Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (8): 4065-4073.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.08.043

• Clinical Veterinary Medicine • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Relationship between Cat Periodontal Disease and Oral Flora and Its Prevention and Treatment

ZHANG Xinyu(), DAI Pengxiu, ZHANG Fan, ZHANG Xinke*()   

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
  • Received:2024-08-17 Online:2025-08-23 Published:2025-08-28
  • Contact: ZHANG Xinke E-mail:y136092639@163.com;zxk19830521@163.com

Abstract:

Periodontitis refers to a series of inflammatory lesions caused by dental plaque that damage the periodontal tissue and its supporting structures. It is a common chronic, non-communicable disease in feline. At present, the research on cat periodontitis in China is relatively insufficient, and there is a lack of scientific prevention and control methods. In this study, samples from different areas of the oral cavity of healthy cats and cats with periodontitis were collected, and microbial species identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out to provide medication recommendations for clinical treatment.The bacteriostatic effect of commonly used antibacterial agents after surgical cleaning was evaluated in order to provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of periodontitis in cats and home oral care. The results showed that, in all cats tested, Subgingival microbial species abundance is higher than supragingival ones. The abundance of oral microbial species in cats with periodontitis is higher than that in healthy cats. Porphyromonas and Treponema are higher in subgingival than supragingival. As potential pathogenic microorganisms, it is speculated that they may be the key pathogenic factors of periodontitis. Results showed that the oral microbiota of cats with periodontitis was more sensitive to Enrofloxacin and less sensitive to Metronidazole. In three oral care products with the antimicrobial peptides, the chlorhexidine gluconate and the silver ion as the main components respectively, the chlorhexidine gluconate and the silver ion have better bacteriostatic effect. But the chlorhexidine gluconate tastes bitter and has poor palatability for cats.It is recommended to be used as an oral antiseptic in surgery. In summary, Porphyromonas and Treponema may be the main pathogens of feline periodontitis. Enrofloxacin can be used as an empirical adjunctive therapy for feline periodontitis. It is recommended to use the Chlorhexidine gluconate in ultrasonic scaling, and to use the Silver ions after surgery.

Key words: feline, periodontitis, microbial species identification, antimicrobial susceptibility test

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