Dental health in elderly cats

help please?

i have an elderly cat (14 or so) who over the past year or so has had to have a couple of teeth out. each time the vet has told me that really he should have ALL his teeth out because he could otherwise get kidney problems. he says my horror at this seemingly drastic move is seeing it from a human perspective and that it won't worry the cat and will make him lots better and increase his longevity.

i know he's not feeling very well just now (the cat that is, not the vet :-) because he's off his food again and getting a bit skinny so i assume again it's his teeth but i am very loath to go ahead unless i can get confirmation from someone that this is the best idea.

has anyone heard of this before?

thank you.
kathryn

I have heard of this before. My vet also told me about this w/our persian mix Lucy. Persians are supposedly notorious for bad teeth.

Luckily, Lucy's teeth are not that bad yet, but someday we might have to pull them. He said that pulling all of her teeth would still allow her to eat dry food and lead a normal life. I agree w/you that pulling all of your cats teeth is extreme, but if your cat is not eating because of his teeth it may be the only option. I bet your cat would be happier too w/o a mouth in pain.

Good luck, I hope your kitty is feeling better soon !

-safron

Take a look at BadHabit's reply in this thread. Reminded me of you since you mentioned kidney problems, too.

Just a reminder - Check those teeth

If you haven't already then have your vet pull some blood and run a profile of your kittie's kindeys and liver function. In an senior pet that should be done first before any kind of anesthesia is given.

We do see several pets who have a few if not any of their teeth left. Dispite what you'd think they do very well even with the hard food, although it wouldn't matter if he had wet if all his teeth are gone.

If your veterinarian feels it's necessiary then maybe it's the best thing to do. If you don't feel comfortable with your vet's advice you can always get a second opinon.

Let us know what you decide.