Dental questions...danger of Anesthesia?

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Allie

Allie

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Steve is 11 and he's never had a cleaning before and I looked around inside his little kitty mouth and he definitely has tartar. The gums around some of his back teeth may be inflamed...but who's to say when red and pink are so close.

Anyway, I talked to the vet clinic this morning. They do dental cleaning by putting kitties under Anesthesia. I trust my vet (although I'm not following his FD protocols), but I really don't want to put Steve out unless they need to do an extraction.

Am I being overly concerned?

Poll: Who's kitty gets 'put under' to get his teeth cleaned? Who thinks it's a super duper bad idea? and why?
 
Cats should be put under anaesthesia for cleanings. The new anaesthesias are quite safe for the vast majority of cats. Increase the safety by talking with your vet about induction agents, pain killers during or after the procedure, use of blood pressure monitors and pulse oximeters. Make sure the cat has complete bloodwork done prior to ensure there are no existing conditions (kidneys, etc). My Squeak almost died during a dental (he's had many) but that is because he reacts badly to certain types of pain killers (opiates).

Dentals are important for a cat's overall health so if it is needed then please do the work above and get it done.
 
from what i understand, to do any kind of decent cleaning, kitty needs to be put out. if not, all you're going to get done is about what you can do at home yourself with some pet toothpaste.

several of mine have had dentals and it's been no issue if done properly, i.e. iv set up, fluids, pre-anesthesia bloodwork, etc....

but yes, anesthesia is always a risk, just as it is with us humans too

(been typing this for 1/2 hour i think, kept getting pulled away by customers, so i'm sure others have already told you all this :smile: )
 
Do you change insulin dose for the cat before the cleaning i.e. if he's not eating cause he's knocked out and then later recovering...should he have a reduced dose before the procedure?

This is tricky because my vet does not know we aren't on dry food and that we aren't doing blind dosing of 4U BID. I know he'll freak if I tell him. I know they won't give Steve insulin while he's there, but Steve's food will be restricted and if he gets low he won't be able to get back up with food if he needs to. THAT is my primary concern.
 
Bloodwork before the procedure and IV fluids during the anesthesia are a must. Make sure the vet prescribes a safe painkiller like Buprenorphine, and not Metacam, for pain relief afterward. Some vets will want antibiotics before and after the procedure; depends on whether there's gum infection.

Gum disease has some pretty terrible consequences for the kidneys if you wait, so take a deep breath and get it done.
 
yes, often people shoot a reduced dose before and often after a procedure. sometimes even skipping the dose after because the fluids and anesthesia can lower BG levels. someone in pzi isg just experienced this actually. i want to say it was rob & harley but not 100% sure as i'm still foggy this morning thanks to my own kitty dropping low and keeping me up late last night :-)
 
Allie, your vet needs to know you aren't blind dosing 4 units because there's a chance they'll give insulin while your cat is in their care.

Squeak is no longer on insulin so I can't really give you advice on what dose to give, but I would suggest that since you have to withhold food after 9pm the night before, you should give only a reduced dose in the morning if at all.

Whatever you decide, make sure your vet knows that they are not to give insulin while your cat is there and to contact you before giving any meds other than what you agree to.

Oh, and skip antibiotics, they are not needed.
 
Jen,
I was pretty sure someone was gonna say that ....it was my gut feeling already. I guess I'm going to need to bite the bullet and just tell him. I'm just afraid he's gonna fire me as a client. I really like this vet, I just don't like his treatment of FD.

If I have time after work today, I'll stop into the clinic with a copy of my spreadsheet and explain what I'm doing and make sure he knows before I schedule the cleaning.

Uhhh...I feel a teenager having to tell my parents I got busted for skipping school.
 
Listen...

Your spreadsheet shows some pretty low (not dangerous) numbers after 1.5 units. If your vet has issue with your results and wants you to increase, you want a new vet. Period. Your vet needs to work with you as a team, needs to acknowledge that you have a brain and that you want to be an educated and active participant in your cat's treatment. Any vet who dismisses you and your hardwork and those numbers is dangerous and you don't want them.
 
Clarificaiton: my Vet doesn't want me to increase present dose. the 4U BID was what we did when we were on dry food. We've only recently made the switch to wet food. My vet isn't going to want me to increase with those numbers--he lacks a little with FD (primarily nutrition education) but he's not a complete idiot. Vet wanted me to feed d/m food(Steve WON'T eat the wet d/m and I will no longer feed the dry). So, I switched to FF and I had to reduce dose on my own. Vet wasn't privy to these decisions, but I think he'll be calm when I tell him. I just don't want to tell him...since he told me to do it his way and I didn't.

I work on ships for a living. On ships when you do something different than reccomended people start yelling. I'm sure my vet will be a courteous professional...I just go into most situations waiting for people to scream. Force of habit.
 
Gotcha :) Let us know how the conversation goes :) And if you want backup, we can get you links that support low carb food and lower doses to start...
 
Just my two cents about dentals:My cat only had two or three teeth left when I found him so I never thought about teeth or dentals. When other people in this forum began wrting about dentals I took a really good look in Nomad's mouth. The poor little guy had two spots that looked like volcano holes in the back,Cats can get a rather bizzare disorder where their body reabsorbs their own teeth. He also had some infection below the gum line I couldn't even see. To make a long story short, in Nomad's case the risk was greatly outweighed by the benefits.

Nomad was only on a half unit of insulin at that time so I just skipped the dose the night before. His BG went up about fifty points for a few days. Nomad did need antibiotics because of the infection. I do believe the chronic mouth infections he had was contributing to his BG being elevated.

Once his mouth healed his BG went down quite a bit. That was two months ago and he has now gone a week with no insulin at all. I do believe getting his dental problems taken care of contributed to him going into remission.

Hopefully you will have a similiar positive experience with your cat!
 
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