Question:
My cat Treasure is 8 years old and has never had his teeth cleaned. I
have put it off the last few years when his teeth started showing tarter
due to the fact I was nervous about the anesthesia. However, this year
when he gets his shots I am going to have it done. I do not want him to
have any problems with gum disease in the future. The vet said they
would have to give him a general anesthesia to do the cleaning.
Has anyone had any experience in having their cats teeth cleaned this
way. And is that the best way to perform teeth cleaning. He is NOT a
friendly cat by the way! I would appreciate any feedback on this.
Answer:
About 5 yrs ago I had one of my older cat's teeth cleaned under
general anesthesia. Her teeth looked fine afterwards, but she was
very disoriented and dizzy. If you have this done, make sure you'll
be home with him for at least 24 hours so he doesn't fall down the
steps or otherwise hurt himself. The after effects didn't last longer
than a day or two but it sure was pitiful to watch.
A few years ago I took a very healthy adult cat in to get her teeth cleaned.
Unfortunately, she never recovered from the anesthetic, and her liver shut
down. We had to have her euthanised a couple days later. Ask your vet if
he/she can use Isoflourine gas for the anesthetic; the cat recovers almost
immediately, and is not groggy/drugged the rest of the day as with other
anesthetics. It's considered to be much safer. Of course, it's also more
expensive, but when a pet's life is at stake, there's no choice. I don't want
to repeat the experience.
Crash just had hers done under anesthesia and had one tooth
extracted, Not the best of times but not the worst either.
Our vet usually does some cleaning with every annual exam but
said to have a really good job anesthesia is the best option.
(Also because of the tooth extraction.) She was surprisingly
groggy for two days (the cat, not the vet) and her hip
was exceptionally sore from the injection compared to other times my cats
have anesthesia but is ok now and has much sweeter breath and healthier gums.
I will probably have her done every three years or so. Brushing
has not been a successful venture.
My Ceilidh (10-yr-old Siamese) has had her teeth cleaned
twice now, just as you describe, and there have been no problems
whatsoever (I know -- I get nervous about the anaesthesia, but there's no
way *any* cat I've ever know would sit still in the dentist's chair--I can
barely force myself to do *that*!). The main problem we had was that I
kept putting off having her teeth cleaned, despite my vet's regular
reminders that she really needed it -- consequently, when I finally had it
done (when she was 8, too), several of her teeth had to be pulled. This
didn't seem to cause her any problems, and the next year--when I did *not*
put off the cleaning my vet said she needed once again--still more teeth
went. She looks a little silly without her right top fang, but she has
had no other difficulties--eats dry food, wet food, whatever. It looks as
if she is simply inclined to develop more tartar and plaque and be much
more prone to gingivitis than my other cats, and we'll simply have to
watch her more carefully in the future.
More and more vets seem to be calling attention to the need for dental
care in cats, and on the whole it seems a good idea -- a friend of mine
once had a cat whose teeth got so bad he stopped eating and lost
considerable weight. By the time they realized what was going on, all his
teeth had to be pulled -- with great success--he clearly felt 1000%
better, was able to eat both wet and dry food, and lived to a ripe old
toothless age. Even so, it seems better to keep on top of dental problems
before things go that far. If you're unsure about your vet's diagnosis,
you might want to get a second opinion, but on the whole, I would suspect
you're probably well advised to get your cat's teeth cleaned as described.
