15 year old needs a dental......:(

My cat tried to eat this morning and couldn't walked away from his dish meowing in pain and pawing at his mouth ....Soooo being Sunday no vets are open had called and get a vet to come in and a huge cost but didn't want him in pain til  tomorrow....He said he didn't see abbesses ..but a lot of inflammation ...gave him a shot of buprenorphine ..wanted to give him metacam but I questioned him on that....He said its much safer and we are more aware and so on...so I had said ok fine I have to trust you and he said other than your cats mouth he is in great shape BUT then I said how many 15 yr old cats do u know that have NO kidney issues and he said not many....Then again I said I have to trust you....BUT then he back tracked and said ok nevermind the metacam if I  don't feel comfy then he doesn't....he said til he  see's his bloodwork...

SO anyways he is going for blood work tomorrow and if all is well I will agree to the metacam I think ???? Til he can be scheduled for a dental...they only do it Tue and  Thurs and are booked but hoping to squeeze him in....

I am one worried mama tho   He is 15 and hasn't eaten anything today I suspect....he won't wanna eat much with a sore mouth....I am more worried about him not eating more so than the dental....

I know I am worried about something that hasn't even happened yet...typical of me ...he is going to have a min of 4 teeth removed...

Just wondering if there are any other senior that have had dentals and all went well ??

thanks

Nance

I would shy away from Metacam. You can try the oral buprenorphine which comes in pre-loaded syringes.  Have you tried baby food?  Or try pureeing a chicken breast with water to the consistency of baby food?  That might work.  I went through this with one of my  kitties early this year and totally understand your struggle.  He needs to eat though.

​I have tried tuna ..different kinds of soft...not the baby food yet....he is getting mad at me for trying to get him to eat...He just isn't having it today Usually tuna is a hit but not today....His mouth/muzzle up to his eyes is very swollen..it started within an hr of being home from the vets this morning...Not sure if its from the vet pushing and being in his mouth or he's had a reaction from the buprenorphine...but he isn't wanting any kinda food atm...will try again a few times tonight....If he wont eat I will get some baby food in the am and other canned to try to entice him...He looks very sad   and hasn't moved off his chair for hrs now ... I wonder if he is still in pain...the vet said he gave him a lower dose of the med...I have to bring him back in tomorrow for the blood work ...will talk to the vet again he did tell me this shot will last 2 or 3 days....

Nance

Poor guy. As long as his labs look good no reason he won't come through his dental with flying colors. In fact lots of older cats including those with kidney issues have dental work and do great. 

Well one more day then hopefully Tigger will be out of pain... he's been eating since they gave him an appetite stimulant but his mouth is still swollen and he is drooling like crazy...why would it be so swollen? Vet didn't see any abbesses their for wouldn't put him on antibiotics ...I thought that was odd bad teeth but he didn't think they were infected now 3. Days later he can't close his mouth His pain meds have worn off by now so I'm sure he's in some amount of pain... just want this to be over ... Am I crazy spending $1500 on a 15 and a half year old cats teeth ...????

No way! you are not crazy! Money could never be spent better than looking after your babies.
Swelling is quite normal with tooth problems and it will probably remain for a little while after he has had them out to. 
When it's all over and you have him back home and he is happy and eating again you will feel better than anything else in the world worth $1500 could ever make you feel.
Good vibes for his op 
Im sure everything will go fine and he will be back to healthy and happy in no time.

I guess all his pain meds and appetite stimulant have worn off he ate a good am meal but again won't have anything to do with food tonight ....and isn't moving again sleeping all afternoon ...and is in his fav spot beside the wood stove ...I can't believe this roller coaster ohhhh he ate I'm elated then ohhhh he won't eat ... I'm devastated I'm such a worrier I can see I won't sleep much tonight ... as long as he does ...I have to bring him in at 10 am... and he will spend the night .. I guess that's best for him ...I wil update again tomorrow ... thank you all for being here for a worried feline mama . Oh his blood work came back fairly good kidneys are good liver slightly low I think a few levels weee off but vet says nothing to be concerned about will get a copy of it tomorrow

Well its all over...he will spend the night and all day tomorrow at the hospital....Was told he did well and it wasn't as bad as he expected...a few teeth were removed but one he said he could clearly tell would have been causing all the pain...He said he cleaned it up and "hopefully" got it all ...( not sure I like the word hopefully )... They will call in the am and I should be able to pick him up at 5 tomorrow....

I am concerned tho about him having reactions to his pains meds....they are going to try metacam and tramadol ...fingers crossed he can tolerate those meds I will update when he is home

That's great news. Glad to hear everything went well. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery.

He's home and he couldn't be happier ... every person and animal all got head butts from him when he came home ... first thing he wanted was food ... he's been eating fairly well ... what a relief...He's slightly loopy and can't seem to settle but I'm sure that will all calm down soon ... we are all relieved to have him home and doing so well. Not bad for an old guy.. let's hope it continues ...

Thats great to hear 

I just found a resorptive lesion on my cats tooth today so he will be going in this week to have a tooth removed to. I hope it goes as well as your guys op went.

Thank you for listening to me ...this site never fails to make me feel better and not alone...Today Tigs been extremely clingy ...so I stayed home with him all day Christmas shopping can wait...there are times when he is starving and others where he just takes a few licks off the top but I believe he is getting enough and I feel comfy to give him his pain meds...fingers crossed he keeps doing well