Is your cat hiding something from you?

Our feline friends are often quite well known for giving us clear signals when it comes to how they are feeling; scratch them under their chin or around their face and they love it but dare to scratch their belly and you may regret it! Unfortunately, when it comes to showing us that they are in pain, they are very good at hiding it.

One specific area where cats rarely show us obvious signs of pain is when it comes to tooth or mouth pain. Sadly, dental disease is very common in cats, particularly as they age. We must remember that eating food is essential to sustaining life, and so it would take an enormous amount of pain before a cat might stop eating. So what sort of things might you see at home that could be subtle signs that your cat is trying to tell you something? Bad breath is very common, also perhaps your cat refuses to eat dry food even though he/she used to enjoy it – often we put this down to cats being ‘fussy’ but they might be in pain. As well we can see reduced grooming behaviour, sometimes pawing at the side of the mouth with a front paw and most cats with sore mouths will be quite reluctant to let you try to look inside their mouths.

The good news is that most of these painful conditions can be treated and managed, so long as they are diagnosed quickly and accurately. Annual checks ups are a perfect way to keep on top of the oral health of your cat. This is where we look for any signs that your cat could have dental disease and talk to you about what options there are to fix it and of course, prevent it from happening again.  At some vet hospitals like our cat clinic the vets are very fortunate to have a special x-ray machine which is small enough to take pictures of your cat’s mouth.

It can be very hard to accurately diagnose and treat your cats tooth disease without the use of x-rays, just the same as when we go to the dentist for a tooth ache.

If you think your cat is hiding something from you, or it has been a while between check-ups, then it’s a great idea to arrange a visit with your vet and talk about dental health in your cat.