) just because one of his
teeth has a tiny chip off the top. But I also want to do what's best for
him!

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Brad

I have a former feral with a chipped fang also. In my case, the vet
did not seem concerned about it, and I have observed no problems with
it. If his teeth get bad and he needs a dental, I can see taking care
of it at that time, but with just a chip that seems to be no problem,
I'm not worrying about it (especially since my vet wasn't worried). I
think your vet may be being just very thorough.

Ginger-lyn

(Ginger-lyn Summer) dumped this in
on 07 May 2004:

I have a former feral with a chipped fang also. In my case, the vet
did not seem concerned about it, and I have observed no problems with
it. If his teeth get bad and he needs a dental, I can see taking care
of it at that time, but with just a chip that seems to be no problem,
I'm not worrying about it (especially since my vet wasn't worried). I
think your vet may be being just very thorough.

Shamrock has a chipped fang also. He did need to get a dental because he
was already getting gingivitis, and when his vet did the dental, she put
some sort of enamel sealer on the fang. Apparently it wasn't broken to the
degree that called for extraction.

--
Cheryl

(Ginger-lyn Summer) dumped this in
on 07 May 2004:

I have a former feral with a chipped fang also. In my case, the vet
did not seem concerned about it, and I have observed no problems with
it. If his teeth get bad and he needs a dental, I can see taking care
of it at that time, but with just a chip that seems to be no problem,
I'm not worrying about it (especially since my vet wasn't worried). I
think your vet may be being just very thorough.

Shamrock has a chipped fang also. He did need to get a dental because he
was already getting gingivitis, and when his vet did the dental, she put
some sort of enamel sealer on the fang. Apparently it wasn't broken to the
degree that called for extraction.

--
Cheryl

If the chip is as small as you say, I wouldn't bother. Your cat has at
most
only a few years left anyway.

Well, that's sweet. While I don't necessarily think Brad should have the tooth
yanked, I certainly think "a few years" would be quite a good enough reason to
have treatment done on an older cat. If the cat's in pain...if you were in
pain, would it bother you if it was only for a few more years?




Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

If the chip is as small as you say, I wouldn't bother. Your cat has at
most
only a few years left anyway.

Well, that's sweet. While I don't necessarily think Brad should have the tooth
yanked, I certainly think "a few years" would be quite a good enough reason to
have treatment done on an older cat. If the cat's in pain...if you were in
pain, would it bother you if it was only for a few more years?




Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
If the chip is as small as you say, I wouldn't bother. Your cat has
at
most
only a few years left anyway.

Well, that's sweet. While I don't necessarily think Brad should have the
tooth
yanked, I certainly think "a few years" would be quite a good enough
reason to
have treatment done on an older cat. If the cat's in pain...if you were
in
pain, would it bother you if it was only for a few more years?

If the cat was in pain of course you would do something about it right away!
You have me confused with someone who doesn't love pets. The original
poster said the chip was so tiny, he never noticed it before. While I have
great respect for Vets, it is not beyond the scruples of some Vets to
recommend unnecessary procedures.

There are people in this world who would spare no expense when it comes to
their beloved pets including 25 thousand dollar funerals. Vet offices make
billions every year on procedures, medications and foods not entirely
necessary to your pet's life. Some Vets are more scrupulous than others. I
myself spent thousands of dollars the last three years of my last cat's life
on medications and medical supplies to keep her alive and well. I learned
to shop on the internet and save a bundle over what that Vet was charging
me.

All I'm advocating is to use your best judgment, and don't feel obliged to
do absolutely everything your Vet recommends. When in doubt get a second
opinion.

"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
If the chip is as small as you say, I wouldn't bother. Your cat has
at
most
only a few years left anyway.

Well, that's sweet. While I don't necessarily think Brad should have the
tooth
yanked, I certainly think "a few years" would be quite a good enough
reason to
have treatment done on an older cat. If the cat's in pain...if you were
in
pain, would it bother you if it was only for a few more years?

If the cat was in pain of course you would do something about it right away!
You have me confused with someone who doesn't love pets. The original
poster said the chip was so tiny, he never noticed it before. While I have
great respect for Vets, it is not beyond the scruples of some Vets to
recommend unnecessary procedures.

There are people in this world who would spare no expense when it comes to
their beloved pets including 25 thousand dollar funerals. Vet offices make
billions every year on procedures, medications and foods not entirely
necessary to your pet's life. Some Vets are more scrupulous than others. I
myself spent thousands of dollars the last three years of my last cat's life
on medications and medical supplies to keep her alive and well. I learned
to shop on the internet and save a bundle over what that Vet was charging
me.

All I'm advocating is to use your best judgment, and don't feel obliged to
do absolutely everything your Vet recommends. When in doubt get a second
opinion.

All I'm advocating is to use your best judgment, and don't feel obliged to
do absolutely everything your Vet recommends. When in doubt get a second
opinion.

Fine, I agree, it's just that, the way your post read,it seemed as though you
thought it was pointless to spend money on a cat who only had a few years left.
A few years is a long time...

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

All I'm advocating is to use your best judgment, and don't feel obliged to
do absolutely everything your Vet recommends. When in doubt get a second
opinion.

Fine, I agree, it's just that, the way your post read,it seemed as though you
thought it was pointless to spend money on a cat who only had a few years left.
A few years is a long time...

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)