Dental Extraction Recovery

Hi everyone! I adopted my almost 2 year old Lizzie 6 months ago from a local shelter, and found out earlier this week that she needed at least 2-3 teeth extracted. Dropped her off for her overnight, and by the time I picked her up on Thursday evening she was 7 teeth down. They sent us home with enough Buprenex for a few days, but no antiinflammatories or antibiotics.

She looked okay(if a little woozy) on Thursday night, but yesterday (Friday) I noticed her face was super swollen when I got home from work. I've been giving the buprenex every 8-12 hrs, and she's cuddly and purring but still pretty swollen. Vet says it's normal and to try cold compresses, but she's not allowing that. Any advice or insight? Lizzie's my first kitty and I just want to make sure she's comfortable during the recovery.

Update: Lizzie has been sleeping/incredibly lethargic all day. She has very little interest in food. I called the vet, they told me swelling was normal, and they could not prescribe an anti-inflammatory because she was given a shot after the surgery. They're having me bring her in at 10 on Monday morning, and don't want to prescribe an antibiotic until then to avoid causing her any further stress in having to have me administer another medication. However, her lethargy only seems to increase as the day goes on. She's still drooling. I'm getting worried and am wondering if a trip to the emergency vet will be needed before Monday.

I imagine she's lethargic from the pain pill.  Plus her mouth must be pretty sore, so those two things combines would probably keep her from wanting to eat much.  Did they tell you to feed her only soft food for awhile?  I would get some stinky wet food and mix it with water so it's thinner, then heat it up just a little to bring out the smell, then see if you can get her interested in it.   Fishy foods are the stinkiest, normally.  And pates are the softest (if you aren't used to wet foods)

Did your vet not administer an antibiotic at the time of the extractions?  I just figured they gave her Convenia or something, that's why they didn't send an antibiotic home with you.  That's a antibiotic shot that lasts for 2 weeks.  It should be on your itemized receipt if they did. 

As far as going to an ER Vet, I would just keep a close eye on her, and if the swelling gets worse, or she has bleeding or absolutely refuses to eat, or things get worse, take her in.  OR, if your Vet is still open today, call them back and ask them what signs to look for before  you would take her in to the ER.

They didn't tell me to feed only soft food but I'm doing it anyways just to max out her comfort. She prefers the pate flavors over the chunk, probably because her teeth were so bad before she got them pulled. I did add a little water to it just now and on one of the rare occasions that she left her sleeping spot to follow me we stopped at her food bowl and she ate some. So far no bleeding, and the swelling isn't getting worse.

There was no antibiotic on the itemized bill, only the anesthetic and anti-inflammatory. When I called today our usual vet wasn't there, but the vet that was said he noticed there was no antibiotic. He said that because administering an antibiotic is usually such a battle for most cats he wanted to check her out on Monday to see if an antibiotic was necessary, rather than giving her one and possibly causing a struggle that could pop the stitches or cause her more pain in some way.

I'm just so not used to this side of her. I know she was bound to be a little less herself the day after, but she's usually so playful and chatty that I can't help but worry.

How is your kitty doing?  My Moe boy is having his dental procedure on the 26th and I'm nervous!

rachbu She's getting back to her normal self, at least in terms of the teeth and eating. It's now been just over two weeks since her surgery and just a couple days ago she finally started eating close to what she should be eating. She's also back to her playful, curious self. The vet said the recovery time was normal, especially considering how many teeth she had removed. Now I'm trying to figure out the underlying health issues that might have caused such an issue at only 2 years old. How many is your Moe having out? I hope his surgery and recovery go well!

Oh, that's so good to hear!!  Moe probably needs two of his back molars removed--mainly, I'm nervous because he's 14.

I have a little boy I rescued last year when Moe Moe's big sis passed away.  He needs a tooth extracted as well, but that's because he was dumped outside by his previous owners. Strays often have broken teeth because they eat bones and other things that can cause a cracked tooth.

It sounds like yours was a decay issue though, not a cracked tooth?  It may not be an underlying medical problem.  It's entirely possible that your cat just has genetically bad teeth.  I can't speak for cats, but I personally have HORRIBLE teeth--my first root canal was when I was 15, and I don't even know how many I've had since then!  Usually every year or so, I need another!

Hang in there!  I know how hard it is!

Hi, my 1.5 year old rescue is having similar issues at a young age. Wanted to ask how your kitty is doing nowadays and if you ended up finding out how she had these issues at her age?

hohohobosanta said:

Hi, my 1.5 year old rescue is having similar issues at a young age. Wanted to ask how your kitty is doing nowadays and if you ended up finding out how she had these issues at her age?

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I don't see any posts from the original poster since 2018 so don't imagine you will get a reply. You might be better off starting a thread of your own to ask your questions and explain what is going on with your kitty.