6/5 Samba - should we get a dental cleaning? AMPS 322 PMPS 254 +1.5 282 +4 282

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Sarah Mc

Sarah Mc

Member Since 2017
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...7-226-10-307-pmps-401-2-5-329-5-5-242.178800/

We are seeing the vet on Saturday, and I'm wondering if I should ask for a dental cleaning? Another vet that we saw mentioned that there was something wrong with Samba's tooth but that she wanted to get his diabetes under control first before addressing it... However, I read somewhere on here that someone's cat got a cleaning, and her cat's numbers drastically improved... has anyone had experience with this? Thanks :)
 
Sarah I have no experience with the dental just wanted to say which ever way it goes that Samba's numbers keep trending down. I'm sure others will have experiences to share!
 
Sarah Mc said:
We are seeing the vet on Saturday, and I'm wondering if I should ask for a dental cleaning? Another vet that we saw mentioned that there was something wrong with Samba's tooth but that she wanted to get his diabetes under control first before addressing it... However, I read somewhere on here that someone's cat got a cleaning, and her cat's numbers drastically improved... has anyone had experience with this? Thanks :)
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It drives me absolutely crazy when a I hear that a vet wants to get the diabetes under control before addressing a dental....

Black Kitty had a benign lump removed from the back of his neck back on Oct 23, 2008 during his AM cycle. While he was under anesthesia his vet took the opportunity to have a good look into his mouth. It was a mess. Bad gingivitis and several visible resorptive lesions. There was also a fragment of a tooth that had broken which she easily removed. After surgery the vet mentioned how bad BKs teeth and gums were - although she was skilled at dentistry, his mouth was way beyond her comfort zone. She recommended a veterinary dental specialist. I made an appointment for early December.

A bit of background info - BK was FiV+ and had IAA, a high dose condition (which back then no one knew anything about) and in spite of dosing him with some 45u insulin (Lantus and R combined) daily, he was always mostly pink. The precious little information found online about IAA did indicate that it was self limiting, lasting around 1 year. Now that sounded pretty good except for the very real possibility that it could stop on a dime-a sobering thought when you have a Lantus depot the size of Lake Michigan. Knowing that was the case, I was always watching for signs that IAAs hold on BK was breaking. Good thing I did because the second PM cycle following the lump and tooth fragment removal was entirely blue and green. From that point on I stopped the daily used of R, which amounted to an almost instant dose reduction of approx. 22%.

His dental surgery took place on December 8, 2008; he was up to 13u Lantus bid. He had 8 or so extractions and we came home with antibiotics to take for 10 days. It was after the antibiotics were finished that the 'free fall' down the dosing ladder began. We did not see pink from 01/28/2009 to 02/19/2009. By February 19, 2009 he was down to 3u Lantus bid. Was this my cat?

Spirits were high. Then pink came back on the scene, followed by red. The greens became sparse. By 5/21/2009 we were back up to 5.25u bid. I was devastated.

One day I happened to look over as he was yawning one of those big yawns and I noticed areas of red on his gums. Back to the dental specialist we went. On 5/29/2009 several more teeth were removed and down the dosing ladder he once again went...all the way to the falls where he remained for he rest of his life - 6.5years. :cool:
 
Sandy,

Thank you so much for telling me what happened with Black Kitty. How fortunate he was to have you so carefully monitoring him, and I'm so glad that your vet noticed the tooth problems during his unrelated surgery! I wish that our cats could speak to us and voice all of their concerns... kitties seem to have a resilient, stoic, private way about them, don't they.. :cat: I have my own dental issues and know what it feels like to have that kind of pain...I hope Samba hasn't been suffering too long with any major isues and feel more confident now to bring it up with the vet..thank you so much for sharing that!!
 
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