Fret, worry, old cat dentist

[purpletigron]

I find that I'm not happy about Boof! needing a general anaesthetic for dental work at his advanced age. Now, I'd not expect a vet to pull out a tooth with an awake cat! But the risks associated with anaesthesia increased markedly with age in humans, as far as I know. So, presumably, the same is true in felines :-( We've started him on antibiotics for the gingivitis. Maybe clearing that up will solve most of the problem from his purr-spective, and the tooth thing is unnecessary to his quality of life? In which case, the risk is unjustified ...

I can't talk to the vet about this now until Monday morning, hence I'm coming to you, gentle Flist, for ... well, to let it out, I suppose.

Comments

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how old Boof is, but out matriarch is 15 and she had surgery and a dental extraction at the same time last year with no complications. If the full blood work came back clean, then I would go with the vet's judgement about it. Bad teeth can cause more problems and recurring infection, as well as interfering with eating properly, which will not help his quality of life at all. I never let them put ours under without a full blood work-up before surgery.

[muninnhuginn]

The very grisly pictures in the feline and canine dental hygeine leaflet we were presented with after Little's last tooth cleaning (not that long ago: she's still got the stubbly neck as proof) was a pretty convincing argument for cleaning. Little's 11 or 12, so not ancient yet. Her breath's so much better for the cleaning--and no extractions this time. This is either the second or third time she's had the full knock out and clean routine.

The one anaesthesia "problem" we had was with Little post the encounter with the car and house wall. There was a point where she'd had several anaesthetics over the course of several weeks (including the several hours of surgery) and the vet simply said he wouldn't be at all happy giving her any more, even for further x-rays, for a good while. I assume there must be some kind of cumulative effect. Repeated strain on vital organs, maybe?

But, yeah, we always have the blood tests done first.

[tanngrisnir.livejournal.com]

But the risks associated with anaesthesia increased markedly with age in humans, as far as I know.

Not exactly...

In humans, with advancing age less anaesthetic is required to achieve a given result, and obviously with increasing age there is an increased likelihood of co-existing diseases which may have implications for anaesthesia (cardiac or respiratory illnesses, for example). Age by itself, though, in the absence of serious medical conditions, is not a risk when the anaesthetic is administered by someone who knows what they are doing.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Though this is one of the very difficult decisions you have to make when you love your animals, I'd go ahead with the dentistry. You may get much worse problems if you leave it alone. One of my cats is now on steroids every day, gets eye infections regularly, and is often on antibiotics. (She has also had all her teeth out except for three of her canines.) If she wasn't, she wouldn't be able to eat at all.

Very few dogs or cats or, for that matter, horses, are lost because of anesthetic problems. Of course, there is risk - there always is - but if you have a vet you can trust, I'd trust him. (If you don't trust your vet, there's always the option to change vets...)

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

Being completely cynical about it, it would be bad for business if the vet were to undertake unnecessarily risky procedures.

[saluqi.livejournal.com]

Just chiming in to add my experience to the pile. If they've had full clean bloodwork results prior to the anaesthesia, it's fine. In fact, if there is a tooth that needs to be pulled, I think it's essential to their ongoing well being, health and comfort. Bad teeth do have an impact on the body's health as a whole in humans and companion animals.

Our old boy had a tooth that had rotted to the pulp which I noticed because he had started drooling a lot. There is no way I would have left that there - it would have been far too painful for the old boy. As it was I felt awful about him being in that position in the first place. His pre-anaesthetic bloodwork came back clear, and he came through the dental work just fine. There was a notable spring in his step after he had it done, I think because they are so good at pretending to be fine, a decline in well being can go unnoticed.