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My senior cat lost teeth, no pain. Vet visit or just soft food?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Havana Brown | Male | neutered | 6 years and 5 months old | 15 lbs

My 5/6 ur old cat has lost all of his teeth except his long "k9" teeth. He does not seem to be in pain and there's no bleeding or sign of swollen gums. Should I take him to the vet and pay the expensive vet fee or just change his food to soft food?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Emily, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 11th, 2017

This sounds like Nat could have something called feline oral resorptive disease and/or feline gingivostomatitis. We're not exactly sure what causes these diseases but we think there's a component of bacteria as well as the immune system of the cat. With it the teeth essentially start to get resorbed in the gingiva become very inflamed and painful. However often time the roots can be retained underneath the gumline and cause issues like abscesses in pain. Typically it takes dental x-rays with the pet under general anesthesia to diagnose. It is important that if there are roots they are removed as they will continue to cause pain and infection with your cat. Therefore I do recommend you take him to your veterinarian and discuss this possibility with them as well as what can be done if anesthesia and dental surgery is not an option. This might include steroids, antibiotics and certain diet changes.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on

    Poor Nat! It's not normal at all for cats to be losing their teeth like this, so it sounds like something is definitely wrong - he may have severe periodontal disease, resorptive dental lesions, or a condition called feline stomatitis. Even if he doesn't outwardly act painful or distressed, it can sometimes be hard to tell with cats if they are uncomfortable. Your vet can do a complete exam of his mouth under sedation if needed to help determine what's wrong, and will let you know from there what needs to be done to treat the problem.

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