First Time Dental With Extractions

[ANagy3]

First time poster here.

I've had three cats in my life. Sadly, two have passed away. My current cat, Chloe, is 6 years old and has been with me for two years. Took her to the vet yesterday and he said she needed a dental and three extractions. I saw the teeth and I agree. However, neither of my two previous cats ever had a dental. They both had good teeth. I'm concerned about how Chloe will react after the procedure. Vet says he will give Buprenex for pain. I've administered Buprenex before to one of my other cats but she was end of life and I couldn't tell if she had any bad reactions to it. I plan to close the doors to the bedrooms to prevent her from going under the bed (if she goes under the bed I'll never get her out to give her meds). I've had cats that have had surgery before and those cats had no ill affects from the anesthesia. I may be overreacting but I'm just really concerned about pain for Chloe. I'm also concerned about getting her meds in her. I don't think I did it right when I did it before. It's so hard to get into the cheek pocket. Any tips in that area would be helpful. One other thing, the vet mentioned he may or may not give antibiotics. Are antibiotics standard? I guess I'm just looking for reassurances, tips and tricks, and any other comments to put my mind at ease.

Andrea & Chloe

 

[beckbjj]

My big boy Quincy just had a dental on Thursday, his third I believe. He's 8 years old and for whatever reason has major tartar problems. He didn't have to get any extractions this time, but has in the past.

His biggest problem actually is the anesthesia. It affects him for a good solid two days, with dilated eyes and major restlessness. When it finally goes away, he sleeps and sleeps, even more than normal. Aside from that, he comes home with beautiful shiny teeth (albeit sometimes a few less than he left with ) and little shaved spot where the IV was.

My vet uses an injected pain med that lasts I think they said like a week, so no Buprenex. Which is good because several years ago Quincy had a urinary blockage and did have Buprenex for pain and he really didn't like it. Not the taste, I mean you could tell he didn't like how it made him feel. (My dog had the same reaction with Tramadol, whereas she didn't mind Rimadyl at all...really, you can just tell.) So anyway, you could maybe ask your vet about a long-acting injected pain med instead of the Buprenex.

The stitches on the extractions should be self-dissolving, so you shouldn't need to take Chloe back for that unless you think she's having problems.

Good luck with Chloe!

 

[beckbjj]

I forgot the antibiotic part. If Quincy had needed extractions, they said they would give a long-acting injected antibiotic. But Quincy has also been on Clavamox a number of times, and that's no big deal. I squat down over him so he's between my knees, lock my ankles behind me so he can't back out, and then just open his mouth and put the pill as far back as I can without making him gag. Then I hold his mouth closed and rub his throat gently until I know he's swallowed. In the grand scheme of things, not that bad!

 

[stephanietx]

Like humans, all kitties are different and some will have no teeth problems and some will develop all kinds of teeth problems. Hannah had resorptive lesions last year and ended up with a dental and 2 or 3 extractions. She's never handled sedatives well, it seems to linger in her system longer than "normal" and it makes her growly as it wears off, so we set up a large crate for her when she came home. This helps us keep an eye on her, protects her from the other kitties in our home since they will pester her to death, and keeps her from attacking any of them in her altered mental state. She had an Orbax shot and against my wishes, they gave her a metacam shot (for pain). We had to give her an antibiotic after she came home, but other than that, she recovered quickly and her overall well-being improved greatly. She has been like a totally different kitty since we got her teeth taken care of! When she went for her well kitty check this past January, the vet said her teeth were still looking great.

 

[tabbytom]

Hello ANagy3 , on behalf of The Catsite community, I warmly welcome you to TCS

I'm tabbytom and I'm a Mentor here in Catsite. Feel free to ask questions if you have any in regards to getting around the site. I'm here to help


Here are some articles to read to help you get started with the site.

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Do check out the informative forum threads and also the many good reads in the Articles section too.

And lastly, do introduce yourself and your kitty to the community in New Cats on the Block and do post photos of your kitty for us to see

 

[ANagy3]

Chloe had her dental today. She was very active when I picked her up at the vet's office. She seemed to be acting normal. I brought her home and she was ravenous. I fed her and she was happy. She seems very restless. Walking around, rubbing on everything, she'll lay down but not to rest. She is still very wide awake. I had to fight with her to get her Clavamox in her. And then again for the Buprenex. She's going to hate me after 10 days. I think she is having side effects from the anesthesia making her restless. How long does this last and will she eventually crash and be out of it? She doesn't appear to be in any pain because she is rubbing her face against stuff. I would think if she was in pain, she wouldn't do that.

 

[lalagimp]

She might be trying to rub her sutures. Doesn't mean pain just could be annoyed. Amalie had to have teeth removed twice because she has FORLs and I guess she just had injections done at the hospital. She never had any follow up meds at home with me. I think effects from anesthesia can last up to 2 days. She was in denial about every having work done and insisted she was going to continue eating kibble.