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Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / May 2007teeth cleaning questions
I am so afraid to have my cats teeth cleaned. I'm petrified of losing her during the sedation. She is going on nine, means the world to me, I'd be devastated if I took her in and she died. I've already lost two pets in my lifetime to anesthesia. I know her back teeth are very heavy with tartar and plaque and I know when she gets older without the cleaning theres the increased chance of heart disease. I'm besides myself here. Is the anesthesia used for dental cleaning as strong as what is used when a pet is fixed? What things should a good vet do prior to teeth cleaning? Tests, procedures, antibiotics, etc.? I want to go in and be educated and know what to ask the vet, and know what a good vet would suggest. Anesthesia is anesthesia regardless of the procedure. With an older cat, I would make sure that the vet runs preanesthetic bloodwork to check the liver and kidney values. I personally would also make sure they aren't using just an injectable -- it's much safer if the cat is intubated and on gas anesthesia. We actually don't use injectables at all, but gas the cats down, so they come up much faster. This is maybe a little controversial, many anesthesiologists don't like gassing animals down. But I would personally avoid ketamine or telazol in an older cat. Questions to ask: does a vet or tech anesthetize the animal? what kind of anesthesia? what kind of monitoring (needs to be at least a pulse oximeter)? anything else you want to know..... We put significantly older animals under anesthesia all the time and rarely if ever have problems. 9 is certainly not old enough to be cause for tremendous concern. And you are definitely right that cleaning the teeth now is better than when you have periodontal disease. I'm sure your baby will do fine ;-). Deborah, DVM >I am so afraid to have my cats teeth cleaned. I'm petrified of losing her > during the sedation. She is going on nine, means the world to me, I'd be [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > and know what to ask the vet, and know what a good vet would > suggest. > Anesthesia is anesthesia regardless of the procedure. With an older cat, > I would make sure that the vet runs preanesthetic bloodwork to check the [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] >> and know what to ask the vet, and know what a good vet would >> suggest. I am very glad to hear this. My pitbull is 4 years old and she's getting her teeth cleaned on the 21st of June. I figure it might be better if I start early on her teeth. I want to make sure she keeps them for life. But I do have to ask, does this need to be done every 6 months? That is what the vet tech told me. I too am worried about her being put under. But she's been spayed and did fine, then she was put under again for a mouth biopsy (buglady you may remember this) and did fine with that as well. So does teeth cleaning need to be done twice a year? Thanks for any reply. But > she's been spayed and did fine, then she was put under again for a mouth > biopsy (buglady you may remember this) and did fine with that as well. So > does teeth cleaning need to be done twice a year? ........yes! I remember.....glad to hear your pup is fine. I'm liable to have a different answer than most vets........I'd say no, every 6 months is overkill. I know it's a popular vet opinion, but I think anesthesia should be used sparingly. And it depends, too, on how much plaque your dog gets. I think these are individual things - some dogs seem to accumulate more than others, even if they're eating the same thing. So a *prescription* for twice a year cleaning for every dog on the planet.......well....I just don't buy it. buglady take out the dog before replying > But >> she's been spayed and did fine, then she was put under again for a mouth [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > buglady > take out the dog before replying Yes I've been thinking about it a lot since last night, and it's just too much for me to be comfortable with. We'll just make it once a year. After her biopsy, when they woke her up, she evacuated her bowels on the table. She was goofy that day and the day after. So YES you are right. Great advice, from a great person. Many Thanks Buglady, from Diamond and I. >> Anesthesia is anesthesia regardless of the procedure. With an older cat, >> I would make sure that the vet runs preanesthetic bloodwork to check the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> >> Questions to ask: does a vet or tech anesthetize the animal? I wouldn't be put off if a tech is putting the animal under. Its part of what they are trained to do. I would however ask what kind of qualifications the tech has... (this goes for any proceedure where the tech is involved) Some clinics will hire people to do tech work who don't have any formal education, and try to train the 'on the job'. I wouldn't go anywhere that did this. Anesthetic is much safer when the people administering it actually know what the heck they are doing. (So many little things that you might not pick up on from just observing). > > what kind of anesthesia? what kind of monitoring (needs to be at least > > a pulse oximeter)? anything else you want to know..... [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> >> Deborah, DVM Just a question for the OP, under what circumstances did your other two die under anesthetic? If it was at the same clinic, I'd seriously consider going elsewhere. > I am very glad to hear this. My pitbull is 4 years old and she's getting > her teeth cleaned on the 21st of June. I figure it might be better if I > start early on her teeth. I want to make sure she keeps them for life. > But I do have to ask, does this need to be done every 6 months? This seems really excessive... Are the teeth really bad? I'd be tempted to say they might be after trying to line their pocket books (there's good money to be had in dentals), although some dogs have much bigger problems with plaque than others. Personally I'd go with close monitoring, and a dental appointment as necessary (rather than a schedule of any kind). I'd also think about some other preventative measures if your dog's teeth are that bad, like a dental diet, a tooth brush, or (gasp) a bone for them to chew and perhaps scape away some of that tartar. Dale > Just a question for the OP, under what circumstances did your other two > die under anesthetic? If it was at the same clinic, I'd seriously consider > going elsewhere. Both times it was being put under to be fixed. One was a kitten, the other was a 1 year old dog we adopted 10 days earlier. Different clinics since we since moved to another state. > Both times it was being put under to be fixed. One was a kitten, the other > was a 1 year old dog we adopted 10 days earlier. Different clinics since we > since moved to another state. .........did they do pre-surgery blood workup on either? What exactly happened, do you know? buglady take out the dog before replying > .........did they do pre-surgery blood workup on either? What exactly > happened, do you know? No pre blood workup. It wasn't offered and we didn't know better. The kitten wouldn't come out of it, the dog stopped breathing before they even started the surgery. > > But I do have to ask, does this need to be done every 6 months? > > This seems really excessive... Are the teeth really bad? I'd be tempted to > say they might be after trying to line their pocket books ..........That was the advice given to me once. I just think it was a *popular* idea at one time. I think it's what they recommend for people. Big difference though is that people don't have to be knocked out to have their teeth cleaned. buglady take ot the dog before replying > I am very glad to hear this. My pitbull is 4 years old and she's getting > her teeth cleaned on the 21st of June. I figure it might be better if I [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > well. So does teeth cleaning need to be done twice a year? Thanks for > any reply. Sorry for the late reply, I was out of town. I would definitely not recommend dentals every 6 months for all animals. Do some need done that frequently? Absolutely. Are there others that never need it done? Also absolutely. On average I think every 1-2 years for larger dogs, and every 6 months to 1 yr for smaller dogs. What I usually recommend is evaluating at the annual checkup whether your individual animal needs a dental. Anesthesia is a risk every time, no matter how many precautions you take. The less you have to anesthetize an animal the better, in my opinion. Deborah, DVM >> I am very glad to hear this. My pitbull is 4 years old and she's getting >> her teeth cleaned on the 21st of June. I figure it might be better if I [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Deborah, DVM I cancelled her appointment today. I think I will wait until June of next year, then just do it every other year. She's not just a dog to us, she's like our child. We don't have any children of our own, so she's very special. It kept bothering me about the teeth thing, and my conscience said not to do it. She has to have her shots and her heartworm and other tests done on June 5th. Hopefully she will come out with nothing wrong, which is how it usually is. She did have lepto as a puppy and I got it because I cleaned up her pee. She nearly died. Thank God He let her stay here with us. Thanks Doctor for your input. > I am so afraid to have my cats teeth cleaned. I'm petrified of losing her > during the sedation. She is going on nine, means the world to me, I'd be > devastated if I took her in and she died. I've already lost two pets in my > lifetime to anesthesia. > I want to go in and be educated > and know what to ask the vet, and know what a good vet would > suggest. Anesthesia free dentals - NOT! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/05/15/petscol.DTL http://vettechs.blogspot.com/2005/10/dental-prophy.html also read the two previous articles with links. An article on anesthesia: http://vettechs.blogspot.com/2005/07/masking-down-safer-way-to-anesthetize.h tml a list of anesthetic agents: http://www.research.cornell.edu/care/documents/SOPs/CARE105.pdf A cat hospital's description of anesthesia. You'll note that they use blood pressure cuff, and make a point to keep the cat warm during anesthesia. You might seek out a practice that specializes in cats and takes the same kind of precautions they do. http://www.cathospitalofchicago.com/library/anesthesia_and_use_of_anesthetic _agents.html Same cat hospital description of dental cleaning: http://www.cathospitalofchicago.com/library/dental_cleaning_under_anesthesia .html Ask who will be doing dental; ask about credentials; ask to have the anesthesia protocol outlined. If you are put off at any point by non-answers, seek out someone who will work with you. And get some pre-anesthetic bloodwork done to make sure your cats kidneys and liver are working OK. buglady take out the dog before replying |
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