Dentals and Diabetic Cats! Looking for info

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all4mymarine

all4mymarine

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Lucky is going for a dental on Friday. He's had a dental with extractions back in '08 and likely to have 1-3 more extractions at this appointment as well.

The Vet told me to give him half of his normal food amount the morning of and no insulin. If I give him no insulin, his BG is going to be in the 400's by 9am.

Can some of you who have more knowledge let me know what is a safe protocol and what is not? Is there a certain type of pain management I should ask for during the surgery? When they gave me a quote, during surgery pain management wasn't listed, only a take home pain management package of buprenorphine.

I'm hoping that once the problem teeth are removed and the infection is resolved, that he'll have an easier time getting to remission :-D
 
My vet allows for a 1/2 dose of insulin the morning of dental, but they are an AAHA approved hospital so are equipped for all emergencies. Most likely your vet is trying to keep Lucky safe. Anesthesia lowers blood glucose and, if given a full dose, might cause problems for sure. A half dose might even in some cats.

We also are allowed to have food out till 1AM or so, when the normal recommendation is 12 hour fast, also not good for diabetics.

Buprenorphine is a great pain med, so that's good they want to give you that for take home use. They could give him a shot of it after the procedure, so you might ask them about doing that.

Whatever you do, please ask they not give him an antibiotic called Convenia. Here is the reason why: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=convenia Some vets have been giving it for dentals. A safer antibiotic for dental issues, if they recommend you have one, which Dr. Lisa says is not necessary, is Clindamycin.

Hope this helps, but please ask your vet if you could give a 1/2 dose of insulin instead of taking my word for it, OK? And ask about the fasting.
 
It is reasonable. Usually vets base their instructions based on their successful experience. If I recall, my vet sad 1/2 food and 1/2 insulin for a dental that would start at about 1PM.
 
all4mymarine said:
during surgery pain management wasn't listed, only a take home pain management package of buprenorphine.
Click to expand...

There is usually an opioid (pain medication) given as part of starting anesthesia. It may not be listed as such, instead as "pre-induction" or "anesthesia inc. induction" or something like that. You can ask your vet that day what drug it is.
 
Well, I guess Lucky will be okay for just one day without his insulin. He's going to be so stressed though, poor kitty. I guess I'm worried about the lack of food + high numbers + stress of it all causing problems.

I started him on Clavamox this morning, so no worries about the other antibiotic. I'll ask about the pain meds with anesthesia.

Thanks for the replies!!
 
why clavamox? And has he ever been on it before? I ask because more and more, antibiotics prior to dental are considered not helpful, plus clavamox can cause nausea in some cats.
 
I don't know why Clavamox, it's just what they gave me :?:

He was on it around mid June when he was first diagnosed because of gum infection until we could get the dental done. He seemed okay with it then.
 
Some people and vets like to do a round of antibiotics prior to and after dental, but Dr Lisa Pierson (who posts here) is quite against it as she feels it really doesn't do anything and just promotes the unnecessary use of antibiotics. You can read her thoughts at www.catinfo.org

Jen
 
I don't agree with using antibiotics too much either, I don't do it with my human kids unless really necessary. This is only the 3rd time that Lucky has been on antibiotics in his 9 years of life, so I wouldn't say that in his case they've been abused.

I'd rather him be safe than sorry. We've dealt with enough and I don't want the infection to get into his body when they start messing around in there. He has an active infection right now that is starting to come back. If he had no infection, then it wouldn't be such a big deal. He's also having 1-3 extractions. I really do agree with the vet giving antibiotics for the day before and maybe a couple of days after.
 
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