What can be happening due to the gum problem, is advanced tooth decay close
to or even below the gum-line. Fragments of food have been rotting between
the inflamed gum and the tooth's base. However, please quiz the vet as to
what *exactly* is happening for him to recommend this operation.

FWIW, we had an old ex-dumped come stray, who had bad back teeth. They were
very yellow with gum disease. The vet took all the bad teeth out (8 rear,
upper and lower chewers) and she came home none the wiser, it seemed. As she
was eating soft food from there on,..she had no trouble getting nutrition.

As a side -bar, even cats who eat exclusively biscuits can get teeth
problems. The biscuits snap when they chew them, but dont clean the teeth.
Biscuit makers are now trying to obtain a formula which makes the biscuit
break, but tend to stay together after biting so the biscuit rubs on their
teeth thus cleaning them in much the way an apple cleans our teeth,

Jason

If there is gum disease...removing the teeth will probably improve your
cat's health.
My poor old cat had a low-level infection and after some very bad teeth were
removed...
his health improved a lot...
He had no trouble eating even though some teeth were gone.

The bacteria from untreated gingivitis can spread to the heart and kidneys
and cause problems there.  If your vet wants to do a cleaning, etc. they
would do it there at their clinic.  Sometimes the regular vets do it, but
sometimes they have a special person (a vet tech) who specializes in
dentistry (although the vet still does the anesthetic and monitoring of the
animal).