Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [92]
Besides quality of life concerns, deafness becomes a safety issue for cats. If they don’t hear the car coming, for example, they aren’t able to avoid the danger. It’s safest for deaf cats to stay inside.
Comfort Zone
Getting the attention of a deaf cat can be done by stamping your foot, or by tossing a soft stuffed toy or beanbag into their line of sight. Many cats enjoy playing with the red dot of a laser light and can learn to respond to these signals.
Remote-control vibrating collars may be helpful. The cat learns to respond to the vibration to come inside or run for the dinner instead of the sound of the can opener. Commercial products cost about $115 from Doctors Foster and Smith pet supply. Instructions to make a homemade vibrating collar using a Radio Shack remote control car are available on Dr. Strain’s website.
A “pet locator” is helpful when your cat can’t hear you, and you can’t find him. Attach a pendant to the cat’s collar that emits a tone a light when the hand-held transmitter is activated. Some deaf cats may “feel” the sound vibration, too, and the product is helpful for training purposes. That helps locate the cat whenever he goes out of sight. A “key finder” product should work well for this purpose.
DENTAL DISEASE
Unlike people, cats don’t rely on chewing to process their food. They are more likely to bite off or pick up mouth-size portions and swallow them whole. That means they don’t benefit from the scrubbing or detergent action of chewing food the way people do. Also, wet diets stick to the teeth more readily than dry foods.
Cats develop dental disease no matter what form of food they are fed. In fact, all animals commonly suffer from periodontal disease, or problems of the mouth, teeth and gums. Seventy-five percent of cats develop some form of the disease by the time they reach two years old, says Dr. Gengler.
The risks for periodontal disease increase 20 percent each year of a pet’s life, according to data released by Banfield Applied Research and Knowledge in early 2010. Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, Banfield’s chief medical officer, says these data corroborate a very strong link between the presence of periodontal disease and heart disease. “The worse the periodontal disease was, the stronger the link between endocarditis and cardiomyopathy,” says Dr. Klausner. Even though periodontal disease may not be associated with mortality, it reduces the pet’s quality of life.
Senior Symptoms
Teeth often are ignored because cats are so stoic owners may not notice he’s having any problems. “Usually in the early stages anyway, animals will eat through the pain because the self-preservation instinct is so strong,” says Bill Gengler, DVM, a dentist at University of Wisconsin What you will see includes:
Redness of the gums
Receding gum line
Strong offensive odor
Bleeding on toothbrush
Broken, loose, or missing teeth
Sneezing
Nasal discharge
Chronic eye problems
Periodontal disease is a group of disorders that affect the teeth, oral bones, and the gums. Bacterium grows on the tooth surface, which creates plaque and bad breath. When plaque isn’t removed, it mineralizes into tartar, which forms hard yellow or brown deposits. The bacteria releases enzymes that attack the cat’s gums and cause gingivitis (inflammation of the gums), gum recession, loose or lost teeth, and pain.
Cats can develop a severe inflammation of the gingival tissues, called gingival stomatitis. Maine Coons are prone to the condition, but it appears to be more common in Oriental-type cats such as Siamese, Burmese and Abyssinians. Stomatitis resulting from an excessive immune response often is associated with food allergies or with early infections of calicivirus (an upper respiratory agent). Infection with Bartonella (a blood parasite) as well as bacteria produced by dental plaque also is implicated.
Cats are also prone to a condition called Feline Tooth Resorption (TRs), odontoclastic