19 year old cat with dental extraction

[brittpatt]

Hello!

I haven't been here in awhile. My 19 year old girl with controlled kidney disease is showing signs of a dental issue. Her vet identified this issue a few years ago but we thought we might be able to control it. We are meeting with her vet next week to see how severe the issue is, but I was hoping to get some info on how other old, kidney cats have responded to dental issues / anesthesia. I know it's frowned upon, but I've heard specialists can have successful dental extractions on old cats.

 

[Fergusboy]

My vet suggested extracting all of my 15 year old kitty's remaining teeth while they had her under for a cleaning. Kitty had gingivitis but not huge inflammation like stomatitis. My vet said that they wanted to minimize the number of times my kitty was anaesthetized because of her kidney disease. Anaesthesia can cause a drop in blood pressure which can cause futher kidney damage. I chose not to have her remaining teeth extracted because I felt it was just too much for her to tolerate/recover from. If my kitty has further dental problems, I will definitely try her on some anti nflammatory and pain meds. She did do just fine with anaesthesia this time.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I think it really would depend on the overall health of the cat (aside from the CKD), and just how bad her teeth are. Have a frank discussion with the Vet to determine the best course of action. Sometimes, if the dental pain effects their quality of life, then we may need to choose to take a risk to try to help them. That's my feeling anyway.

Let us know what the Vet says.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I agree with the above - first determining how 'bad' the dental issue(s) is/are. My 19+ yo cat has more than just CKD going on (hyperthyroidism, high BP, arthritis, and lymphoma - diagnosed after the dental evaluations). Her dental evaluations have been anywhere from 'tartar', 'mild calculus' to 'Garde 3-4 tartar/gingivitis. Resorptive lesion'. The latter one was given before the other two assessments, FWIW, and were done by a vet, a feline only vet, and an internal med vet. None of the vets involved have recommended doing anything, but that might be because of her age, health, and the fact that I don't see anything necessarily bothering her with her mouth.

I do not plan on doing anything at this point. Not sure if any of this is helpful to you, but just sharing anyway.