First dental appt

Status
Not open for further replies.
Glassgoblin

Glassgoblin

Member Since 2018
Jaxa has been in remission since last July, and we have been lucky so far. Testing every five days still, and she is on a diet because she gained back some of her pancreatitis weight-loss. So we are trying to address other health issues and be proactive; last year her vet said she was getting some moderate build-up on her teeth and she has had a broken fang for a few years. Thursday she has a dental exam/cleaning scheduled. We go in for blood work in the morning to see if she can have the procedure, and go from there I guess. She has had surgery before- she was spayed and had a growth removed from inside her ear about 6 years ago- with no reaction to the anesthetics, and no trouble with any of the meds she has been on thus far.

I still worry though, and wonder if anyone who has gone through the dental process has any advice? Won't know if any teeth will be removed until that day, but any suggestions of what to have on hand after her appointment? I'm thinking plenty of fluids and soft foods? Will I need to watch her bg levels carefully as she recovers? I have that day off and the next, so I can watch over her, but the day after that I have a wedding to attend out of town. I know every cat is different, but anything I should generally watch out for in her reactions, something she might not need that I might not think of until it is needed? Am I over thinking it?
 
Hi. Here are a couple of other threads about dentals that you might find helpful:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dental-today-and-im-terrified.213612/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/teeth-cleaning-and-diabetic-cat.186827/

The vet should give you post care instructions. If there are extractions, you will probably need to give pain medicine, possibly an anti-inflammatory, and if there is any infection, an antibiotic, for a few days afterwards. Expect her to be a little 'loopy' when she gets home. Cats react differently to pain medicine. Willow becomes restless and wanders. Mia becomes extra skittish and curls up somewhere safe. My girls have always been ready to eat dinner the day of their procedure and ate their normal wet food. Usually, after two or three days, they seem back to normal.
 
Jones had a dental done while on insulin. Was the basic routine - no food after midnight had access to water. He had 1 tooth removed as it was cracked. Came home that night. I had his regular soft food available and just gave him small portions over the course of the evening.

He was really out of it, so we locked him in the bedroom for an hour or so after he had a chance to pee and eat.

He was perfectly normal the next day.

I have gave his usual meds and insulin starting that night with his pain relief meds.
 
My buddy Lou seems to have an exaggerated reaction to the anesthetic, so he was pretty out of it the rest of dental day. He had most of his teeth extracted, so it took him a while to feel up to eating (and open his mouth and move his tongue, etc.). Try to make sure to have some meat-only baby food on hand for after the procedure. He favored that over his regular pate with all the extractions. I locked him in the bedroom with a litterbox and let him veg the night of. He was back to himself the next morning and he started eating his normal food the day after as well. In his case, it took longer for him to heal up (2 weeks) since he had so many extractions.
 
We recently went through a pretty major dental with 12 extractions. The first few days were really rough and scary, I won't lie. It took him a few days to get the hang of eating again. We usually mix in textured varieties with pates for their meals (all wet), but stuck to pates only for about a week. He was a good snuggler for the first week, and didn't have much interest in play. By the time we got two weeks in he was acting more spry than ever! He feels much better and it shows.

Edited to add: one thing I wish I had asked more about was the pain medication. They gave us an oral pill pain med which may work alright for some dental procedures, but with as many extractions as he had it felt less than ideal and was difficult to get it in him.
 
We are really lucky that no extractions were needed and her blood work was good (all test results added to her spreadsheet already)- the vet thought her bg was a little high at 133, but I think that is typical for all of her vet visits. No reactions, no meds to take home. She pulled the bandage off in the kennel on the way home, has been eating and smacking the dog already. I am just super paranoid about her getting kidney disease or having cancer after everything else we have gone through in the last two years.
 
Glassgoblin said:
We are really lucky that no extractions were needed and her blood work was good (all test results added to her spreadsheet already)- the vet thought her bg was a little high at 133, but I think that is typical for all of her vet visits. No reactions, no meds to take home. She pulled the bandage off in the kennel on the way home, has been eating and smacking the dog already. I am just super paranoid about her getting kidney disease or having cancer after everything else we have gone through in the last two years.
Click to expand...

That's really good to hear! I think 133 during a vet visit is a reasonably good number. I'm glad to hear it went well!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top