mochas dental

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PeterDevonMocha

PeterDevonMocha

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Ok, it's set in stone. Next friday at 9 a.m. mocha goes in for a dental. We have been corresponding with a vet, that is a board certified vet and we feel confident about our choice. The vet is actually an hour away from us. I am already nervous. I know I have asked the vet as many questions as I could think of. She said she will do the exam first, then give us a more definite price quote, and if we are happy with that, she will do the cleaning. She will stay there for the day, and can come home that evening. Because it's a drive to get there, me and peter will wait in the area for her to be done. I don't think I could leave my baby anyways.

Can someone please explain again, what should be done the night before, and the morning of? We will have to leave before her normal shot time to make it to her appt. on time. Should we skip the am shot altogether, or do it early and do a half dose?

nailbite_smile nailbite_smile nailbite_smile

oh baby ... am I ever nervous ...
 
You should ask the vet for instruction. Usually no food after midnight and NO restriction on water. Some vets say 1/2 insulin in the morning if BG normal. Some allow some food the morning of. A lot is based on the vet's experience.
 
my place said no food after 10 pm - they want to ensure at least 12 hours no food.

water is ok, just remove morning of - I didn't, since Maui doesn't drink much.

Can't help with insulin - but do ask the dentist or the assistant.

Bring her records, so vet has complete history and can look at what she/he wants. If any recent tests taken, bring those - cause any tests already done, save from them doing and charging.

Oh and the most important piece of advice.....

Remember



to




bring





the


CAT!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
The vet may say no water after 7pm or 10pm the night before. (Or a tech or asst may call with those instructions.) Just remind them that Mocha is a diabetic and that water should not be restricted. I let Max have water until we left the house at 9am because I knew he wouldn't be getting his procedure until after 1pm.
 
Pan is having his dental next Friday too. Our instructions are no food after midnight, no water after 8 am.

They are going to do blood work and x-rays before the procedure, the anasthetics are the recommended ones and his heart will be monitored while he's out. They will be administering pain meds during the dental and I will take more home with me along with antibiotics, if needed.

To warm Pan after the surgery he will be wrapped in blankets and held by the vet techs, no heating pads or hot water bottles will be used. I will pick him up at 5pm, but you can bet I'll be early! Those are the things I covered before making the date and I am still nervous!
 
gia, we will be nervous together! Everything we have asked this vet seems to be in guidelines of what we researched on this site. But that doesn't make this any easier! We will have to call the vet back and ask about feeding/water instructions, they did not give us any over the phone, and we didn't ask. doh. I am nervous about mocha not having food through the night. I'm sure I will be up every hour checking on her, making sure she is ok. I'll also ask her vet for a copy of all mochas records, so they can see what else has been done.

We plan on taking her meter and her food, so they can test her sugars and it will be with our meter, and then they can feed her, with food she is used to. I hope when this is all said and done, we can see it helping her.
 
What I do about the food issue - is to make sure she eats really well and her complete meal as close to cut off time as possible. With Maui I was told 10 pm, but she ate until 10:30.

The reason for no food is they want a 12 hour window where the cat's stomach is empty. If the cat has food in its stomach when going under anesthesia, it could cause her to vomit and cause complications. This is standard for anybody human or animal going under anesthesia.

So, the easiest way to figure out when to stop food if they didn't tell you - is what time is your appointment?

let's say it's 10:30 am - then stop the food by 11 pm at the latest. And tell the dentist when food was removed. Remember, the cat won't go under immediately, they have prep work to do and if there is more than one patient that day, then Mocha will "get in line" and may not be done until 12 or 1, which is more than 12 hours and she'll have empty stomach.

I know there is nothing to say to make you not worry, but you've done your homework, asked all the questions, have confidence in the dentist, now you just need to have the faith that goes along with your decision. She will be fine. It will all turn out well.

Maui's doing great, by the way - ok so the weekend she wasn't herself, but she is now.

We go back in a week for recheck.

Good luck!
 
today I called our local vet and asked to have copies of all of mochas records, to take to the vet doing the dental on friday. The vet told me they can only give me the one that shows the 3 years rabies vaccine, cause that is all they have done. I told them ALL of her records were faxed over to them after we switched to them from our original vet. The thing I don't understand about mochas paperwork is that she had bloodwork done not that long ago at this vets office, when she wasn't eating that well, plus I'm pretty sure the other vet did her vaccine, because that is when we found out she was diabetic. I don't know where all that other paperwork would be at, if it isn't there. Plus, mocha had bloodwork done on her first visit to this vet, to be sure she did indeed have diabetes. She had a fructosamine test done.

Mochas appt is at 9 a.m., we have to leave the house at 7:30 to get there in time. The vet said no food after midnight, no restriction on water.

I was wondering if anyone could give me the names of any pain meds, and anesthesia that are best to be used. I know certain batches of ketamine were recalled, and I have told this vet I don't want to use any of that, but I would like to have a few names on a piece of paper, in case she says what she is using, I can use it as a reference guide and either say yes or no to them.

Also, my plan is to take mochas meter and her food, to give to them so they can test her with her own meter. Does anyone else do this when their cats have dentals done?
 
anasthetics propoforol and isoflorine, (check those spellings, please) are the recommended ones. My vet is also giving a painkiller during the dental. I will ask for Bupe to take home, it seems to have the least complications.

Devon, those records are yours. Compile a list of the dates you took Mocha to this vet, and receipts if you have them, and demand they produce the records. They may have misplaced, or never received, the records from your previous vet, but I'd ask them to search for them.

My policy on records--I get a copy at the end of each visit and I keep it in a file at home. I make a one page summary of what has been done and when, I keep it in the pocket of my carrier so I'll have at least a short form record if I have to take anyone anywhere in an emergency. I'm hearing more and more about difficulty in getting records and I'd simply tell any vet that it's your policy to keep complete records at home for emergencies. If they argue, argue back, you have paid for this and you are entitled to it.
 
thanks gia. I will go through mochas receipts and figure out a list of dates they should have paperwork on her. I told the vet I would come in later in the week. Hopefully they find whatever they can on her, and if not, I will have dates to help them remember. Peter thought perhaps vets don't keep paperwork on cats, like human doctors do for us, but I find that hard to believe. Otherwise, how would they ever remember what is going on with each cat when they go in for something?
 
OK so this vet seems to have misplaced the records that were sent by the old vet.

How about you contact the old vet and ask for the records to be faxed to you or emailed or sent to the dentist office and you can make a copy there.

Then call the current vet again and tell them to search their files for Mocha's records as you know she has more than a rabies shot done and you must have these records.

Maui's dentist used isoflourine and propofol to induce, bupe during procedure and for me to take home.

I think clindamycin was administered at the dentist, need to check the bill. Aside from that, no other meds given.

So you don't have any suprises, ask where they plan to shave Mocha. Both Maui's front legs (shins) were shaved and the back side of her rear leg (just above the paw pad). Front for IV's and rear for blood pressure monitor.

If they leave any bandages on Mocha and don't tell you, ask if you find any can they be removed when you get home. They put Maui in the carrier so I didn't see her until we got home an found a bright pink bandage on her front leg, which she didn't like. I had to call and ask if it needed to stay on or could come off. (Just the little things that sometimes get missed).
 
hillary, thank you for telling me about the bandages. I guess I'm so naive on this subject, I did not even think about where the IV fluids would go in at, or that they would have to shave her. Also, what is clindamycin? Is it a pain killer? Any other surprises I should be on the look out for?

I found mochas receipts. She is up to date on rabies, done 05 15 09, she also had a full feline health panel done that same day. On 09 010 9 at her current vets, she had a CBC total health plus T4#1601 done. (not real sure what those numbers are for, but that is how it's worded on my receipt) Is it a smart idea to take all these papers to the vet doing the dental, or should just the rabies sheet be ok?
 
The bandage over the IV catheter insertion location should left on for about an hour. It is a pressure bandage and is to stop the bleeding from the insertion location when the catheter is removed. It should not be left on longer than about two hours since it can inhibit circulation and result in "big foot" which is accumulation of fluid away from the foot.
 
thank you larry. It is about an hour and a half drive there, so by the time we get home it should be all good to come off, right?
 
The vets like to plan on removing the catheter so the bandage can be removed before the animal goes home. However, that does not always happen. Just make sure that, if Mochas still has a bandage when you pick her up, you ask when it should be removed. When you get home is probably fine.
 
The vet called me today, to verify our appt time. I told the receptionist that we are thinking of doing a 1/2 dose tonight, and no dose in the a.m. because mochas numbers have been rather low lately (at least for her) they said that was fine.

I also told them mocha is up to date on her rabies shot, but she is NOT up to date on her distemper shot, and would they have to give her that, to do the dental or are they ok without her being up to date? She said that at that clinic, they are mainly a tooth clinic, and do not do much of anything else, so if our vet said they were ok with them giving mocha the distemper shot, they could do it, but that isn't really something they would normally do. I asked them if they were ok doing the dental on mocha without her being up to date on the distemper shot, and they said yes. So I told them I would rather them do the dental, and hold off on the distemper shot for now, because of her being diabetic. They said that was fine.

Also our vet that we go to said mocha tested neg. for feline leukemia and FIP (?) when she was a kitten and since she was an indoor kitten we chose not to treat her for those. She said that this vet might need to re test for those? I didn't ask this receptionist about that though, because after the way she talked about the distemper shot, I had a feeling the other shots or treatments or whatever it is for feline leukemia and the FIP(?) were probably not anything they are used to doing either.

I hope Im asking all the right questions! I'm soo nervous!
 
I think you mean Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and not FIP since there is not test for FIP. The standard is to test for both FeLV and FIV. Mine have only been test one, many years ago. I do not plan to test them again unless some symptoms indicates further testing is necessary. They are indoor only kitties. There is a good FeLV vaccine but I would not get it for an indoor only kitty. I would also not get the FIV vaccine. Besides being really unnecessary for an indoor only kitty, the FIV vaccine will make the show positive when tested for FIV.

FIV:
http://cats.about.com/b/2008/07/18/fiv- ... or-foe.htm
 
yes, I think that is what she said. FIV, I must have not heard her correctly. Mocha was tested on her first visit in as a kitten, and she was negative for both. She is 100% indoor kitty only.

Thank you for clearing all that up for me larry!
 
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