Any info on these meds for a dental cleaning? My cat is scheduled for this Thursday.

Hi

I have a 3 or so year old FIV kitty that has a lot of tarter on his back teeth. (I never realized & I feel very guilty about it but that's a side issue). So I emailed the vet (& I'm new to her,  we saw her once so far 2 weeks ago for a check up. She seeeems okay but I am always on edge/alert about most vets due to experiences. I was watching her pretty closely and how she responded to questions and felt at least reasonable about her. My cat really does need this stuff off his teeth and please add a prayer or  wish for me that he doesn't need any extractions and that all goes well. I'm terrified. )

So anyway I asked about which meds they give and also my concerns about antibiotics and this is what she wrote back.

"Due to his FIV + status I highly recommend antibiotics if any extractions are needed. If there are no extractions and his oral health is fair then at minimum a three day course of antibiotics. 

Pi will receive Oxymorpohone and Midazolam as a premedication, Propofol for induction and Isoflourane gas for maintenance. We have already done his presurgical blood work."

I am going to look all of these up but in the mean time if anyone on here knows anything about any of this please please let me know. I'm going to eat dinner and have a bath to wind down and then look these meds up and search this site. They do seem nice including the front desk staff so so far that is well. Pi is pretty strong and healthy but he's sensitive to things, dust, foods, insect bites. He always recovers very well but at the same time he's quite touchy. We're honestly a match made in heaven.

The vet was fist talking about a very strong antibiotic shot? that would last like 10 days so I'm really glad she's at least saying now that it could be a 3 day course and only if he needs an extraction. She also told me she would phone me if he needed an extraction before she did anything which I think is good.

I also don't know what she means about "premedication" or why they are needed and what is "induction"  and I guess I understand the gas for maintenance. I will look these up but any insight from anyone on here would be immensely appreciated.  [emoji]9829[/emoji]

I am not familiar with all of these, but the antibiotics seem to be appropriate for medication. They normally give an antibiotic injection or a couple of pills after any extractions. I would not worry about that.

Pre-sedation is necessary in order to be able to ventilate the cat. They always put a tube in the throat, in order for them to breathe while working on the teeth.. no big deal.. think of humans...in the operating room. 

The pre sedation is imperative because you do not want your cat to freak out totally.....

I think my guy got many of those meds during his dentals...they sound familiar. 

Hi Catlike1 and welcome to the forum !

First off, relax about his getting "Oxymorpohone and Midazolam as a premedication, Propofol for induction and Isoflourane gas for maintenance".  The first three are safe and effective drugs given before the cat gets fully anesthetized with the Isoflourane gas. The first is an opiod pain med, the second is a sedative. Iso is the safest gas for cats.

Better that you spend your research time getting to know about that "very strong antibiotic shot? that would last like 10 days". I'm happy to hear that won't be used. There's a very thorough article by a reputable Vet about that not-so-convenient drug right here: http://catinfo.org/?link=convenia

TCS members have posted some of their experiences with it here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/244226/convenia-side-effects

It's on my "Do Not Give" list......I certainly would NOT be giving it to a FIV+ cat.

The usual antibiotic used after dental surgeries is Clindamycin.....IF one is needed at all......in case you missed/didn't follow the link in Dr. Pierson's article, here's a good coverage of antibiotics & dental surgery by a board-certified dental surgeon:  http://www.toothvet.ca/PDFfiles/Antibiotics.pdf

There's a very good coverage of dental surgery on this reliable site: http://felinecrf.org/dental_problems.htm#dental_surgery

You haven't mentioned post-surgery pain relief (even cleanings can be painful). You're best advised to politely refuse any NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory). These are great for humans, not so for cats who lack the enzymes to metabolize them....kidney damage results. Buprenorphine is an opiod pain med that's available in a 3-day slow release injectable and also as a orally absorbed (NOT swallowed) product - it's the most commonly used, safe  pain med with cats.

There's a specialized online FIV community......I think I'd be getting those folks' thoughts about the antibiotic issue....you'll find them here: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/fiv-healthscience/info   (I'd recommend that you get a new separate email address to use exclusively for the group - they use email as their 'operating platform', so that will help you keep track of the information flow.)

Hope that helps !

@Artiemom

Thank you so much for this information. Thank you for explaining about the pre-sedation and why it's needed. I really appreciate that & it's helped a lot. For the antibiotics my concern is because he is FIV pos and I am scared to mess with his immune system. I'll keep reading everything I can and again I'm so grateful for your help with this. 

@WhiteShadow  

This is really good to know about. I can't thank you enough right now. 

1. I am really relieved to hear this about the first 3 meds. I'll read whatever else I can find but you've given me some hope and reassurance where I had nothing about these particular drugs.

2. About the antibiotics. This is exactly what my fears were when she said she would give him a shot (which with other cats I only remember giving oral antibiotics) that was very strong and would last 11 days. A few days after I found him he went through a fever for about 8 hours and I had already read enough (in a motel room ipad) to not want to give him the antibiotics at that time (2 years ago now.) He did get through and was really good after that.

I just read the info about the injectable antibiotic and feel pretty sick about this. I am seriously just now considering trying to find another vet if this one was going to routinely use a super strong and very very long lasting antibiotic which is know to cause anaphalaxis on an FIV kitty.  *&$% 

His back teeth have got to be cleaned but it's not an emergency. It needs to be done pretty promptly but not at risk of his life. From that article it says that antibiotic should never be considered a first choice for dental cleaning in the first place. The problem is now I don't know if I trust this vet. There was one problem when I took him in last week, I asked her if she'd ever lost a cat during a dental procedure and she got mad at me. She told me "You NEVER ask a doctor or a vet if they have lost a patient. Things happen and every doctor or vet loses a patient at some point". I was pretty shocked and I said that I was asking because it was advised to ask on forums and other sites and that it wasn't personal. She kind of back tracked in her tone and I said, "Have you lost one in the last year" because she was a tech for 10+ years and had gotten her vet license a year ago. She said no she hadn't and then did a turn about and acted much more friendly. It definitely made me wary but then she seemed much more amenable and said she'd call me during the dental procedure if she thought a tooth need extraction and wouldn't do anything I wasn't comfortable with. And then things seemed more calm so I thought maybe she was just touchy about it but I still felt that of COURSE i had a right to ask and I wouldn't hesitate to ask a doctor either if necessary.  

Now that I've read the details about this antibiotic I just really don't know what to think about her. I'm going to search vets again in the area and see if anything looks okay. Ages ago I applied for a job at a vets not far from here and she really liked me but then I couldn't take the job. (It was just a front office job.) I wonder if she is still around.  I don't know. How do I know now this vet wouldn't administer this stuff anyway. She told me about it in this cheerful kind of voice, like, "Oh then we'll just give him this shot and it's great because it will cover him for 10 days!"  

The Yahoo group is giving me errors to join so I emailed the person in charge. I'll try again in the morning. I'll read the other info you linked now.  Thank you x100. I am so grateful. 

I thought I might have found a possible vet where the practice is listed with the Dental College but they list NSAID's as part of the drugs they use. 

Pets undergoing any type of dental care must be anesthetized for their safety and ours. We carefully select our anesthesia products based on safety, minimal side effects, synergy (combining local anesthesia, narcotics and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, etc.) and maximum pain relief. We customize our pain management protocols for each patient based on such things as medical history, breed, any diseases that may be present, overall health and age. Dental patients are carefully monitored on metered I.V. fluids, heat support, cardiogram, pulse oximetry, respiratory, temperature, and blood pressure by a Licensed Veterinary Technician to ensure their safety and well being at all times.

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The after care following surgeries sounds good, with the IV and the heat support, but not so much the drugs if cats can't metabolize them. I'm going to fall asleep on the keyboard soon but will continue searching in the morning. Making my way through White Shadow's links which is incredibly helpful right now. 

I'm just adding this as a reference for dental care from the same vet in White Shadow's link that writes about antibiotics. I wish I lived in Ontario. 

http://www.toothvet.ca/dentalcare.html

I've cancelled my appointment with this vet. :/