Old Kitties and the Vet question, plus vibes please!

I just got a call from my mom. My old kitty that still lives with them lost a tooth and may have swallowed it last night. The vet recommended that we try to bring him for some antiobiotics.

The thing is he is 18 and hasn't been to the vet in a Very Long Time. My parents are a little old-fashioned in their attitude towards animals, they always worry that it will stress him out so much to take him to the vet that it outweighs the medical concerns (and mind you, he's never been sick, so it's not like that). I'm not sure I agree with that, but I thought I'd check in with you guys. What do you think, is it just an excuse?

I'm going to go try and take him to the vet after work today (in about 2 hours) and the plan is if he freaks out too much to just give up. But what do you think? Should he go to a vet no matter how stressed he is?

I'm worried about my poor old kitty. I hope he has a few more years left in him.

Is there any way the vet can come to u??
I know my vet will for "kids " that dont travel well

I hadn't thought of that. I'm not sure if there is, but if we can't get him there today I will research it.

My sweet Joshua (RB) managed to knock his lower canine on one side practically out. Poor fellow it stuck out at an angle and looked awful. I ran him to the vets, but of course, hating carriers and car rides, he knocked it out all the way on his way there. I was still glad to have my vet take a look, make sure all the root looked out, and we did do antibiotics prophylactically. I was told to keep an eye on it for any discharge or the open area widening versus closing.