Dental Advice

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PeterDevonMocha

PeterDevonMocha

Member Since 2009
Hi guys, back again with a question regarding mochas dental ..

Noticed two weeks ago one of her lower canine teeth had come up missing .. She had a dental done years ago where both uppers were extracted, plus 7 other teeth due to resorptive lesions .. Took her to the vet and the vet said she could use another dental, with extractions most likely .. Not sure what happened to the lower canine tooth, dr said it may have fallen out due to more resorptive lesions ..

The last time mocha had a dental done she was on insulin and we drove her two hours one way to a feline dental specialist .. Not sure mocha is up to that car ride again so the local vet was our next choice .. They DO NOT have an x ray machine for dental cleanings/extractions .. I'm pretty nervous about that, as well as the fact both times mocha has been put under (dental cleaning, spaying) she was hard to wake up .. Of course, those times were when she was much younger as well, as she is pushing 13 this year ..

Mocha does not seem to be in any discomfort over the loss of her tooth and the only reason I noticed it is because she yawned right in my face, lol ..

When I asked about pain meds, the vet told us she would use meloxicam? I seem to remember that not being the best option out there, but perhaps buprenex (?) might be the way to go? I am going to try and upload the paperwork the vet gave us on doing a dental at their place ..

Thanks for any help you can give!
 

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Is there another alternative besides your vet and the specialist that is closer. I would not want to do a dental now without x-rays.
 
Some cats have problems that may have been associated with Metacam (meloxicam).
http://www.askavetquestion.com/metacam.php
http://www.bi-vetmedica.com/species/pet/products/metacam.html
I myself would not use it on a cat.

Regarding anesthesia, what injectable anesthesia is the vet planning to use? Some can results in the cat slowly waking up. My vet now uses Propofol and none of my cats have had any problem waking up. Patches II had a dental last Friday, two upper canines and one premolar removed. When I picked here up at 4 PM it was like nothing happened to here. The dental was started at about 12:30.
 
Sadly, as far as our research goes the closest vet with a dental x ray machine is 2 hours away from us .. I'm hesitant to go to the local one without an x ray machine but the specialist is so far away, plus she was three times the price .. Which isn't something we can really afford currently ..

Im not sure on the anesthesia the vet plans on using .. I guess I should have asked that, but I was more concerned with the pain meds for mocha .. I was 99% certain I did not want what they said they were going to use ..

I could only hope for the same results as you Larry ..
 
I just called the vet and talked to the vet tech .. She said they use a human grade anesthesia, and that it varies on each cat depending on pre surgical blood work .. When I mentioned Propofol she said they don't generally use that, but that the vet has been in constant contact with the Michigan State "gurus" on the top of the line anesthesias to use on cats .. She said it also contains a small pain med in the anesthesia .. she told me it was called Torb .. never heard of that myself so wasn't sure what to ask about it .. When I asked about meloxicam being dangerous for cats she said it more happens with consistent use, not a one time use .. which is a shot they would give and it lasts for 48 hours .. I asked about bupe, but she said they don't send that home because that is an oral pill and they don't want us messing with their mouths after surgery ... So much info, so confusing!
 
Because of the loss of the tooth I would really want xrays done. There is no telling if the whole tooth came out or if there is still part of that tooth sitting under the gum to cause problems/pain later. You could do all the work and not fix the underlying problem that prompted you to do the work. How will they even know what teeth need to come out if they don't do xrays to look at what is going on under the gumline?

Your vet is really odd about pain meds. Bupe is not a pill. Not in any place I've ever gotten it from (and sadly I've had my cats to too many different vets/specialists). Buprenorphin is an injection by the vet, a liquid absorbed by the gums, or a patch in some cases. Vets don't like to prescribe it because as an opioid it is a controlled substance and costs a lot from them, significantly cheaper if you get it from a compounding pharmacy. Medicam is considered safer as a one time use medication, but you have no clue if your cat is going to be one of those to experience the immediate renal distress from it and if they do you can't undo that injection that continues to work for at least 48hrs. For older cats, it is safer to use something you can give more frequently and adjust the dose as you see how they handle it.
 
The "Torb" is Butorphanol and is a common pre-anesthetic. A cat has to be initially anesthetized/knocked out (called induction) in order to place the endotracheal tube used to administer the gas anesthesia and oxygen.
bupe (buprenorphine) is available as an inject that chat can also be used orally/applied to mucus membranes in the mouth not down the throat. It is also available as non-sterile liquid for only oral use as well as tablets.
buprenorphine is also available in an extended release formulation for injection. One injection last three days. One of my vets use that.
http://www.srvet.net/other/buprenorphine-sr.html
 
Ugh .. I hate situations like this .. What to do, what to do .. X rays seem very important, but yet, we can't rack up another 1100 dental vet bill either ...
 
well! My persistence has paid off .. found a vet more local then 2 hours away who has a dental x ray machine! Made an appt for this saturday to meet the dr and have mochas mouth looked over .. We'll go over the dental plan at that point .. Feeling relieved for sure!

Now ... is there anything specific I should be asking this dr, that I didn't already ask here?
 
You'll want xrays done before the dental and after the dental. Here's a link that talks about dental procedures.
I would talk to them about her being slow to come out of anesthesia in the past.

Let us know how the new vet visit goes.
 
My cat just had a dental done in January and her pain med was Codeine. They provided several syringes with a compounded cream to be rubbed into the pinnae of her ears. Really easy to administer. Good luck with the new vet!
 
I'm glad you found someone closer with an x-ray machine. When Bama had her teeth cleaned our vet was reluctant to perform the procedure on a diabetic cat because he has a small office and wouldn't have the proper support if she had a negative reaction. He referred me to the practice of a former MSU dentistry professor and his website was actually really helpful and answered a lot of my questions. It may not be as helpful for you as you wouldn't be using his services but it still has some good general information. http://www.vetdentistry.com/index.html
 
Took Mocha to the vet and was very happy with hte exam and the office. Did a full senior blood panel. Results will come in on Monday, if everything looks good she is scheduled for a dental on Friday morning. Bupe will be given for pain, and the vet suggested Convenia for antibiotic. After reading reviews we aren't comfortable with the Convenia, so we will talk to her Monday. What should we ask for? Mocha is easy for us to handle, so we are ok with a more short term antibiotic that needs to be given orally since we've never had a problem with that.
 
I too refused to use the Convenia even though I know Menace has had it before with no problems. This time I got Clindamycin 37.8mg. (1/4 of 150mg tab) twice daily X 7days and happily had no digestive issues whatsoever. It does needs to be given with food though.
 
Hey everyone .. Mochas blood work results came back from the vet today .. Her CBC and BUN were perfect .. her glucose tested high at 195, but I'm ok with that as we tested her here a few weeks ago and she was in the 70's, plus I know she was major stressed there .. Now her Creatine levels came back "slightly high" according to this vet .. it was on the normal range for lab work, which is 1.6 I guess, but hers came back at 1.9 .. the vet considers this slightly high .. She thinks we should make the change on her food over to a low protein/phosphorus food and recommended Hills something or other they can prescribe .. dry or wet she said .. But I know and trust all of the knowledge here and was wondering what you all recommend at this point foodwise? Right now and for the last several years she has been eating Special Kitty from walmart, turkey and giblets flavored .. she loves it .. So the vet is good to go on her dental on Friday .. She will get bupe for pain meds, and instead of convenia she will give us amoxiclav? I think that is the same as Clavamox because when I suggested that she said yes, we can do that for sure, we call it amoxiclav, liquid or pill form ..
 
Sending prayers for a successful dental this week. Really glad you could find a vet closer to home for Mocha.


Mogs
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PeterDevonMocha said:
he thinks we should make the change on her food over to a low protein/phosphorus food and recommended Hills something or other they can prescribe .. dry or wet she said ..
Click to expand...

At the stage she is in, I would disagree with the low protein part, but agree with looking for something with low phosphorus. It is old school thought that says to give cats in early stages of renal disease low protein. Research says the opposite, keeping up the protein intake will help maintain lean muscle mass better and with kidney cats, muscle wasting is one of the biggest problems.

There is a lot of great information on CKD on Tanya's page http://www.felinecrf.org/ . There are also food charts on the page to look for lower phosphorus ones.

I mainly fed my kidney kids Wellness (and Friskies Special Diet which was discontinued). We started on a phosphorus binder early so we were able to feed other foods too that were higher in phosphorus.
 
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