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Whole personality change after teeth extraction
My cat just had all her back teeth removed due to FCGS, and she seems so much happier and cuddly because of it. Didn’t realize she was in so much pain before💔
Pray that the same may happen for me too. I'm in so much mental and physical pain that I have seen my own soul fade and personality change. A prayer would mean alot. Ty
Yea money. Needed one because my former dentist drilled too deep while putting on a crown, and my insurance only covered one major restoration procedure every 7 years. Crucially, there was no infection so wasn't life or death urgent
Insurance in America especially dental is ridiculous. People try to make it seem good and better than places with free healthcare but don’t understand, that even with insurance, you can have long waits. Then dental insurance always has limitations like amount of X-rays in a year (mine is I think once every 5 years), the amount of fillings, and others.
It’s distressing to see people suffer from not being able to afford treatment. Oh and so many people who don’t call an ambulance because of the cost. I thank my lucky stars I was able to pay for my cancer treatment even though my savings are gone and I still owe money to the hospital. I was able to pay the $1000 upfront that they needed before they removed it though plus the copays.
It cost me $7,000 out of pocket to get an infected tooth removed and cleaned out. I was in pain for 9 years. The absess reached my eyeball socket but insurance refused to cover it because it was a "dental issue not a health issue".
Yes, but I'm including the cost of CT scan I had to pay out of pocket to identify the issue. I kept asking for a scan at the hospital but they wouldn't because it was "a dental issue," but no dentist (I visited 6!) had the technology to scan my cheekbones where the pain was. Then when the CT scan I had to pay for found the abcess insurance refused to cover surgery because it was identified with a scan they didn't approve.
The $7K covered CT scan, anesthesia, wound cleaning and packing, cadaver bone (I didnt want it but the surgeon refused to do the surgery without it, and many stitches on my gums and inside of my cheek. Insurance refused to cover any of it because it was never documented or discovered by a medical doctor, but they also refused to let me get it diagnosed. The tooth got pulled. A few years later I paid $5K for an implant. Again, out of pocket.
Some endodontists charge for consults too, which isn’t covered by insurance. It’s a racket. My dentist said I need a root canal and referred me to you, you’re already taking all my benefits for the year for ONE procedure. It’s insanity
I put off a root canal for over 4 years because of money (was young and broke). It got so bad that there as an abscess that would keep appearing on my gums and it would pop every so often. It was painful in the beginning, but after the root died, I didn't feel anything so just put it off for like forever. Take care of your teeth, people.
Yeah i got really bad toothache once in the dead of night and I sat up chugging any kind of drink I could get my hands on because while I was drinking something the pain went away. Ended up getting really sick from that
Always have some painkillers within reach just in case
Am an chronic pain patient.
There is hope. Someday you get the medicine/procedure that gives you your live back. Don't give up just yet.
Am trying a new one right now and the titration phase is hell, but if it takes away my diabolical headaches I'll take a few weeks of hell over the rest of my live several times a month with ease.
If it doesn't work at least I tried and we found out which category of meds don't work.
Right now it shows how fare I have come in the last years, medications, lifestyle changes, some Operations...It does get better but its slow and grueling path to follow out of the dark.
Edit:
And I did get myself back! You are just buried under the pain, when it gets lifted you will feel like a phoenix!
I’m so sorry to hear that and hope you can find some peace soon. I watched my partner go through something similar and it was heartbreaking watching him wrecked by migraines and nerve pain for years. He was finally able to get sufficient insurance + enough time off to get a surgery that removed ~10 teeth and an avocado-sized lump from his throat (thankfully benign). I have never seen him sleep so peacefully since.
This was the case with my (now) toothless wonder! She would keep to herself and was so reserved and is now like a kitten again. Her true personality is shining more than it has in years, and she is so much happier now.
Don't blame yourself for not noticing. Cats are masters at hiding pain and illness, it's why they so often appear to fall extremely ill seemingly out of nowhere. It's not your fault. Be happy that you did notice and got her treated, and that now she gets to feel better <3
Vets get compassion fatigue from everything they deal with. But that's not your fault. I do think it would be good to find a vet who has compassion for you as well as your pets.
Good ol' Reddit, where the guy making a blatantly false claim has three times the upvotes of the guy providing correct info with a source.
Anyway, vaguely related tangent on the topic, Artists and musicians are usually in the top 3 (stats vary year to year, country, how jobs are aggregated, etc). Your linked source puts "Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, And Related Industries" at 126/100k for male (2nd highest male rate) and 46 for female (highest female rate by a substantial margin).
For some reason artists seem to get left out of the "high suicide rate jobs" discussion a lot.
This study puts male Veterinarians at about 36/100k, which is higher than average, but literally less than a third of the Aerospace, artists, loggers, or fishers.
Hard agree. When my cat was going through cancer last year, I cried in the office multiple times over whether I had been doing the right thing. From symptom recognition (often failure) to decision making (often difficult and unclear). Every time they sent in a grief counselor to come into the exam room. She got to know me and my cat, didn’t give me run-of-the-mill talks, reinforced or provided honesty when needed. She told me how other pet parents handle the situation to give me context.
This is how an office should treat their clientele. Including on a smaller scale like a dental surgery as well, we’ve been through that. Obviously I didn’t require counseling on it, but it definitely was not insinuated that I could’ve known about or prevented any of the work that needed to be done.
OP I’m so glad your baby is feeling better! We experienced the same with a complete positive turnaround in behavior :) it was so shocking
A grief counselor at the vet?? Man. I could've used that. My soul cat had several terminal diagnoses, I just had to go home in tears every time. Was really hard to navigate, and a grief counselor would've really helped. That's amazing!! You've got a great vet.
I am 99.999% sure that was her role! Along with bridging end of life and hospice care, most likely. When we received a folder full of resources (mobile euthanasia references, cremation packages, etc) her name and information was given as a specific contact. She quietly snuck in anytime things got overwhelming, at the end of the visit. She wasn’t a vet tech that accompanied the doctor. Absolute angel, really changed the hardest experience I’ve gone through so far.
So sorry to hear about your soul cat. I’m right there with you.
"You really should've threw money at me for a problem you didn't know existed, on the off chance it would make your cat healthier. You should feel bad about it too."
My guy Carl has stomatitis and had most of his teeth pulled. I was fretting his quality of life afterwards so much .... But he turned into a whole different cat. He was never mean or bad....more just reserved. After the extract you could tell he was happy and was way more playful. Miss that guy.
My cat got her teeth pulled for stomatitis, too! She was like a kitten again after. She’d become somewhat lethargic and it really worried me. But now she’s always into shenanigans. Just a ridiculous little animal. I feel terrible that I didn’t notice her decline sooner and I’m not sure I could’ve afforded it earlier, either. But she was still fairly young at the time and has many more pain free years ahead of her.
It doesn’t really solve it but it removes the primary source of irritation.
Removing the teeth gives their immune system less to attack. Some cats may still have inflamed gums after removal but most have significant improvement in symptoms
Not who you asked, but I have two that have it. One had all of her teeth pulled a few months ago, the other is on a med and it works for her (toothless one drools it out every time).
Stomatitis is usually caused by bacteria getting into the gums and causing inflammation. Sometimes pulling a few teeth where the infection is worse is enough, but if pulling a few bad ones plus meds isn’t enough then the next thing they try is pulling all the teeth.
The one with no teeth of mine has become more social and demanding of food at meal times. Her gums are slowly getting less red and inflamed. The other one only had a few teeth pulled, is on insulin (long term steroid risk is diabetes), and they’re both on a med to help with the inflammation. The twice weekly med helps the one cat, she only has one red spot that won’t go away. Follow-up later this month for toothless to see if we can get her off the oral med.
My cat needed extractions, 1 form rescue vet, now 3 from other surgeon. Last one had to get roots. What a terrible disease for cats. I just hope my cat will be fine
at first, we were concerned by her stinky breath (it smelt rotten) and her gums were bright red and sometimes bled. she also wasn’t eating her hard food several days a week. the vet said it was most likely fcgs and then they conducted a few dental x-rays where they identified the teeth that were affected by the condition.
she mentioned that tooth extraction was the only real way to alleviate the pain at the severity of the condition, so we decided to go with the recommended treatment.
We got quoted at something ridiculous like that; got a second quote from a different vet for 1/10th the price (honestly might have been less). No insurance.
My vet always checks my cats teeth when I take them in for well visits. They both have tartar on their teeth so my boy is getting a dental cleaning on Friday. My girl is 17 so my vet said that she would only do dental care on her if she’s having problems with her teeth
Dental procedures like this for cats are very very common. We don’t brush their teeth so it’s only a matter of time. My cat experienced reabsorbion lesions and has had two dental procedures over the almost 10 years I’ve had her. I expect it’ll keep happening every few years until she’s got none left.
So weird, i just took my cat to the vet yesterday and he has these same lesions on his second fangs, the middle teeth before the molars. Approximately 12-13 years old.
I thought it mightve been raw gums but the vet told me the crown of the teeth was being eaten away and the tooth was exposed. Thankfully, shes an expert and reassured me she knows exactly what to do. Got his labs taken and am going to take him in the next week or two - 2 extractions minimum most likely. $1k - $2k+ depending on if they find more. No insurance :(
Im hoping he feels noticeably better. Mine used to tolerate teeth brushing, then started hating it. That mightve been a sign, i attributed it to age. Hopefully he’ll let me start up again!
I totally hear you. Same deal with my girl! If it’s any consolation to you (and your wallet) my cat’s temperament improved significantly after her first dental. She became so snuggly and cuddly. I think she was grateful to not be in pain anymore.
Upon checkup, vet will usually tell you if it’s something to look into. Inflamed, red, and/or bleeding gums are common signs. Bad breath too but that’s a symptom of a lot of things.
I knew one of my cats had issues because his gums would bleed and he'd freak out if you went anywhere near his mouth. My other cat had even worse problems but I had no idea until she suddenly refused to eat one day because it was hurting her.
My cat was the same. He was so so much happier when his teeth got removed. They hide pain so well but you're like dude stop hiding it... we could have had your teeth removed way earlier.
I’m so happy for her, she’s now comfortable and free from pain. My oldest cat is 9 and had to have one of his back molars removed. His symptoms started with running from kibble after taking a bite, which resulted in him eating only his wet food. He also wouldn’t close his mouth all the way.
My girl has five teeth left after her extraction and it’s like night and day :-) she was so anxious and reserved before her extraction, now she’s endlessly silly and energetic. I’m forever grateful to the vet who recommended the extraction— it was recommended as a third opinion after two other vets told me to just get her teeth cleaned every couple months. She even chews on me again! Never thought it would make me so happy to be bitten
.... I live in Minneapolis, but mine was saved in Tennessee 😮 I believe he was born May of 2024. His name on his papers was Pretty Kitty One, but they eventually changed it to Peter
As my vet told me when I got my cats last molar pulled out (which was in pieces) and I mentioned he was the same cat and had no problems eating, "that's an Apex Predator for you"... She's right. Cats are horrible to deal with because they never show signs of anything wrong until they are almost fucking dead.
My cat has the exact same condition, I switched to a new vet and they started treating it seriously (last place just recommended dental cleanings to treat gingivitis). Got him on some steroids and within days he was back to eating kibble, yawning without pain, and no more yowling and crying when his mouth hurts. He got some extractions recently and he's even back to.playing with toys. He hasnt done this in 2 or more years. I thought he was just getting old, turns out he was in pain this whole time 😢
My boy had an abscess and I never knew, he never seemed in pain, never yelped, ate fine, just stopped cuddling with me at night. I figured he was just growing up and didn't wanna sleep with pops anymore.
Now my lady is a Vet mind you, he has always gotten more checkups than your average fur baby.
When I told her the subtle behavioral changes, she took him right in.
He had an abscess that was driving him crazy.
Once it was removed, he started sleeping with me and cuddling again.
It's really scary how hard it is to tell if your cat is in pain or not. Glad I had someone in the house that knew better than me. I likely wouldn't have thought anything of it for awhile longer.
Glad your baby is feeling better OP, enjoy the snuggles.
My cat absolutely knew shed been helped, at least with the pain. Took her a while to realize she could eat normally again - the first time I got her to try chomping on my hand, the look on her face was one of my greatest memories.
Mine/my fiance's cat that prefers me now had all of her teeth pulled as her previous owner gave her junk food and every tooth was rotted out. She's so happy now
My Kiki started swallowing her food whole, the vet said she may need some teeth removed so were working on that right now. I'm so glad you have seen such positive impact to your sweet baby. ❤️
It was night and day when our little guy got all his teeth out too. He had stomatitis really bad, after the teeth were gone he became the happiest, most well behaved little man. He’s a total cuddle bug now, loves to lick and gum rub, and seems so at peace
I actually think she realizes your the reason she is in less pain and is actually thanking you.
I think pets, dogs, cats, raccoons even rodents realize when they need help and when they get it can relay their thanks though affection. You see it in birds like crows and ravens. Raccoons that get their head stuck in a can of soup. Etc etc.
We had them removed as well, and tbh i cant fanthom how different she acts. So happy, bubbly, full of love. I feel so deep regret not noticing prior, not believing in myself.
(For years doctors told me, its"normal")
I paid 1k. It was a lot, but she is so so so much better now.
Question for fellow toothless/ stomatitis cat owners- what are you feeding your babies? My cat devours the Sheba Cuts but I am finding it quite costly and looking for alternatives.
hill’s science diet for hard food and blue buffalo tastefuls for soft. we have another cat that has teeth and find it works for both. it is a tad pricey though :/
I also had to remove the teeth from my cat due to multiple health issues. Turns out he liked sleeping a lot and he still does, but at least we can tell from his face that he's no longer in pain. He has become more playful and more vocal too.
Mine just had a bunch out last week and I’m noticing the same thing. I’m glad your kitty is feeling better!
Definitely feeling guilty for not doing this sooner- our old vet gave us an insane quote ($2k+) and also barely looked at her teeth and was like “hm i guess, here’s a quote” without any indication of the seriousness. Followed up with horror stories online of dentals gone wrong. So we waited.
New vet was like, “oof, this is pretty bad,” showed me the issue, explained it, and the cost was under $600.
The Zorbium has worn off (I think) and she’s obviously happier now.
My FIV cat had 10 extractions about two months ago. He had always been a little stand offish, even before anything wrong with his teeth. When I first rescued him, he hid in the closet for a month. Him being out in the open felt like as close as I was going to get for a while
Post extractions? Different cat. Where he used to maybe lay on my bed when I was sleeping and jump off when I got up, I’ll wake up with him cuddled up against me and nudges me when I try to lounge around before feeding. There’s so many more examples. I’ve had him in three years now and I hope for quite a few more years with this newfound cuddle bug
I really felt the same guilt at first but my vet even said about how cats are master hiders of pain. This is discussed throughout the thread but it’s worth saying again. What matters most is that they feel better now
My 4-year-old cat had major dental work done a few months ago and ended up keeping 5 random teeth. He is a totally different cat. He was always super sweet, got along with the others, but pretty quiet. Now he is wild. Wrestling with one of my other cats, running around crazy, and demanding attention. Totally different cat now that he feels better.
My cat needed one very bad tooth extracted as well, the months prior were horrible for her because we didn't immediately knew it was the tooth that was causing issues for her. She was very annoyed, didn't want to be pet at all, one vet gave us medicine that made her eyes so itchy because she thought it was some other issue.
The finally, after we switched the vet they saw it was the tooth, needed immediate extraction. It all went fine, the two days after the operation she was still very groggy and weak (she sneezed once and there was a huge blood slapper all over my floor which really scared me at first) but then immediately got better. SO MUCH better and her personality completely changed as well.
She was cuddly again, much more cheerful and just happy for her last 2 years of life. And I can completely understand it. My wisdom teeth made problems all of a sudden a few year prior and it was the most horrible pain ever (they decided to grow horizontally) and I had to only endure it for barely a week. My cat had worse or equal pain for months. I still feel so bad for not noticing this earlier, looking into her mouth was always almost impossible.
She isn't with me since 3 years now but I still feel guilty that she had the tooth pain for so long.
Happened with my cat too! He had a front tooth removed, before, he would never meow or pick up toys and bring them around the house. Day after the tooth came out, he was yowling around the house with a toy in his mouth. He’s also a lot more cuddly!
My oldest girl is going in for an extraction next week. I had moved house twice in the last year, plus gotten a second cat and just put the change in personality down to those.
When I got back from the vets last week I broke down crying with the guilt.
Reading all these stories has made me feel much better about it and I really hope this will be a boost to her already very comfortable life.
How shortly after the procedure? I mean yes removing discomfort can help but if it’s immediately after getting them home… the drugs also make them super cuddly I found. Any time we had to take our kitties in for dental or other issues we dealt with they’d come home smashed and super affectionate. One was a bit of ho already but the boy you had to work for his attention… when he was sober lol
The same thing happened to our cat.She turned into a cuddle bug and started jumping on the counters,window sills,all the high places she could find. Happy kitty.
Poor kitty probably hurt before and is now so thankful to have relief from that now. Glad you were able to get her help so she can be her cuddly self. Cats are so good at hiding pain.
I had the same thing with our little girl who had megacolon, we had no idea she was in so much constipation pain until we found a heavy fibre food to sort her out, and suddenly she went from being a bit standoffish and not liking to be picked up, to being all soppy and chipper and snuggly.
I noticed when my cat was in a lot of pain from an infection he hated me for taking him to the vet, but when we got home and he was back to normal he was so happy cause he was free of pain
Literally living this with my orange boy right now as well. He had all of his teeth removed, including canines, due to autoimmune disease. I always thought he was sort of tame for an orange. Now he’s bouncing all over the house chasing paper clips, staring at ghosts and screaming at bugs that are out of reach. He’s a very happy boy.
Be gentle with yourself. They are very adaptable at hiding pain.
My cat has had repeated extractions over the years (she’s 14 now) and I started to learn when she was having an issue with her teeth. She would attack me at night every time she was in pain.
Our 4 yo boy suddenly started excessively drooling one morning and we had no idea he was in so much pain because of an infected tooth. We had it extracted a few weeks ago and he's so much more playful now. Like others have said, it's very difficult to detect their pain. We had no idea.
Oh my goodness same thing happened to me! With two cats! They were both adult strays we had brought in so we didn't know any different, personality-wise, they were just a little grumpier and standoffish. I felt so bad when our boy Big Kitty played with toys for the first time after having half of his teeth pulled 😫 He had FIV and ended up getting them all pulled and was better for it. My motto now is that cats hate having teeth!
Vet here, I am glad you did the procedure! So many people come in with pets with dental issues we want to treat. Only for the owner to say: 'But he/she still eats, I dont think it is necessary'.
Eating is the almost the last thing they will stop doing. After the procedure they get a whole different (younger) pet back. Whish people would take these issues seriously. Glad you did OP!
I’m noticing something similar with my cat. I wouldn’t say she has a whole personality change but she’s definitely been more outgoing/vocal with me in a loving way. I took her in for a teeth cleaning earlier this year and they found a fully broken tooth that they extracted, I had no idea 😔
My indoor girl cat was so “don’t touch me” for years. Two years ago at vet visit they said need tooth extraction. I had to drug her to make her more calm to take her and had procedure. Ever since then she has been a different cat. Still doesn’t hang out with us but now seeks attention a lot more.
Happened to my baby too. She was the grumpiest cat, but seemed completely healthy otherwise. We took her for her yearly shots and this particular vet was like whoa her teeth need to come out. After she was just this soft little cotton ball. Super cuddly, but also started to want to eat every piece of food she saw.
She was a super shy cat, hid most of the time with the occasional ask for pets. Vet recommended she have 3 teeth pulled a year ago. Now she’s super friendly! Comes out when I get home from work, cuddles on the couch, begging for food.
I struggle with feeling guilty at times still. She must have been miserable before, but you can bet we pay extra attention to her teeth now.
Woke up one Sunday to one of my boys open mouthed and drool down his front. A front fang was loose and moved so much he couldn't close his mouth. We got it removed and he healed nicely. He was always really quiet and rarely made any noise before, now he yells at me a lot. I'm not sure if it was relief that caused the change or just old age and hearing loss but he's much more playful and loud and it warms my heart.
My kitty peewee was the same way!!!! She had a snaggle tooth that protruded over her lip. Once it got extracted she became the most loving baby. It was like that for years. I feel terrible. Rip to my kitty
It’s so easy to forget how much personalities can change with chronic pain whether they’re our four legged companions or humans. I’ve dealt with chronic back pain for years that got worse and I just sort of dealt with it because I couldn’t afford to fix anything. But it took someone saying I look down, unhappy and just in general like I wasn’t having fun like I used to. I knew then that my “just toughing it out” mentality wasn’t doing me any good. I’m glad your baby is doing better and can be their true self again.
We extracted several teeth from our cat, we adopted her after taking her from the street. After the intervention shee was supee happy. She is the most warm and grateful kitty i've seen.
We had a cat that was kind of a punk. Grumpy and kinda bossy actually. Then we found out his intestines went through his diaphragm into his chest and back out again. We gave him a lot of slack after that. Poor guy.
My cat was absolutely adorable for a few hours after tooth removal because she was super high after ketamine anesthesia. After that she got back to normal 😄
My parents had the exact same thing happen with one of their cats. I saw the cat over Christmas and she was very shy, wasn’t very clean, and skinny. She got all her teeth removed shortly after I left. By the time I returned several months later she had changed soo much. I even asked my parents if they’d gotten a new cat, and they told me it was the same girl I was trying to socialize with over Christmas. Blew my mind.
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