Cat had dental surgery - advice needed

[jaguitar]

Hello,

First post and new member here. I found a wonderful older thread regarding someone else's dental surgery experience via google, and thought I could ask my questions here while sharing my experience.

My cat Mori is 4 years old. Her breath was getting very bad, long story short, I took her to a vet for a dental extraction on Monday and it's been quite stressful for both of us!

The surgery was done on Monday morning and afternoon, and I have some anxiety around Mori's lack of eating, medicine feeding, etc.

The surgery was 'successful', nothing unusual the vet told me. When I brought her home on Monday, she was really anxious to get out of the cage, and once i let her out, i noticed her paw was a bit bloody (surprised), and bloody drool (not surprised).

I had told the vet to trim her nails when I left her there. At one point when I brought her home on Monday, she went to the water bowl and immediately started yowling/screaming with her paw to her face. I panicked and felt so bad. I thought she was trying to paw at her mouth because of dental pain. She calmed after.. More on this later.

Monday night she didnt eat, she wanted to, but couldn't. Tuesday she ate a bit of Iams wet food that I blended with water. But she really couldn't eat much at all, just a bit of licking. She hasnt drank much water.

Tuesday night (now), I caught her trying to eat some dry kibble and I let her even though I know I shouldn't. She ate 2 or 3 pieces. I've been so concerned about her not eating and drinking enough. Her face is swollen, she looks beat up, poor her, it really upsets me to see her this way.

I've been petting her, and she was been mainly asleep today but got up a few times and walkedaround, jumped once even to play. But overall as expected I can tell she is in a lot of discomfort and has been very lethargic.

I have tried really hard to give her medicines on time but its a huge battle, I live alone as well. I have managed to give her some medication the vet prescribed. I have also tried syrninge feeding her which is a huge fail.

Mori is very particular and hates it when I bring the syringe to her mouth. It's so difficult. I tried the towel thing, holding her, everything.

Here are my questions, finally:
- I inspected her paws more closely tonighr. It appears they cut it too damn short and now I believe the poor girl was in pain on Monday on top of dental pain. In fact I mentioned to the vet if he cut it too short on Monday and he said not at all. I'm not sure if I should bring this up again. Hes been very nice otherwise, he called me today to ask how she is doing and bring her tomorrow Wednesday, if she is not eating by morning and he would show me how, as well as feed her with injections or something like that.
- the vet prescribed clindamycin twice a day (1ml), metacam 0.5ml with food once a day. when I questioned him regarding the paw incident on Monday, he actually asked me to come back to the clinic and pick up some buprenorphine? And gave me two syringes of 0.5 of it. I gave her a little on Monday night, but not a full dose mainly because it was difficult and I was scared because she had not eaten. Should I give her the buprenorphine too? Is it pointless now?
- she hasnt eaten a lot or drank much. She looks sad and is curled up a lot or she hides. Should I be syringe feeding her? I am scared she might die from starvation even though she ate a bit and was walking around, can go to the litter box, etc. But that's like 5%of the day. The other 95% is her sleeping or looking at me like I'm the cause of her pain with that pissed off glazed look. Shes currently on my legs sleeping right now.
- I screwed up by giving her wet Iams and i totally forgot there are mousse like wet food- it's been years since I bought whiskas, I totally forgot about the mousse style wet food. Maybe this will help her eat more? She wants to eat, she comes sometimes near the food bowl but I can tell she cant eat when she tries. Could this make a difference?

One positive thing I saw this evening was she can lick herself now again, which she coudlnt yesterday. .also 2x this evening I saw her try and lick the Iams wet food, but she tried to bite and obviously she couldnt and gave up.

Sorry for the lengthy post. I wanted to share my experience and ask these questions.

Thanks.

 

[StanAndAlf]

Sometimes blood on a leg, of it is the front and only one, can be caused from a canula insertion. If she doesn't show any tenderness around her paws, or limping, then I would say she is ok in that department, IMO.

How long after administering pain relief do you feed her? I would recommend within half an hour, so as to give it some time to kick in and feed while it is in full effect. Perhaps give the pain meds, wait a few minutes, feed her and then give the Clindamycin.

My vet warns against feeding pate style wet food after a tooth removal, as it can get stuck and cause infection. Maybe check this with your vet, but of course if it is the only thing to get her eating then do what you have to.

Have you tried some form of fish? A lot of cats go crazy for it, and it might tempt her to eat the rest of her food used as a topper.

If the vet has said it is ok to give the buprenorphine, then I would say give it to her. Some extra pain relief might be just what she needs, and from my understanding (don't quote me on this) is a relatively safe drug as far as pain relief medication goes. Just my opinion.

Sometimes medication on an empty stomach can cause mild nausea, which puts them off their food even more. Maybe ask you vet about an appetite stimulant?

Other than that I think you are both doing very well, keep trying to give her those meds though, and maybe some Sub Q fluids if possible. Its only early days, and the fact that she is still using the litter box and acting relatively normal for so soon after surgery is great. Would love some updates and best of luck!

 

[daftcat75]

Please give her the buprenorphine even if you can't get any other medication into her. Luckily, bupe is a pretty easy medication to give. It needs to be absorbed in the mouth rather than the gut. The best thing to do is to ambush her while she's sleeping and squirt that dose between her lip and gums. If you can peel a lip back, you don't even need to open her mouth. Thankfully bupe doses tend to be tiny (usually 0.1 mL) compared to other liquid medicines. Any of it that you get in her mouth is better than none at all. And in her mouth is better than down her throat with the cheek pocket being the best location. You may need to give her two or three doses (not at once, but regularly scheduled doses) before she's feeling enough pain relief to eat again. Subcutaneous fluids is a great recommendation if she's not eating. Often the fluids themselves makes a sick cat feel better. If she's very difficult to medicate, you can ask for a long-acting (3 days) buprenorphine injection from the vet. But many cats have poor reactions to that shot. Some get stoned on it and don't eat or sleep for 3 days. That might be what she needs to get through the worst of the pain though if you can't give her the oral bupe yourself.

If dry food is a normal part of her diet, I'd leave a little out for her. She's probably figured out how to eat around her bad tooth long before you had it extracted. It might be easier to avoid the painful extractions with a solid food than a softer food.

 

[jaguitar]

hi all, thank you for the prompt response I had received. i wanted to follow up

so the last two days (wednesday, thursday) i took her to the vet. I also mentioned the thing about the nails. it was pretty clearly to me they had cut her nails (all nails on the front paws) way too short, and this is why she was bleeding.

even to get her in the cage to the vet was difficult on weds/thursday. she bleeded again from scratching the cage.

- i brought up the nails issue to the receptionist, she checked them and said 'this is not right, these are way too short.' i told the vet they were too short, he tried saying 'no look here is the quick i cut below it' and it was just so crazy because you never need to cut cat nails THAT short to just below the quick. the receptionist told him it wasn't right. i said look im not going to argue, but this is way too short, now shes suffering from dental and nail pain....i was so pissed!!!!! i told the receptionist the vet said he didn't do it, and she said 'he can be like that sometimes' and i was a bit surprised by that.
- the vet force fed her on wednesday, and on thursday. he also gave her injections of the antibiotics and pain medication (i dont know what he gave but one of them he said was a form of penicillin).
- yesterday when he force fed her, he gave her about a 1/3 can of A/D Hills. she was at least chewing yesterday and swallowing better.
- she was overall better yesterday and walking around.
- today is friday (surgery was monday), and shes slept a lot, and funnily she hates going in the kennel, but shes actually sitting in it right now as we speak. I wonder if she thinks we are going to the vet or wants to be force fed? woud that make sense? or maybe just because I put a ton of covers and blankets in there.
- i might try force feeding her again today, she ate a bit of the pate in the morning (whiskas) but she was still struggling and then stopped. she usually loves that stuff.

i read some things about gerbers baby food so I might try that. the vet said i wouldn't need to bring her today if she was eating, but its 7pm now so too late. he never mentioned anything about giving her more antibiotics. maybe the shot he gave her was enough?

thanks for all your help. regarding the vet...yeah, it was a tough decision taking her there. there was a nother clinic close by to my home but they were more expensive, but now i wonder if i should have gone there. the vet i went to, he was quite nice other than the paw issue...he gave me a free can of A/D yesterday and im thinking its cuz of his screw-up. i know vets have a very stressful job, and this guy honestly was nice. i had a good experience except the paws and the fact that he was a little rough when force feeding her, but i dont blame him because my cat is quite finnicky and resistant at times.

 

[silent meowlook]

What a freakin nightmare for your cat and you. It is rare that I say not to give a cat a prescribed medication but here goes. No Metacam, ever. It has a black box warning on it about its use in cats causing kidney failure. Also it is a crappy pain killer for cats.
Buprenorphine is good. I find that most vets way under dose it so always give the entire amount instructed.
clindamycin is stupid. It’s a difficult medication to give and it can be hard on cats guts if not given after food.
Where I work ( cat only hospital) we keep our dental extraction patients on iv fluids with a constant rate infusion of fentanyl. We feed them the night of the dental. We give them a mixture of recovery diet and water. If they do not eat that, we will give them an appetite stimulant and sedative, and then they will be just fine. We usually keep them in the hospital for 2 to 3 days to make sure the pain is well-managed. We send them home on North then and after three days it usually is not hard to get the syringe of people northing into their mouth. If for some reason there’s a problem with the owner doing that, we will send them home with some injections.
I hope by the time you see this your cats doing much better.

 

[jaguitar]

Hi, thank you for the message. I guess you get what you pay for, although it's not that I was being cheap! it cost me 1400$ CAD with all the pre surgery blood work and mouth extraction.

I tried reading about dental extraction and it wasnt until I came to this site I read about metacam and clindamycin issues - it kept me up at night on Monday night actually because I was scared.

Although shes doing better now still a bit worried how shell be. I mean she seems near fine but you never know with these drugs. She drank all the friskas fish soup I gave her and shes purring again!!! She hasnt done that in months. I feel so bad I waited so long to do her dental but I was paranoid of the original vet i took her to.

Maybe the injections he gave her, were safer than metacam because I remember he said he did not give her metacam intravenously. I think I only gave her 1 dose of metacam to her.

I was also thinking it would have been better to have her stay at the vets a couple nights.

Also whoops, i screwed up! I gave her gerber baby beef broth and she downed it and wants more! But i reread it has freaking lemon juice. I gave her about 1/4 small baby can. Is there another baby food you would recommend? She loves what I gave her and didnt want her cat food much all day
Hopefully shell be okay.

Also am i allowed to ask how much your cat hospital charges for something like this? They removed all her back upper and lower teeth but left the front ones. I am just curious. I didn't even know there are cat only vets. ty

 

[jaguitar]

Also what is northing?

 

[jaguitar]

Sometimes blood on a leg, of it is the front and only one, can be caused from a canula insertion. If she doesn't show any tenderness around her paws, or limping, then I would say she is ok in that department, IMO.

How long after administering pain relief do you feed her? I would recommend within half an hour, so as to give it some time to kick in and feed while it is in full effect. Perhaps give the pain meds, wait a few minutes, feed her and then give the Clindamycin.

My vet warns against feeding pate style wet food after a tooth removal, as it can get stuck and cause infection. Maybe check this with your vet, but of course if it is the only thing to get her eating then do what you have to.

Have you tried some form of fish? A lot of cats go crazy for it, and it might tempt her to eat the rest of her food used as a topper.

If the vet has said it is ok to give the buprenorphine, then I would say give it to her. Some extra pain relief might be just what she needs, and from my understanding (don't quote me on this) is a relatively safe drug as far as pain relief medication goes. Just my opinion.

Sometimes medication on an empty stomach can cause mild nausea, which puts them off their food even more. Maybe ask you vet about an appetite stimulant?

Other than that I think you are both doing very well, keep trying to give her those meds though, and maybe some Sub Q fluids if possible. Its only early days, and the fact that she is still using the litter box and acting relatively normal for so soon after surgery is great. Would love some updates and best of luck!

Thank you for the info. The fish idea worked. I got frisks fish soup

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. It usually will run into the thousands with xrays, the procedure, antibiotics, pain meds, fluids, blood work, etc. I don’t know exactly because I don’t do the money stuff at work.

I meant to say buprenorphine but my phone auto corrected me.
Baby food is Gerbers blue and white label chicken. You don’t want to use that very much as it isn’t nutritionally balanced for cats. You would do best to ask your vet for Royal Canin Recovery or Hills A/D. Both are fat and calorie dense highly palatable easily digestible foods that are smooth and can be syringe fed if needed.

 

[jaguitar]

Thank you. I have AD at home but she wasnt taking to it. I'll try adding some baby food on top.

Hi. It usually will run into the thousands with xrays, the procedure, antibiotics, pain meds, fluids, blood work, etc. I don’t know exactly because I don’t do the money stuff at work.

I meant to say buprenorphine but my phone auto corrected me.
Baby food is Gerbers blue and white label chicken. You don’t want to use that very much as it isn’t nutritionally balanced for cats. You would do best to ask your vet for Royal Canin Recovery or Hills A/D. Both are fat and calorie dense highly palatable easily digestible foods that are smooth and can be syringe fed if needed.

 

[jaguitar]

Welp, will have to take her vet again. I can tell by her face shes in pain or upset. I guess the pain meds wore off. That may be why she was better yesterday. She also isnt purring when I pet her.

I gave her the fish soup that she lapped up yesterday but today when she tries eating she stops after she gags. I thought I noticed last time the suture end appeared to be sticking out but the vet said it was fine.

Everytime shes rejecting more and more of previous food that she liked.

I'm going to try force feeding her now.

 

[silent meowlook]

I don’t know. If she is hurting it may not be a great idea. Although I know she needs to eat. Do you have any Buprenorphine left? What about Gabapentin?

 

[jaguitar]

I don’t know. If she is hurting it may not be a great idea. Although I know she needs to eat. Do you have any Buprenorphine left? What about Gabapentin?

Nothing left ! The vet took it last time from me after he gave her the shots. I can try calling the clinic now but otherwise if they are closed I will have to go tomorrow. Is it prescription only?

Is it odd that he didnt give me a further course of medicine to try after those shots?

 

[silent meowlook]

Yes I would call right now and let them know what’s going on so maybe you can get a refill and yet anything that you would be able to give her for pain is going to be prescription only. There’s nothing over-the-counter that’ll work. But now that she’s painful and that you need more people northing I’m really kind of shocked that he took yours from you.

 

[jaguitar]

They are closed till Monday he said come on Monday.

Could I be overreacting? She was just playing with my other cat. But I didnt see her eat anything today the food was still there. Water level looked similar/same. I saw her try eat a few dry kibbles then give up. When I go near the kitchen she acts hungry when I pull out her favourite food she walks away. Do you think force feeding could be useful or necessary at this point?

Might sound crazy my other cat is eating less too! She eats from my hand now. Maybe she senses something is up. Shes a joker/funny cat.

 

[silent meowlook]

Do you have any chicken baby food? I would try that. Also, if you can get her to play first it sometimes gets their appetite going.
I don’t see how you can syringe feed her without causing pain.
So, cats feel pain the same as people. If it would hurt a person it hurts a cat. I think if I had all those teethe extracted, I would be in pain.

 

[BlackCatOp]

Other ideas besides baby food is Fancy Feast Broths, Inaba Churu lickable treats or Purina Hydra Care. Of course none of theses are a permanent solution but maybe they will entice your baby to eat. If you still have any gabapentin, I would give her some. Hope she feels better!