Tooth Extraction Question

Hi everyone,

My 8 month old kitten has two impacted canine teeth and the vet's dental specialist is recommending that we extract the two teeth.  I was just wondering if anyone has had experience with any tooth extraction, or impacted teeth, and what the approximate recovery time, changes to diet, pain medication, etc. would be.  I know they'll give me all of the information when we perform the extraction, but I would love to get someone's personal experience before the extraction is done.  I'm especially interested in people's recovery experiences since when I got her spayed, she was a trouble maker during the recovery (slipping out of her e collar, pulling at her stitches, trying to jump on top of the fridge, trying to play with the other cat, refusing to take the pain medication, etc.)

Thanks!

Sorry, been gone all week and just saw this.

I have 1 cat with no teeth left and another cat with about half of his teeth left. The first had about half of his teeth pulled at 2 different times and the second had all of his extractions done at once.

It is good that you are having this done by a dental specialist. Cat's teeth are very fragile and tend to break apart during the extraction process. A dental specialist should have the skills to make sure that all of the teeth is removed during the extractions. The remnants of a tooth during an improperly done extraction can cause more pain to a cat.

For my boy with no teeth (Stumpy), they put him on a pain patch, as he had been suffering from an auto-immune disease for a while before the extractions (his disease is one where his body thought his teeth were foreign invaders), and he went into the surgery with pain in the first place. Even though he was older at the time (11 years old), he still managed to pull the pain patch off of him after the surgery. We had to take him back and have his leg wrapped in stretchy bandages (almost like a soft cast) to keep it on him. While he was a bit off from the medication, he still acted fairly normal, but he was 11 at the time and isn't as lively as an 8 month old kitten. For eating, he amazed the vet when, while recovering from the anesthesia post surgery, he jumped up on a counter at the clinic to eat the dry food they were mixing for another cat. They had assumed he wouldn't be hungry, and had assumed that he was still too woozy to be able to make that jump. Having no teeth has never stopped him from eating, and he's regained about 4 pounds since he had the last of his teeth pulled (5 years ago). He sucks up dry food like a vacuum cleaner (his preference has always been dry food), but I've converted him over to eat some wet food each day. But that's my boy Stumpy, nothing has ever held him back from what he wanted to do.

For my other boy (Pinky), he was an entirely different story. He was about 8 years old when his extractions were done and they were done because his teeth just went bad on him at that age. He was put on pain pills, which he fought me tooth and nail every time I tried to give them to him. It was stressful for both of us to give him those meds, as I know his mouth was sore, and I was trying to force a pill into that sore mouth. I used a pill gun with a rubber tip to give them to him (got it from my vet), stopped giving them to him about 2 days earlier than when I was supposed to stop (the vet approved this). He lost some of his front canines, as well as some of his back teeth. He sometimes struggles with eating food, and I can see that, because some of his front teeth are gone, his lips don't always lay flat across his teeth as would in a cat with all their teeth. His preference became wet food after the surgery, as it is easier for him to eat it. He's lost about 3 pounds since the surgery 3 years ago, but that is OK since he was overweight by that amount in the first place. He seems to be maintaining an ideal weight these days.

My advice: extractions hurt and even if your girl fights you, give her the pain meds for at least 4-5 days post surgery. For one, it may slow her down a bit, and it will help her with her discomfort. Don't hesitate about calling your vet if you have any questions once you get her home. Because she is a kitten, perhaps keep her in a small room for a couple of days without tall things to climb on so she doesn't do anything too strenuous. The cavity where the tooth was pulled from can break open and bleed, and any jarring movements can cause that to happen. Running isn't as bad as jumping up and down on things post surgery.

Good luck for the surgery!