Fasting and shots before a dental?

Bandit's Mom

Bandit's Mom

Member Since 2019
Bandit is scheduled for a dental (her very first ever!) on Wednesday morning at 11am. Currently, her shot times are 7am/7pm.
The vet has asked me to withhold food from 12 hours before. When I asked her if there is any concession for diabetics, she said not really, but the 12 hours could be relaxed to 10 hours.

The AAHA guidelines recommend withholding food 2-4 hours prior for diabetics and even to give a 1/2 the insulin dose in the morning before the surgery! For cats with a "History of, or at risk for, regurgitation", they recommend withholding food for 6-12 hours.

This is Bandit's first dental and I wish to err on the side of caution. I do not know whether there is a risk of regurgitation with her. I also do not want to risk a hypo event by giving her her shot in the morning. So I'm thinking I will move her shots forward starting today so that I shoot her at 6pm the evening before the dental. That way, even by my vet's requirement of 10 hours fasting, I can feed her till +7 the night before.

Could someone help me with with what is the minimum time one should fast diabetic cats before general anesthesia?
Thank you!
 
Good morning. I would ask your vet on this one. I’ve seen people here give some insulin but my vet said no insulin and no food after midnight. It was okay to leave out water.
 
I was told small AM meal with 1/2 dose insulin.....another time I was told NPO after midnight (but I always left water down) Both ways worked fine but you need to do what your vet is expecting so he knows what he's working with.

That being said, you could give him a small snack of food 6-8 hours before he's scheduled. Cat's digestive tract is pretty fast.

I was also told to bring her insulin in with her ....I "accidentally" forgot it. No way did I want them giving her any lantus later in the day and screwing up her shot schedule.
 
I agree, I would go with what the vet suggested you do (and is expecting). With Neko's dentals by a dental specialist, she got 1/3 of a meal before 6AM and 1/2 a shot - though I once gave a token cause she was thinking about a reduction (and I was right).
Chris & China (GA) said:
That being said, you could give him a small snack of food 6-8 hours before he's scheduled. Cat's digestive tract is pretty fast.
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Except Bandit is on dry food, which takes longer to process. I would go with what the vet says.
 
@tiffmaxee @Critter Mom @Chris & China (GA) @Wendy&Neko

thanks! i have a follow-up question! :-)

i'm going to be skipping bandit's AM shot tomorrow before her dental. which would be better of the two options below in terms of getting her back on track after the missed shot:

(a) shoot her after the dental (18 hours after today's PM shot) and then again 18 hours later - the two 18-hour cycle option
(b) just skip the AM shot entirely and shoot the PM shot as usual?
 
Can't answer that until after you have her home from the dental. Depending on what they use for anesthesia, some types can keep their glucose low for awhile. Also, will want to make sure she's eating after her dental (make sure to have some "meat only" baby food just in case her mouth is sore).

You'd test her at her usual PMPS time and depending on how she's doing, go from there.
 
I'd test when you get Bandit home, then if she's allowed to eat and it's still a couple hours to shot time, see how she'll handle just a little food. Don't give a lot, anaesthesia can also play with gut motility. So little amounts 20-30 mins apart. What she is able to do may depend on what is done at the dental, whether she's on pain meds, etc. If she's eating OK, and the PMPS number is not going down from the "got her home" test, then you will likely be OK to shoot at the PM. But you can always do a reduced shot or skip if at all uncertain, and go back to shooting the next regular AMPS.

Typically just doing a skip impacts less cycles than 2 18 hours cycles - ECID of course.
 
Thanks Chris, Wendy! Asked the vet about whether the anesthesia would depress blood sugar and she said no, just blood pressure.

Budge's dental, last week, was just scaling and she wasn't on any pain meds and was able to eat regular food as soon as she got home.

The vet thinks Bandit's teeth are in better shape - that's why she was scheduled after Budge.

Will test her post dental and again at her usual PMPS time and take it from there. Thanks :-)
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
I hope they're doing dental x-rays. Scaling only cleans the top part of the tooth. Like iceburgs, most of the actual tooth is below the gumline where you can't see it.
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I don't think so! I've pissed this vet off by refusing to switch Budge to urinary/renal food and any questions are met with passive-aggression! I'd like to think that she is examining their teeth more closely under anaesthesia and will take action (x-rays, extractions) if necessary!
 
That's too bad. Neko went to a dental specialist a couple times. Once even he could not spot anything visually under anaesthesia - it took xrays to spot the bad tooth. I've heard many stories like this, which is why we strongly recommend dental xrays before surgery.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
That's too bad. Neko went to a dental specialist a couple times. Once even he could not spot anything visually under anaesthesia - it took xrays to spot the bad tooth. I've heard many stories like this, which is why we strongly recommend dental xrays before surgery.
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I spoke to a bunch of vets while looking for one to do their dental. None of them said anything about pre-dental x-rays. :(
 
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