My 14 year old boy needs dental work (cleaning, and treat his gum desease) ....but

I have heard that the older a cat gets, the more likely it is that he might not wake up from anesthesia.  I had him treated for dental work 2 years ago and he woke up fine, but this worries me.  Anybody know anything about this? Thanks.

As long as the proper precautions are taken (appropriate pre-op lab work and maybe an EKG, blood pressure monitoring during the procedure, IV fluids, gas anesthetic, etc.) then there is no reason why your kitty shouldn't be able to have a dental. There is risk at ANY age with anesthesia, getting older doesn't automatically mean that the risk increases. I totally understand your fear though....my 19 yr old cat (who also happens to have kidney disease, diabetes, AND a heart condition) underwent 2 dentals in the last year. He did fantastic, and will be turning 20 in a couple months. Just ask your vet lots of questions about what they'll be doing and what medications will be administered and why and then go from there. They should be able to give you a clear protocol without just dismissing your concerns.  Good luck!

Thanks.  Knowing your even older cat came through the procedure fine gives me more confidence in doing it. Hobbs really needs the work.

BTW, which one of the kitty pictures that you have is the one that is 19?
 

Make sure your vet uses a safe gas anesthetic, NOT ketamine. My senior girl Ootay had dental work when she was 17 years old. She also had kidney disease, heart murmur, hyperthyroid, high blood pressure, megacolon, arthritis and one previous stroke.

My vet uses only Sevoflurane gas anesthesia, very fast acting and safe. A bit more expensive but totally worth it.

Good luck to your kitty!

otto said:

Make sure your vet uses a safe gas anesthetic, NOT ketamine. My senior girl Ootay had dental work when she was 17 years old. She also had kidney disease, heart murmur, hyperthyroid, high blood pressure, megacolon, arthritis and one previous stroke.

My vet uses only Sevoflurane gas anesthesia, very fast acting and safe. A bit more expensive but totally worth it.

Good luck to your kitty!

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Thanks!  I will do that.

otto said:

My vet uses only Sevoflurane gas anesthesia, very fast acting and safe. A bit more expensive but totally worth it.
 

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Isoflurane is also a good choice. Ketamine is sometimes one of the induction anesthetics (administered prior to intubation), and the gas anesthetics are for maintenance. 

Bless him.  What a handsome old boy.    I've had many tabby's just none right now.  My last was Ziggy who we fostered for awhile 2 years ago, and now has a nice home.    Thanks for your advice.

Sugarcatmom said:

Isoflurane is also a good choice. Ketamine is sometimes one of the induction anesthetics (administered prior to intubation), and the gas anesthetics are for maintenance. 

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Thanks. I will certainly ask my vet about these.

Yes, I believe you are correct in that the older a cat gets, the harder anesthesia is on them.
However, you can ease your worries by simply having preoperative blood work done. It will give you a basic idea whether his heart can handle it and then the vet will tell you what the risks are.

Depending on how bad his teeth are, I would lean toward getting it done. Bad dental health can affect heart health in the long run.

Minka said:

Yes, I believe you are correct in that the older a cat gets, the harder anesthesia is on them.
However, you can ease your worries by simply having preoperative blood work done. It will give you a basic idea whether his heart can handle it and then the vet will tell you what the risks are.

Depending on how bad his teeth are, I would lean toward getting it done. Bad dental health can affect heart health in the long run.

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Yes I've certainly heard that about dental health. Diseased gums can not only be painful, but pass bacteria around their bodies.  Hobbs is very healthy for 14, has blood work done 2 times yearly, now due for another panel, so that will be a good time to do this.  Thanks for the advice!

Sugarcatmom said:

Isoflurane is also a good choice. Ketamine is sometimes one of the induction anesthetics (administered prior to intubation), and the gas anesthetics are for maintenance. 

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Sevo does not need an induction, and that is one of the reasons my vet uses it. No ketamine or valium cocktails needed. It is that fast acting.

Iso does need an induction. I will always insist on Sevoflurane.

Hey there everyone thanks for all of the helpful advice. My boy is 16 yrs old and probably needs his teeth cleaned too. Unfortunately I have never had them done but his teeth and gums are beautiful. He loves me rubbing his gums and I tried brushing them when he was younger. His brother, my other baby, passed away 2 weeks ago from kidney failure and I promised Domi that he was visiting the vet regularly now.
I am so totally happy hearing that you, Sugarmomcat, have a 20yr old cat and he's beautiful. I'm hoping that my Domi lives that long as well. He doesn't seem to have any illnesses that we know of but we will check that out soon.
Thanks again for the advice and good luck with ur cats dental cleaning.

Adrianna.

Hello Adrianna!
If your boys teeth are indeed in good shape, there is not need to get a dental. :nod:
However, I wouldn't try to judge that on my own, I would take him in to be looked at and the vet can let you know if it needs to be done.
:-)

Hello, hello!!

Well that's good to know. I am taking him to see the vet in about a month or so. He is gonna get a full blood panel and his teeth checked out. I'm not sure how much he will like it cause he hasn't been to the vet in 8 years. But he knows that he had to get checked out. Hehehe.

Thanks for the reply.

Are there any vets in your area that offer anesthesia-free dental cleaning? My vet has just partnered with this company: 

http://petdentalservices.com/

One of my kitties will be undergoing this on February 20.

LN6271 said:

Are there any vets in your area that offer anesthesia-free dental cleaning? My vet has just partnered with this company: 

http://petdentalservices.com/

One of my kitties will be undergoing this on February 20.

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I would not recommend anyone do this, ever. Why would you put your cat through such a terrible ordeal? Please reconsider, and have your cat's teeth cleaned by a skilled veterinarian under safe gas anesthesia.

In addition to the safety risks, it is not a thorough or complete procedure and your cat could be left with very serious problems.

Here is one thread (with links to another) on the topic.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/244178/anesthesia-free-dental-work-for-cats-have-you-tried-this

I won't take this thread any more off topic by posting other links here, but you can search, there is much information available against this practice.

In my case, this procedure will be done in my vet's office and my cat will fast as he would for a normal dental because he will have a normal dental that day if there is any sign of a problem with a tooth or his gums or if he is just finding the procedure too stressful. I would never take my cat to a place that did this without my vet involved. My vet has not presented this as a replacement for a regular dental--I am well aware it will not be anywhere near as thorough. I am only trying it out on this particular cat to see how he would do because he is a calm and cooperative patient and his teeth are in generally good shape. I am also wondering if it would be a decent option for when this cat can no longer tolerate anesthesia. Anyone who wants to give this service a try with my vet must have their animal screened first--the vet does a visual inspection of the mouth to see if there is visible evidence of a serious problem and to see if the animal is likely to tolerate the procedure.

Honestly, it never in a million years occurred to me that this would be offered without an animal's regular vet involved in the process. Wow. 

In my earlier post I only suggested this because I thought it might be a "better than nothing" option but only because I had assumed it would be done with the involvement of the OPs vet.

LN6271, clearly you didn't read the entire thread on non-anethetic dentals. Chumley's was done by properly trained professional with the involvement of the vet. The problem is that when the infection or lesions or decay is up under the gum line, as was the case with Chumley, unless they also do dental x-rays (which they don't), the vet nor the person performing the procedure can tell. So Chumley, whose teeth looked good, suffered for a year, and had to have 3 teeth extracted at his next regular dental. The point is that visual inspection and scaling and polishing without anesthetic does not reveal problems that a regular dental does, and kitty suffers until that regular dental when they can get up under the gums.