A Rare Dental Discovery in a Feline Friend

In the world of feline health, something unusual happened. An 8-year-old cat, a neutered female with short hair, started showing signs of trouble.

• Her breath smelled bad.
• She ate less.
• She lost weight.

But when a vet checked her over, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, except she was a bit underweight.

The Discovery

Then, the vet took a closer look inside her mouth. What they found was surprising.

• Her teeth were in bad shape.
• Many were being eaten away by a condition called tooth resorption.
• A strange, hard lump was found near her lower jaw.

No one was sure what it was. It could have been:

• A piece of broken tooth
• A stone
• A bit of mineralized something else

The Solution

The vet decided to take the lump out. After a closer look under a microscope, it turned out to be a sialolith. That's a fancy word for a tiny stone that forms in a cat's salivary gland. This is a rare thing to find in cats, especially in the minor salivary glands.

After the surgery, the cat healed up nicely.

• Her bad breath went away.
• She started eating normally again.
• The lump never came back.

The Importance

This story shows how important it is to take a good look inside a cat's mouth when something seems off. And it's a reminder that even vets can find something new and unexpected. It's the first time something like this has been reported in a cat. So, it's a big deal in the world of cat health.