Question:
My vet just told me that one of my cats needs her teeth cleaned. I was
hoping to get some non-biased opinions on this subject. This seems like
a relatively new trend and I cant help but wonder if it is just another
way for a vet to make money. My family cat has lived 17 very happy years
without ever going under the gas to have his teeth cleaned. Maybe that
is a fluke. I just want to get some other opinions before I subject my
cat to anasthesia and spend $150. Of course, I want to take the best
possible care of my cats and it seems logical that pets need to have
their teeth cleaned just like humans.
Answer:
My Aby, Baldrick, just had his teeth cleaned/scaled on Monday. The vet
wanted to do it because although he's only two years old, he has a lot of
irritation and gingivitis is setting in pretty good. Aby's have a
tendency to have bad gums and can lose their teeth and so this is good
preventative medicine for him. I sure as heck can't do it myself. I
don't have that much of a reserve blood supply. The vet put him under
general anesthetic to perform the procedure and when I got him back in the
afternoon he was still really, really wobbly from the whole thing. It was
real hard for him to walk straight and whenever he tried to jump on
something he ended up falling on his ass. I felt so sorry for him. He
totally recovered by the next day and is now perfectly okay. I think the
procedure was harder on me than it was on him. If your vet recommends to
do this, I'd go ahead and do it. Although, on the other hand, I've had
three other cats (non-pedigreed) who never had their teeth cleaned once in
their lives and were okay also.
Whether or not teeth need to be cleaned is a combination of eating habits
and the individual cat. Some cats have healthier teeth and gums than others.
I will bet that your old cat ate a lot of dry food (which tends to scrape off
the teeth). I don't know about your new cat. But, if cleaning is needed,
and not done, the resulting dental/gum problems could end up being both
expensive and life threatening. If you're worried about the need, get a
second opinion. IMHO if you can't trust your vet for honest advice, then
I would get another vet.
One thing I have learned is gum infections caused by bad teeth can help
cause kidney problems. I'm not sure of the exact proccess, somebody
more knowledgable than I might know, but I think it's because low-grade
infections put more stress on the kidneys.
I can't really add to Janice's account. My vet nagged at me
for 2 or 3 years to get my Siamese's teeth cleaned, but I kept putting it
off and putting it off--when I finally went ahead with it, she ended up
with several teeth pulled because things had gotten so bad (major guilt on
my part). The next year (last fall, actually), I figured we'd be in good
shape, but not only did she need her teeth cleaned again, more had to be
pulled. This time they suggested I bring her back after 6 months (which
is right about now or a couple weeks ago :-( ), because she clearly has a
greater tendency to accumlating plaque, etc. more quickly than my other
cats. Cats are like humans in that respect -- some simply have more
dental problems than others. Since gingivitis, etc., can turn into really
nasty infections that spread further than the gums, and since bad teeth
can make eating, etc., very painful for the cat, I think it's wise to
follow your vet's advice (if you're not totally comfortable with your
vet's analysis of the situation, it couldn't hurt to get a second
opinion). Both times Ceilidh has had her teeth cleaned, she's come
through with flying colors -- like Janice said, a little spacey and wobbly
when I brought her home, but back to normal by next morning. (I also had
a cat who had a couple of teeth cleanings over 10 years ago -- like
Ceilidh, she seemed to have more of a tendency to dental woes than some --
so it's not that recent a trend, at least in my experience.) In any case,
I'd definitely consider having the procedure done.
If your vet is charging $150 for teeth cleaning, I think you're being
taken to the cleaners. I've had to have my Socrates' teeth cleaned
several times the past few years, and my vet has only charged my around
$55 for the procedure (which always includes anesthesia). But I think
that if your cat is 17, you should give some serious consideration to
the necessity of the procedure, since many older cats have problems with
their liver and kidney function, and the anesthesia can be a
complicating factor. The last time I had Socrates' teeth done, I had my
vet test his kidney and liver, and everything was normal, so I went
ahead with it. But my cat's only 11.
If your cat is in immediate danger of losing his teeth, which would make
it extremely difficult for him to eat (assuming he's healthy enough to
undergo the procedure) I'd consider it. After all, older cats really
need to monitored with their eating habits. There's also the risk that
bacteria from the plaque could get into the bloodstream and cause
infections (I've read about this, but don't know of any actual cases).
If there's just "some" plaque, and he's not having any trouble eating,
I'd consider not doing it, because of the risks of the anesthesia on
older cats.
In the end, I think you'll need to weigh the various factors of your
cat's health and the immediate need (or not) of the procedure.
I might also get a second estimate from another veterinarian.
