Algie had a biopsy and blood taken for testing as well.
You really wouldn't know he had no teeth and the difference it made to him was astounding. He was only about 3 1/2 years old when he had the op and within a matter of days he went from a cat that I thought was so weak he wouldn't survive (cried at the vets when I dropped him off for the op) to running around like a kitten again and eating normally.
Yes they have to get all the roots out as well as the teeth. His teeth looked perfectly healthy outwardly, but I asked the vets that did the op and they said most had come out with no problems at all.
It still brings a smile to my face and count my blessings that he is still here when I see him have a yawn, something that would cause him to yowl, hiss and run and hide when he was at his worst.
This is the copy of a post I made on another forum in June 2011, about 6 months after he had his teeth out.
My cat Algie is positive for calici and herpes and had gingivostomatitis. He had steroid injections and antirobe, but the flare ups became more frequent, he also suffered 'flu' following one course. The vets were against removing his teeth as they said they were healthy and he is a young cat (4 later this year) Toward the end of last year the steroids and antirobe no longer seemed to be helping much and despite being prescribed longer courses of the antirobe and he was having problems eating due to the pain, it was decided to try metacam along with antirobe, it did nothing to help. It was at this stage, mid December, that interferon was tried, by this time he had been eating very little for weeks and had lost so much weight I thought I would lose him, the interferon did not alleviate anything. At this stage the vets said removal of all his teeth was the only option, but they were not confident about doing the procedure as his teeth were healthy and it would be difficult to remove all the roots so suggested a specialist. Luckily I looked online and found a local vet that was did a lot of dental work, following the consultation and the vets confidence that the work required was not a problem for them I booked Algie in. Two days later he came home after the op very sorry for himself but the next day was eating more than he had done in weeks. The operation was just after new year and he is showing no signs of stomatitis returning and he has had no further treatment. In retrospect I felt guilty that I had not pushed for the removal of his teeth sooner as he would have been a much happier cat a lot sooner. Of course this is just my experience, as to if the course interferon helped as he had only finished it the week before I cannot say. I do know that if I had another cat in the same situation I would not hesitate in getting their teeth removed.
