Dental Extractions On Diabetic Cat (i’m Mad)

ok, I’ll start with some background info.
Fluffy is almost 11 years old, I got her at 1 year of age, she was a feral with already bad teeth.
Throughout the years she had multiple dental procedures that left her with 8 teeth.
In the last 2 months she has become diabetic, on insulin and with another tooth infection.
While on insulin we needed to wait until her glucose level stabilized, give her antibiotics to keep the infection at bay and then take her for dental.
I was told years ago, she has genetically bad teeth. She is a small yet overweight kitty now with insulin.
When we took her in today for her dental I told the receptionist the same thing i told the vet: she is almost 11, she gets super stressed coming here (poop in carrier), she is diabetic, she only has 8 teeth, she only eats high protein pate food because of her diabetes, I’m concerned that if teeth are left, they will do what they always do, and at her age and in her condition I don’t want To risk her life in the future, so please, take all this factors in consideration and take her teeth out (I’m not being an ass, just worried about her in the future). Vet agreed with me. Receptionist this morning didn’t want to pass along the message. I’m going in two outs to pick up fluffy, with 3or 2 teeth left..... so they took out about 5-6, great.
What good are 3 teeth, on a diabetic-senior-genetically predisposed to teeth infection-pate food eater going to do???,

I’m mad, why? Because they completely disregarded what I told her about her history, because they didnt take those factors into consideration on the long run. This puts her at risk in the future and as her age progresses is just another danger to her health. I’m mad, very mad.

So what am I looking for here? Weight in, am I right? Am I wrong? Is this just a more profit centered vet and should I change?
I changed my previous vet because I moved far.

if you were wrong - which i doubt you are - your vet is a jerk for not talking to you in advance and explaining why you're wrong. your vet could be trying to make more money from you, because as you said, what is your cat going to do with 3 teeth?

but my experience with vets and human doctors is that most just don't listen or pay attention. my husband got 2 different diagnoses for a problem that turned out to be an allergy. one of those differences would have been life-changing to deal with. our vets both failed to notice our cat's textbook B12 deficiency for over a year. so your vet could just suck. or he/she could be willing to risk your cat to make more money, but i admit that after all my bad vet experiences, i'm tending toward the vet being at best a bad communicator, but it sounds more like at least for your cat and you, not a good vet.

basschick said:

if you were wrong - which i doubt you are - your vet is a jerk for not talking to you in advance and explaining why you're wrong. your vet could be trying to make more money from you, because as you said, what is your cat going to do with 3 teeth?

but my experience with vets and human doctors is that most just don't listen or pay attention. my husband got 2 different diagnoses for a problem that turned out to be an allergy. one of those differences would have been life-changing to deal with. our vets both failed to notice our cat's textbook B12 deficiency for over a year. so your vet could just suck. or he/she could be willing to risk your cat to make more money, but i admit that after all my bad vet experiences, i'm tending toward the vet being at best a bad communicator, but it sounds more like at least for your cat and you, not a good vet.

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Thank you so much for the response, and I think you said the key word right there “they don’t listen” and you are absolutely right.
As I came to pick her up they gave me the normal run down, and they told me she would need a special diet of wet food, (I guess my face must have spoken 1000 words ) when I said, she is diabetic, she is on a special diet of wet food only, like I said before.
Then they told me that they removed some teeth and asked if I had any questions, I said yes, how many teeth does she have left? No one was able to tell me, I asked this about two times and got no answer, instead I was prompted to pay the $520.
My other kitty is being treated there due to some lumps and they did a biopsy, ($380) after they figure out what is going on and figure out treatment I will probably leave. I had the other 2 cats tested there ($180), and fluffys previous bill this month was about another 200 (antibiotics, glucose check), needless to say this month It’s has been a hard one vet bill wise (as a birthday present ,y husband paid for the kitty’s biopsy), so I don’t think that after paying almost $900 in vet bills this week only (biopsy Monday and today fluffys teeth) asking how many teeth she has left is too freaking much to ask, but it further supports that they don’t listen.

As to how many teeth does a cat need. I had a tuxedo tom about thirty years ago, who had lost all of his teeth. At the age of 8. When his gums healed, he was able to even eat kibble without problems. He would take small bites and swallow it whole. Plus pate. He never did like any of the performed meat products.

As to the vets. I don't know. Maybe a new vet. A feline only vet.

Hope all your cats are ok.

Keep us posted.

A buddy of mine has an older crotchety type cat that has no teeth left due to stomatitis, he had them all pulled when he was still young-ish and eats kibble, canned, and still likes to try to bite you when you pet him
I'd be blunt and straight forward (not defensive or confrontation) and plainly ask the vet why they didn't do what you'd agreed on. If the vet treats you like a child, move on. If it was the receptionist not passing the message along and the vet forgot a conversation, that's understandable but not really acceptable, if you know what I mean. The receptionist should be talked to or penalized depending on his or her past when it comes to communication.
I guess I'd be looking for a vet who is man or woman enough to apologize and make it right, if that's possible but I get your frustration. I'd be upset, too.
Do you have a past relationship with this vet that you enjoyed, did they treat you good or is this a new vet?

I'm going to look at it from a business perspective, but not about profit.
They write up estimates every time treatment is needed and give you a high end or low end, stating you understand and accept. Different facilities have policies saying you agree to only those charges or you *initial here* agree to authorize up to a certain ceiling or percentage over that. If you were not given an estimate for full mouth extraction, then this may have been what stopped them from doing so.

Or the vet's an ***

My Inky had diabetes and stomatitis and otitis and all kind of secondary infections from unmanaged diabetes. He didn't show health problems until he was 13. He lived until 15 when he died of cancer almost two years ago
He was feral most of his life and although I managed to trap him and keep him in my apartment from when he was 2.5 or 3, I wasn't able to tame him enough to handle him or get him to a vet until he was 13. He was neutered and wormed and given basic vaccines when I caught him and safe indoors after that.
His teeth literally were falling out but his diabetes and infections were so bad that it took many months before he could have dental surgery. They also left a few teeth in . He had one upper fang left that lasted the rest of his life that he used to bite me with to remind me not to piss him off lol. Or for love bites.
He ate special diabetic food and had no problem eating dry or wet food. He gained from ten to sixteen pounds then I had to cut it back since he was such a foodie he was chunky.
He got mad at the reduced rations so just jumped the baby gate into the kitchen and ate the regular cat food. Or ate the dog food. Would get mad and meow if I took him out away from the food. Or cuff and scratch me.
If I locked him in the bathroom at night away from the food he'd meow and make a racket. If I opened the door the other cats would eat his diabetic food, which was priced like liquid gold
I'd change vets since this vet doesn't seem to care about your concerns.
You can call and ask to speak directly to the vet or manager and explain your concerns .

I've reported vets to the Better Business Bureau or state licensing boards for concerns of poor care .Be prepared for them to be punitive and immature and ban you from their services though.

My Krista suffers from resorptive lesions. Every time I take her in because she’s stopped eating due to mouth pain, I tell them, “take as many as you can. Take them all if you can.” I know where you are coming from. But every time, the vet tells me, “we can break her jaw trying to extract healthy teeth. We will take what we can take safely but anything that doesn’t need to go isn’t worth the risk.” So here I am with a mostly toothless cat waiting for the next one to bother her. I think she has 1 canine and some incisors. It’s amazing she has finally figured out how to eat with this configuration that isn’t causing her pain anymore.

One of my boys had tooth resorption issues, and our vet said it was best to take all bar the canines out in one go, so did just that in one surgery. If you were told one thing and another happened, I would certainly query that.

(BTW the vet always says to me when my cats have a dental that there is a risk of jaw fracture, but I asked him about that and he said it would be very unlikely to cause any long term issues - it would be like a small crack that needed to heal, not like their jaw had broken off - just that they might have to have anti-inflammatory medications for a few weeks while healing (I should add though that this may have additional implications in a diabetic cat, in terms of circulation and healing), but the risk of a fracture in the first place is extremely small - my vet is a dental specialist)

epona said:

my vet is a dental specialist

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Yeah, that makes a difference.

My vet is more of a general practitioner. She can thankfully perform the necessary extractions and root clean ups as and when they go bad. But she has told me to take her elsewhere if we want to get proactive and start pulling healthy teeth. She's not comfortable with that risk, however small. My nearest board certified dental specialist is an hour away (vs 10 minutes for GP vet.) For now, she's finally figured out her new mouth configuration and is eating well again. I'll leave it alone and try to get some daylight between procedures to put weight back on her.

daftcat75 said:

Yeah, that makes a difference.

My vet is more of a general practitioner. She can thankfully perform the necessary extractions and root clean ups as and when they go bad. But she has told me to take her elsewhere if we want to get proactive and start pulling healthy teeth. She's not comfortable with that risk, however small. My nearest board certified dental specialist is an hour away (vs 10 minutes for GP vet.) For now, she's finally figured out her new mouth configuration and is eating well again. I'll leave it alone and try to get some daylight between procedures to put weight back on her.

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Sounds to me as if you are taking a decent and practical approach - and your vet is being upfront with you about their abilities and the risks - I hope everything goes well for you and your kitty