Teeth cleaning

It's about time for one of my cats to get her teeth cleaned. At her last vet visit the vet said that she's starting to get a lot of plaque deposits on her back teeth.

Problem is that I'm absolutely terrified for her to have to be put under. She's about 11 years old and I always see her as very vulnerable to stressful situations (she gets agressive when she's stressed). She has been put under before, but that's when she was a kitten (when she was spayed).

I'm also wondering if it will be more difficult for her to eat if she has to have extractions?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Well, a lot of plaque can lead to infection, inflammed gums, pain eating. Enough build-up can affect their internal organs(kidneys, etc).

I've got one kitty with no teeth, she eats the same as all the others.

My suggestion is to run a full blood-workup. If everything there looks OK, definately do the cleaning. She could live another 9+ years, I cannot imagine what her mouth would look like then if you waited. So, I guess, my point is that she is still young, provided her blood work looks OK, go for it. Because if she does live longer, she'll just be older when you have to do the dental.

I'd talk to your vet about your concerns. Ask them what kinds of anesthetics would be best for her situation. Definitely do the prescreen bloodwork, if not a full senior panel. Like White Cat Lover said, not doing the cleaning on a cat with lots of tartar puts them at risk too, as the bacateria can get into the blood stream and attack the organs, including the heart. Odo, my adoptee who's about 15 years old has already had two dental cleanings since I adopted him last year. He came through both with flying colors. After the first one, the plaque began to build up immediately though, so prior to the second one, I got into the habit of brushing his teeth every day or two. He squirms a bit but enjoys the petting session afterwards, so he is really quite good about having his teeth brushed. Since the last dental a few months ago, he teeth have remained clean (in the same period of time after the first dental, he looked like he had never had one). I've also started brushing Willow's teeth (she's 8 years old) as maybe it will keep her from having future dental problems.