Cat of the Month - October 2024 - Chilli
Cat of the Month October 2024
This month’s selection from all the floofers we’ve seen this month is the gorgeous boy Chilli.
Chilli is a 2-year-old tabby & white Maine Coon boy. The poor chap had been living with a painful lump inside his mouth for over 18 months, causing him difficult with eating on one side, and resultant dental disease on that side. This was by no means a case of neglect, or poor vet care from his previous vets, but perhaps a lesson in when you hear hoof-beats, sometimes it’s a zebra not a horse!
Aged only around 6 months, Chilli had developed a funny ulcerated area in the roof of his mouth, he also had a lot of gingivitis going on. One vet he saw said ‘it’s probably calicivirus, causing chronic gingivostomatitis’, and from that point, all the different vets he saw based their assessment of him on the assumption that he had calicivirus, despite no tests being done to prove it. Even though he hadn’t even got his full set of adult gnashers through, they were preparing his hoomans for the prospect he would have to have all his teeth extracted.
Fortunately, his hoomans sort out our opinion and we went to visit Chilli. If anyone follows us closely, you’ll know that vet Claire does a lot of dentistry, and it is an area she has special interest in. We have dealt with a lot of FCGS (feline chronic gingivostomatitis) cases and have had to perform full mouth extractions when necessary. On checking Chilli vet Claire just didn’t think his presentation fitted the bill of your typical calicivirus-induced FCGS. He had pretty bad gingivitis for such a young cat, but the funny ulcerated area was not typical. There are other causes to be considered, some of which could be nasty – like cancers – so she recommended a biopsy of the area and assessment of his teeth while there.
So under anaesthetic (after a quick heart ultrasound scan to check his heart- being a Maine Coon and having a rapid heart rate, it was worth a check , as MC’s are prone to a heart condition even from a young age…) we x-rayed the area where the funny bit was, as well as all his teeth, and cut out the lump using cautery (essentially – this cuts and seals the tissue with heat). Only the teeth on the side of the lump were significantly coated in plaque and some calculus with gingivitis – as a result of him being unable to chew on that side – he just needed a good descale and polish. The severe gingivitis he’d had previously had mostly subsided – because it was ‘juvenile gingivitis’ – something they grow out of.
The lump was sent to the lab for testing and came back with an unusual finding. At the centre of it, there was a tiny fragment of bone – literally less than a millimetre in size. Around it was this proliferation of inflammation and infection; so a bit like having a splinter stuck that sets up swelling and infection. How it got there – we don’t know! Did he chew on a bit of bone at one point? Did it chip off from his jaw for some reason? Or weirdly – sometimes the body decides to grow tissue of one type where it really shouldn’t be – strange, but true!
Chilli is not fully out of the woods, as the inflammation may still continue, but he is under Claire’s watchful eye. He is already eating much better, and seems to be a much more mellow, happier chap now, which we like to hear.
He is also a very very handsome boy!!
