Cat dental cleaning and anesthesia

Hi all!

Mimi was recommended to have her teeth cleaned but the vet said its not super important. He says it will need to be done though within the next years.

I'm really scared about anesthesia . They told me that it be full anesthesia and Iv and all but I'm scared. Can you please share your experiences because I need to read some stories. I can't decide if I should do it or not . Mimi is 13, has IBD which is manageable but otherwise healthy and active, indoor kitty and 8 lbs ( she was always tiny)

thank you!

Both of my kitties have had dentals  One has had one the other one has had two.  They both did fine even though both had extractions done.

I know there are specific questions to ask about type of anesthetic and monitoring that is done, hopefully someone more knowledgeable can give you more info.  You do want to get blood work done right before.  The blood work can catch issues that could make anesthetic problematic.

Yes, we are going to do pre blood work 2 days before the procedure

I'm scared I don't think we will do it I mean the vet didn't seem concerned and he said we should do it in the future . I read many stories of pets dying or never waking up and I'm terrified

Our (previous we never went back) vet wanted us to take our two year old rescue cat in for dental cleanings every year saying that they were necessary to maintain the health of a cat. I did research and decided that this vet was not one that I was interested in having because once a year was too often for a dental cleaning. He said one was important right away because our cat had swollen gums and plaque on his back teeth. We have been brushing his teeth since we took him to this vet (literally drove from the vet to the pet store to grab a toothbrush and toothpaste). Now his teeth look fine and his gums are not swollen. We've been able to forestall actually having dental work done on him for now. If a dental truly is necessary, then we would do it, but in our case it wasn't and I'm not putting my cat under anesthesia for anything that isn't necessary.

That said, from the research that I did do at the time anesthesia risk is relatively low in most cases. I have heard that taking an animal to a veterinary school to get things done can be good since these facilities also have to have anesthesiologists (something that isn't true of a lot of vets). WSU is a ways from Seattle, but it might be an option to look into. Also picking a cat specific hospital can be helpful since the vets will be experienced. If you voice concerns with your vet they may be able to provide you with specifics on what they do, drugs they use, who is in the room so that you can get more information that you can do further research with.

How are you brushing your kitty's teeth? I tried this a long time ago and I failed . Mimi was hiding from me

My cat Pheobe is 12 yrs old and has been under anesthesia 3 times in the last year and a half. Twice for dentals (she keeps getting resorptive lesions) and once for a biopsy of a lesion in her nose. All 3 times she came out of the anesthesia fine. The most important thing is that you trust your vet. Also make sure they take dental X-rays.

Our rescue cat has always been super easy going. Brushing his teeth just requires wrapping him up in a blanket. We started with just the toothpaste on a finger and moved to a finger brush from there. He is super patient with it and will meow but mostly just wait till its over. He gets a treat after each brushing. We are working with our kitten now to get her to be patient with it also. Starting again just with the toothpaste. Not all cats will tolerate tooth brushing though. Especially, not if taught from a young age.

Choose your vet wisely! I have lost one to anesthesia. The surgery was over, and the cat was left in recovery over lunchtime! He aspirated and died! I got another vet and I always drop the cats off the night before, to ensure that they don't sneak food or water. Two of my cats just had dentals and extractions. The vet gave me a huge price break: five hundred sixty eight each--not including the fifty dollar check up. Of course, I am picking them up tomorrow, and there will probably be EXTRA charges. The baseline estimates are usually over a thousand dollars each. NOW I know that, to prevent dental problems, NEVER GIVE SOFT CHOW! The two cats, who refuse soft chow are eight years old and have teeth like white ivory. The soft chow eaters have rotting teeth in the back! Also, you probably can clean the teeth with a dental scraper from WalMart; but, if the cats are older, they will also probably need extractions, and I wouldn't do them myself. They could break off inside the gum!

Just wondering what everyone's dental routine and feeding preference is. So hard to know if i'm doing the right thing, so would love to hear from others (to help prevent dental issues as well as avoiding too much dry food in order to avoid urinary / kidney issues). It's like a catch 22!

Arcturus is going in for dental cleaning and probably extractions on Monday, however this is definitely necessary because he has pretty bad gingivitus and is FIV+. A previous cat had to have teeth extracted too, and my dog was under anaesthesia a few times too, and I've never had a bad experience/adverse reaction. I would try brushing her teeth though, if you can, if her gums/teeth aren't in too bad a shape. 

I'd suggest talking to your vet and explaining your concerns. I've been reading quite a bit around this since getting Arc (and I'm going to be training as a vet nurse so it's useful!) and the rate of death due to anesthesia in cats is actually quite low (about one in a thousand according to several articles I read a while back). In particular I'd ask if there will anyone to specifically monitor your cat's vitals, any possible complications from her medical history and for how long she'll be monitored for after being woken up. 

I was nervous about having my cats' teeth cleaned, too.  But we've just had two done in the last month and they were fine.  I did ask a lot of questions--if they'd ever lost any animals during a cleaning, how they monitor the cats during and after, things like that.  They of course did blood work and a physical before the procedure.  

I feed only wet food to these three cats, and I do give them Greenie dental treats, though my vet says those are 'iffy' at helping keep teeth clean, especially if the cat scarfs them down without really chewing them.  One of my cats likes to have her teeth brushed, we're still working on the other two.  

I watched this done at a vet clinical I was going, it was relatively simple and at least at my vets office where the clinical was, they have about five people standing by to monitor everything that is going on. Never be afraid to ask how things are some!