Why my cat has (almost) no teeth

Last month, my cat lost one of his top canine teeth. When I took him to the vet, the news only got worse. Almost all of his teeth needed pulled. He had a dental disease that went unchecked for so long that his teeth were destroyed, and he was missing most of his molars already. Now, he only has his bottom two canines and a few of his lower incisors.

Happy is almost eight years old, but he was living with my now ex-boyfriend for about a year and a half without me while I was living in the dorms for school. I got him back in late January when he was approved to join me in my dorm room, and I noticed something was wrong within a the first couple weeks.

His breath was horrible. My ex had brought this up a few times, but he said he was researching causes and taking care of it. Apparently, he was brushing his teeth to address the issue, but he somehow had no clue that Happy's teeth were falling out.

Not too long after moving back to my care, there were two weeks where he threw up a few times. That wasn't normal for him from the years he lived with me before, especially when I noticed that he wasn't even chewing his food anymore. I began monitoring him more closely and looking into vets in the area.

Fast forward a bit, and the pandemic started. I had to move home, and with everything closed, the vet trip had to wait. I was checking his mouth daily and giving him dental treats to try helping him in the meantime. He was visibly uncomfortable and pawing at his mouth a lot. He lost his top left canine in April.

When I finally got him to the vet after that tooth fell out, my worries were confirmed. Happy had a dental disease that was essentially rotting his teeth inside his mouth. He needed multiple extractions, x-rays, blood work and antibiotics. Another molar fell out the night after the initial visit, and it barely even looked like a tooth.

Regardless, we were lucky. I caught the issue quickly when he returned to my care. I knew to check on him pretty early on. I noticed the lost canine within 24 hours even though I never actually found the lost tooth. It was a win that the bacteria wasn't able to damage his internal organs too.

In the long run, it could have been worse. Yes, I spent about $700 while recently unemployed during a pandemic to safely remove the rest of my cat's teeth, but he's happy and healthy again already. He can eat kibble again instead of only wet food. Surprisingly enough, he was trying to get into the kibble for weeks while I couldn't let him have it, so the return to a more normal eating pattern was a relief for both of us. He's also visibly more comfortable. His breath isn't worse than a dumpster anymore. He's almost toothless, but he's okay.

I felt a lot of guilt when I noticed he lost that top canine. I felt like it was my fault for not taking him to the vet back in February, but even if I had, it wouldn't have changed the outcome. He still would have lost those teeth because he needed medical intervention way earlier than I got him back.

He needed dental treats and a visit to the vet much earlier than he got there, and I wasn't the one taking care of him to notice his needs when it would have made a real difference.

Most cats will get a dental disease at some point in their lives, and it doesn't have to lead to a loss of almost all the cat's teeth if it's caught early on. If his last caretaker had been paying attention, he might not have lost any teeth at all.