Teeth Cleaning, pro or con?

Magnolia's vet says she needs to have her teeth cleaned. She is 11 years old and I can see they have buildup and some redness around her gums. I'm just looking for any opinions on this. It's very expensive, but I'm willing to spend the money if it's really necessary. I had cats growing up who lived to be 18, who never had their teeth cleaned, so I'm just a little hesitant...

Thanks!

 

This is something I would definitely do! Poor dental health can actually lead to other problems-- and can also make regulation more difficult. If her gums are inflamed there could be infection (possibly an abscessed tooth) and pain, which can both cause a rise in bgs. Not to mention, her breath will be better!

I would recommend talking with your vet about the procedure, how they monitor, what they recommend as far as dosing the morning of the dental, etc. If you have any questions, post here. There are oodles of us who've had many dentals done on our kitties.

 

Ditto to what Carolynn said. Do it now before things get bad and $$$

 

Thank you ladies! I just recently found a new vet, I guess it's time to go in and get this dental work taken care of. I will certainly post if I have questions.

 

In addition, since you have a senior cat, find out if they do a senior panel first. This will most likely include blood, urine tests, possibly chest/body xrays.

These tests are to make sure your cat is in good health (aside from FD) and will be able to handle the anesthesia.

Oh and ask what kind of anesthesia they use as there was a very recent recall on ketamine

see this link: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... ?8,1962009

And you may want to bring the information in, in case your vet is unaware of it.

Also for your own level of comfort and understanding, ask the vet the step by step procedures used when doing dentals. Who puts the cat under, who cleans the teeth, who is monitoring the cat, what happens after, where is cat placed and who monitors.

Also ask if they use pain meds before, during, after the process and which ones they use.
As there is some controversy on that as well - read here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... ?8,1867651

I say better to be informed and fully understand what is happening then to be hit with surprised.

Finally, ask them to give you a cost estimate - they ought to be able to do that and will probably tell you it's figured out higher than anticipated, just in case.....

 

Bandit just had a dental (6 extractions!) and I did quite a bit of reading into pain medications because of the metacam/buprenex debate here. If your cat is a senior kitty, I would definitely ask your vet to stay away from the metacam. Metacam gets dangerous when a cat has reduced kidney function, and many senior cats have reduced kidney function that may not be showing up in blood tests because it's not that advanced yet. Bandit was ok on Metacam, but he only 8 and has full kidney function. My 15 year old cat, Gabby, is getting a dental next month, and because of her early stage kidney disease we're going for the buprenex.

 

I have an appointment on Wednesday. Thank you so much for all the info. I will be sure to address all of these questions with the vet.

 

February 2010 is National Pet Dental Health Month. There is info here http://www.petdental.com/ Many vets offer discounts on dentals during this time.

Bad oral health can result in infections which keep blood gluocse levels high. Talk to your vet about how he/she typically does a dental on a diabetic cat and how closely the blood gluocse levels are monitored during the procedure. There is more info here: http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Dental_procedure

 

I got my 15 year old cat's teeth cleaned last week. Cost me an arm and a leg - but it was by far the best money I ever spent. Scruffy is more active, and social. It is like he is 5-10 years younger!

 

Ditto the push to get the teeth cleaned.

Dental health is one of the most seriously ignored issues in cats.

My Robbie....my 'heart' cat....when he goes I will need a padded room.....needs dentals every 6 months. He builds up tartar like no cat I have ever seen.

Given that I need to do drugs before he goes under for anesthesia.....worried mom....I have a New Year's resolution that I WILL start brushing his teeth so he does not have to go in for so many dentals.

 

Lisa, I'm similar with Squeak. He arrested once after a substitute vet gave him an opiate for a pain killer; he cannot tolerate them. He gives them troubles even when he's not given opiates, so it is always a bit of a stressful time for us. I too swear after each dental that I'll brush or at least use the oral gels...but it never happens

 

Dr. Lisa, have you looked at Plaque-off by Proden? I've been using it on Barclay (though last week we slipped off the bandwagon) and I've noticed that his breath is a bit better and his gums do look better. I've used it for about 6 weeks now and am hoping that by the end of the this month I'll see a difference in his tartar. He came to us with tartar and a bit of redness. We'll get a dental done this Spring if the Plaque Off doesn't make much more improvement. I have a before pic so I'll post before and after shots later this month.

But is there any reason why we shouldn't be using the product?

Proden PlaqueOff

 

I thought I recalled reading somewhere that plaque-off wasn't that great for cats because it contained seaweed as an ingredient? Or am I imagining that? :?

Edit: It was Iodine...no idea what corner of my brain I pulled seaweed from! :smile:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/read.php?8,1932558,1932705

 

There's a video of how to brush your cat's teeth here: http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet/f ... hing_teeth

I used CET poultry flavored toothpaste. It doesn't affect bgs at all. I didn't think Merlin would like his teeth brushed but he surprisingly did He popped his mouth open and let me scrub around with the yummy flavored toothpaste on a mini cat toothbrush.

 

Oh thanks for that link. Wow.. I had missed the end of that conversation. hmmm... I suppose the formal dental is in order then. No more Plaque Off...

 

Hi Vic,

Here is my bottom line: I do not put anything in my body or my cats' body unless I really have to.

For everything that is put into a body, it does x....and y...and z...etc...etc....etc. Much of X Y and Z we are clueless about.

For instance, Virbac is the maker of CET toothpaste and chews. There are dogs dying in Australia from the Virbac chews. Why? Nobody knows at this time but they have been pulled from the market.

So...a seemingly safe product has major issues.

See this link for a study using the ingredient in PlaqueOff:
http://www.vin.com/Members/Journals/Jou ... ID=1470112

I did not read it thoroughly but the bottom line is...look at how many parameters changed in the bodies of the test subjects.

For me, I would not be giving a product that saturated the entire body....just on the off chance that it may do something for plaque. Plus, plaque is on there like superglued cement! And....anything that would actually get that stuff off (which I highly doubt that it will to any significant level considering that you need a hammer and chisel to get that stuff off)...well....what the heck is it doing to the rest of the body?!

Again, I think long and hard before putting anything into my body - or my cats' body because there are just too many unknowns about these things. Sure...they may (or in this case - probably not) help with X problem but what else are they doing as they cruise around the body and permeate every cell? :shock:

 

Thank you, Dr. Lisa... It makes perfect sense... I won't go back to it... Not worth it. I'll get the dental in Feb or Mar and then keep up with the brushing. He's not too bad with it anyway.

Thanks for your time.

 

I owe you for the tiny urls!

Be sure to ask your vet if he/she is giving a dental discount in Feb. because it is the Pet Dental Month.

 

Thank you so much for the replies. So much helpful info! And I will definitely ask if there is a discount in February, although now that I know how important it is, I want to address it at once.

I loved the how-to video, and will have to create a parody of my own when I start brushing Magnolia's teeth...it will be interesting to say the least.