how safe is it to have a 14yr old cats teeth cleaned?

My cat is 14 and she is in very good health except for her teeth. She has lost a couple but her teeth are in bad shape. I just am not sure if it is safe to anesthetize her to clean/acess her teeth.  Any thoughts ?

I think that is a question for your vet and you to decide. The main concern I would have is putting the cat to sleep at the age of 14. My decision would be based on the cat's individual medical history.

Agree you should discuss with your vet. There are steps you can take to mitigate the risks - run senior bloodwork before, use Sevoflurane gas, use IVs during procedure. Anesthesia is always a risk, but so is having bad teeth.

My 13 year old, Silly just had two teeth removed.  She came through the procedure fine. It depends on the cat, I agree.  Silly has FHV and has had an eye removed because of it.

My thoughts on this.

One of mine was only a few months away from his eighteens birthday when he had a normal regular cleaning again under anesthesia. Everything went fine, they took excellent care of him.

Sixteen-seventeen year olds going in for cleanings and other necessary dental procedures have been routine in our family. The serious consequences of neglected oral problems far outweigh the risk of a dental. These consequences include kidney and liver problems and bacteria reaching the heart, causing potentially life-threatening problems.

Age has really nothing to do with the risks of dentals. Simply because old age by itself is not a disease. (I'm quoting a vet here who tells this to her clients.) The cat's general health is what matters the most. Especially the health of the heart. Young cats and dogs often die from undiagnosed heart disease during spay, neuter, etc.  When it happens it's always a terrible shock. And vets take these deaths as hard as the owners.

With an older cat the best protection is doing a heart ultrasound as well before a dental in addition to very detailed blood work that includes all the values in the chemistry profile and CBC. Partial profiles can leave out important information that may warn about an underlying health problem.

Oh the vet wants to do it........but I am nervous about it. She is very anxious when she goes to the vet. Last time they had to use a little gas to do her annual physical.....but she did fine and recovery time is almost instant

Diana Crabtree said:

Oh the vet wants to do it........but I am nervous about it. She is very anxious when she goes to the vet. Last time they had to use a little gas to do her annual physical.....but she did fine and recovery time is almost instant

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Hi Diana My senior cat is very cantankerous and had a dental cleaning a couple of weeks ago. I was concerned as well. She is 16. What I did do was ask a lot of questions about anesthesia. You might want to ask any questions you have well in advance of the procedure so you can then do some research of your own.

My 15 year old senior male cat has had his teeth cleaned all his life. He's lucky because he doesn't get lots of tartar or plaque buildup on his teeth so his teeth cleanings are spaced very far apart. Something like on the order of every 2-2 1/2 years. He still has all of his teeth, never lost one and good looking gums and my vet attributes this to his genetics concerning his teeth.

Come June 13th, he'll be 16 years old and his next 6 month checkup is for the second week in July. My vet understands old age in cats and when she does put him under to clean his teeth, she only puts him under for a short period of time. She doesn't give him the "recommended" dosage. Usually it's only half the dosage. He's usually fully awake within 20-25 minutes after the teeth cleaning procedure is over with. He can walk around easily too without stumbling and no wobbly legs. The vet's staff watches him for an hour or two just to make sure nothing goes wrong and then my vet calls me to "come get him" and take him home with me where he belongs.

The only thing I've noticed as well as my vet, his eyes stay dialated for around 48 hours after the procedure. No matter what drug has been used on him over his lifetime for teeth cleaning, it's alway been like this. Other cats eyes don't stay dialated like this for that time length, but my cat is "different". I just chalk it up to his genetics. When this occurs, I always keep the blinds and drapes shut in our home. It's nice and dark in the house for him and when the dialation of his eyes is no more, the blinds and drapes are again opened.

I do agree, putting off dental cleanings because a cat gets old is not a good idea.

OFF TOPIC  Nightwing, have you ever seen the movie Legend of the Guardians?  Your avatar looks like the owls in the movie.  OFF TOPIC

OFF TOPIC - No, I've never seen the "Legends of the Guardians" movie. My avatar comes from the barn owls which live in our area where my home is in the piney woods of southeast Texas. I see them regularly in the early mornings as sunrise approaches and then again after sunset when totaly darkness is approaching. Since owls are hunters of the night, the barn owl avatar fits my username so it was a logical choice when picking an avatar. My username was picked by me in 1977 from the movie "Night Wing", but this movie was about man made genetically engineered vampire bats. - OFF TOPIC
 

Just my two cents-

14 isn't too old for anesthesia, if the proper precautions are taken. 

Things you'll want to make sure your vet does:

-Pre operative bloodwork (and ideally urinalysis)

-Has a tech dedicated to monitoring only

-Full mouth x-rays (so nothing is missed and she doesn't have to have it repeated in 3 months)

-IV fluids during the procedure

-constant monitoring of

  ---ECG

  ---SPO2 also known as pulse oximetry.  It monitors how well oxygenated the blood is

  ---End Tidal CO2 (ETCO2) to make sure they are breathing well

  ---Blood Pressure every 2 to 5 minutes

  ---Body temperature.

-Warming blanket during procedure, and ideally recovery in a warming cage (little bodies lose heat fast and hypothermia slows recovery dramatically)

-close monitoring for at least 2 hours post operatively. 

-post operative pain meds for at least three days if extractions occur

If you're really nervous ask your vet if you can see the area where the procedure will take place, and have them walk you though it set by step.  Ask them what kind of drugs they use, one to avoid in older cats would be Ketamine except at a very low dose for pain control during any extractions (and I am talking about less than a milligram here). 

Our "pre-med" is a cocktail of drugs to sedate and relax the patient before placing an IV to administer induction drugs and constant fluids through the procedure.  The reason why we do a mix of drugs is we then can use less drugs in total to preform the procedure quickly. 

When done properly anesthesia is very safe (though like anything in life, nothing is 100% safe).  The hospital where I work sees mainly geriatric cats and this is a rather routine procedure, cats with kidney insufficiency, cats with heart disease, 22 year old cats, you name it.  The key to doing it safely is good monitoring and judicious use of medications.

Hope this helps you and your kitty!

As far as anesthesia and age, I think it's safe. When my girl Caspurr was getting her battery of tests (age 14, almost 15), she wasn't in the best health (not having genuinely digested food in over two weeks) and she was knocked out for an endoscopy and feeding tube placement and she came through just fine. I expressed my concerns with the vet because I was under the impression that anesthesia for such an old cat would be a death sentence, but he told me that if he felt the risks of surgery outweighed the benefits in any way from the anesthesia to the surgery itself, he would let me know. As long as you follow their pre-procedure and post-procedure instructions, like no food 12 hours before the cleaning or what not, then I think your kitty will do just fine.