Question:
My sister has a Maine Coon cat who has to get something called
a "sanitary clip" regularly--the hair has to be clipped in the
anal region --plus he's had a blocked anal gland, plus he's now
got acne (!) under his chin, plus he supposedly has beginning
signs of gingivitis and needs to have his teeth cleaned, which
means anesthesia. Is this cat for real? (He's only a year old--
can he really be showing signs of gingivitis?) Is this vet for
real? My cats have some tartar scraped off their teeth (rather
rudely) in their annual exams by an old-fashioned vet, but have
never had a professional cleaning requiring anesthesia. Frankly,
I am terrified about putting a cat under for anything less than
an unavoidable operation. Do you all have your cats' teeth
cleaned in this manner? Please give much-needed advice. It will
help me, my cats, my sister, and her cat.
Answer:
I felt the same way about my cat, Ollie. He is 5. However one day I
tried to flick a bit of tartar off his tooth and hey presto, the whole
tooth fell out. The vet said his teeth were in a bad way and a lot of
them would have to come out. I was really upset about him having an
anaesthetic however I didn't think I had much option - bad teeth can
lead to kidney disease and also it's very painful for them. It should
be no problem for a young cat. Ollie came through fine and your
sister's cat should be fine too.
Well the cat was de-sexed and survived... I'm assuming that the cat has been
de-sexed of course. If he survived the de-sexing operation than there really
isn't much of a problem. If he hasn't undergone a general anesthetic before
then your sister may want to get her cat tested to see if he is allergic to
the anesthetic. However an allergy isn't that common, but if you're paranoid
it's worth doing.
Try giving the cat raw chicken wings every week. My vet is always nagging me
to do this as it helps to remove tartar from their teeth.
Some cats do tend towards dental problems and do need their teeth cleaned
professionally. There are little finger brushes and special cat toothpaste that
can be used, starting when a cat is young, that can help prevent the need for
doing it at the vet's under anesthesia later.
I have had a couple of cats that had to have their teeth cleaned under
anesthesia, and they did just fine (one is about 10, and had to recently have
all his teeth removed because they were beyond help). There is always a risk
with anesthesia, but there are health risks that can occur with teeth that are
not properly cared for, which can be an even greater risk to the cat.
A second opinion is never a bad idea. I would also suggest that your sister
find a vet who uses Isoflourane as an anesthesia -- it is a gas that tends to be
safer than some of the other anesthetics, and it is easier to pull a cat in any
trouble out of Isoflourane than out of other anesthetics. Also, the cat should
be put on antibiotics for at least a week before and a week after the surgery,
to lessen the chance of any infection problems from the gums.
Yes raw chicken contains salmonella but cats certainly don't get sick from
raw chicken, neither do dogs for that matter. They're far less sensitive to
many of the pathogenic bacteria's that easily knock us about. Hence why a
cat can eat a rotting mouse and not get ill. The salmonella won't make you
sick unless you ingest the bacteria.
