Treating Gingivitis in Cats

(severe gingivitis; periodontal disease)

Requires VET and Medication!

Here at the safehouse, we use Vets for the serious conditions that need medical treatments, prescription medications or surgery. But we also use a lot of OTC medication to control or correct conditions, especially those that are recurring and not life threatening.  Depending upon how bad it is, gingivitis is a condition that we have successfully treated with OTC medications.  For very bad gingivitis, bad enough to cover more than half the gum area or includes the roof of the mouth or for more serious conditions such as stomatitis and peridontal disease, I recommend seeing a professional for advice and treatment.  But if your cat is just starting to show signs of mouth pain and on checking her mouth, you see that it is only on a portion of one or two gum areas, then it is time to get into action and take care of it!

Kitty Toothbrush and Toothpaste

The first thing you need to do at this point, if you have not been doing it already, is brush the cats teeth.  Cats hate this and when they are in pain with gum sores you can bet they REALLY hate it.  So wrap the cat up in a towel to keep the claws off of you and use your free hand to force open their mouth.  Once you slip the brush in there, it goes quickly.  Paste up the brush BEFORE you restrain the cat.  And then slip it in and brush quickly.  Do this twice a day if you can, especially when the cat is suffering.  As a regular routine, you should do this a few times a week.  If your cat is developing gingivitis, there will be blood on the brush.  If so, make sure to check and double check the ENTIRE inside mouth area, including the roof of the mouth and the inner gum lines, for other areas of irritation.  Be thankful if it is limited to the outside gums over a small area.  The larger the area, the more difficult it is to control or cure with simple measures.  If there are blisters, pimples or larger infected areas, take the cat to the VET.

But for small areas of gingivitis teeth brushing is a good start.  The next step is the application of antibiotic ointments.  Do this before your cat stops eating.  Do this when the cat is in early pain and struggling with food.  If you wait, the cat will get sicker and possibly starve itself until it gets kidney failure or other fatal diseases.  The best antibiotics to use are Neosporin and / or Triple Antibiotic Cream and these are highly effective over small areas of inflamed gums.  If you buy Neosporin, do NOT buy the kind with pain relief.  The ingredient in this product is TOXIC to cats.  So buy the regular kind with NO pain relief.  And if you have to treat the roof of the mouth or the back of the mouth area as well, you will need oral antibiotic pills because the ointment will not stay on the surface long enough to work.  But if the sore area is  restricted to the gums, use the topical antibiotics for several days.  Apply it with a Q Tip and slip it in just like you do the toothbrush.  Apply it at least twice a day.  If the infection is larger or more advanced, but not spread beyond a small area of the mouth, you might consider getting a prescription for Mupirocin.  We keep this in the safehouse, for use on various infections both in people and in the cats.  It is specific to oral applications in cats with mouth and gum infections.  It will clear it up quickly.

Price NutriCal HERE

If your cat has gone too long without eating because you missed this or the cat was never a big eater to begin with, then you will need to build up the cat's strength rapidly to save it from kidney failure.  Feed the cat a product called CatSure (Ensure for cats) which will provide nutrition.  Use a syringe and force it between the cat's teeth.  The cat will swallow it once it enters the mouth.  You will have to do this a lot, depending on how thin and sickly the cat is becoming.  Also, you can use NutriCal, a nutritional replacement, that will provide high calorie high nutrition to sick and debilitated animals.  They make this for both dogs and cats.  Use an eyedropper or syringe and force it into the cat's mouth just as did the CatSure.  The cat will gobble it down.  The cat is starving, remember that, and it is not for loss of appetite if it is only because the cat can't open it's mouth or use it's teeth.  So force feed the cat for several days during the application of the antibiotics.  This should keep your cat from dieing during the treatment so that, if the treatment does not solve the problem, the cat will be strong enough for medical treatment at the Vet.  You do not want to do surgery on a cat that is already weak and debilitated from starvation.  Get the cat to eat enough to be able to walk, to be alert, to try to eat on it's own.  If it cannot, at this point, you have done all that you can do on your own and it's time to seek professional help.


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(mild, treatable gingivitis)

(severe gingivitis, need to see a VET)

(SEVERE STOMATITIS; Requires VET and PERSISTANT treatment)