The obligate and facultatively anaerobic bacterial flora of the normal feline gingival margin

Samples from the gingival margins of 14 cats considered normal on clinical examination were cultured for facultative and obligate anaerobic bacteria. All mouths were free from any gingival marginal inflammation and tartar build-up; all cats were between 6 and 12 months of age. A mixed growth was obtained from all samples. The mean number of bacterial species per sample was 10.7 with a range of 7-16 isolates. Of the 150 isolates processed, 109 (72.66%) were obligate anaerobes. Of the facultatively anaerobic species, Actinomyces (including A. viscosus, A. hordeovulneris and A. denticolens) comprised 12%, Pasteurella multocida 9.33% of isolates and Propionibacterium species 6% of all isolates. Gram-negative bacilli belonging to the genera Bacteroides and Fusobacterium were isolated from 12 of the 14 samples, and comprised 77% of the obligate anaerobes isolated. Clostridium villosum comprised 10.1% of obligately anaerobic isolates, Wolinella species made up 6.42%, while 4.58% were Peptostreptococcus anaerobius. The most commonly isolated obligately anaerobic species was C. villosum and the most commonly isolated facultatively anaerobic species was P. multocida. These findings show a bacterial flora of the normal feline mouth which is very similar in composition to that of cat fight abscesses and feline pyothorax.