Cat Tooth Extraction - really necessary?

[Treecie]

Hello everyone,

Today I took my cat, Trudy (10 year old), to the vet for a check up and the vet told me that one of her molar looks like it needs to be extracted and looking painful. I said okay, but I am a bit suspicious...because she does get her teeth cleaned once a year, it is included in her care plan with the vet. She's had to get teeth extracted twice now even with the deep cleanings and they charge like $800 per tooth. So, they are going to deep clean two weeks from now and do an extraction.

My friend has 2 cats and they don't brush their teeth whatsoever, if they do, they definitely don't do it everyday. And they've had those cats for more than 2 years now and never had to get their teeth extracted. Those cats are both more than 4 years old and one is senior like mine. Ok, I get I should brush her teeth probably everyday from now on but I thought deep cleans once a year and brush once or twice a month would be enough? Has anybody else's cat gotten this many teeth extractions (once a year)?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
It's risky to compare cats, because every cat is different even if every variable was the same otherwise.

To answer your question, yes, my Poppycat has had several extractions and a couple resorptive teeth, even with great care and food. If the vet says it's looking painful, please do consider it

 

[daftcat75]

Trust me. Vets do not extract teeth for fun and profit. It’s not fun. And it’s likely not all that profitable given the meds and materials that go into it. If a vet is going to cheat you, pulling teeth is probably not the best way to do it.

My Krista had no problems with her teeth until several weeks before her thirteenth birthday. Then out of nowhere, she started peeing my walls. Peeing outside the litterbox. I spent way too long trying to fix this like it was a behavioral issue. I finally brought her to the vet for an unrelated issue and mentioned this to the vet. The vet popped her mouth open and said, “she’s been peeing your walls to get your attention. Her teeth are painful and several need to go.” Sure enough, with the painful teeth removed, she stopped peeing the walls. She no longer needed to get my attention. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the last of her dental struggles. Many older cats experience tooth resorption. The body starts attacking the teeth and resorbing them back into the body. It’s like the teeth are being dissolved from the roots. This is painful. Unfortunately, for those cats who are unlucky enough to experience tooth resorption, it is often not an isolated event. And because the resorption begins at the roots, tooth brushing and tooth cleaning will not prevent it. Vets aren’t sure why some get tooth resorption or what causes it. They suspect there’s a genetic component to it.

I strongly encourage you to go forward with the recommended extractions. Trust your vet. He’s not trying to railroad you. And since this is not her first extractions, I would assume that she may have more in her future. Between now and the next dental, I strongly encourage you to make a consultation appointment with a veterinary dentist—a specialist, not just a general vet. Initial consultations often have two to six MONTHS of wait time. Make the appointment now before she needs her next extractions. Because if you wait until she needs to see a dentist, you’ll still be waiting that two to six months. Need doesn’t change the wait time. Now once you have met with the specialist, you will have him or her review her records and X-rays and she/he may recommend more frequent cleanings or proactive extractions based on the condition of her teeth and the likelihood that resorption often proceeds until there’s no teeth left. A very painful ordeal. Your cat will likely stop eating altogether before this process gets too far. Cats hide pain. I felt so guilty whenever Krista’s eating would drop off because she was literally telling me her pain was exceeding her hunger. Proactive extractions sound expensive. And they aren’t cheap. Krista’s remaining mouth extraction (it was hardly a full mouth by the time she finally saw a specialist) was about $4000. But each dental with extractions before that was easily $1500. So while it wasn’t cheap. It was more cost effective than continuing piecemeal. I told the dentist, she’s had enough rounds of this. Make this the last dental appointment she will ever need. And he did. After the two weeks of recovery, her teeth never bothered her again. She ate very well for a toothless cat.

You don’t want to skip extractions. Besides the pain, that’s a diseased tooth that can spread infection to her gums, her bones, and systemically throughout her body as a blood infection. If you think an extraction is expensive, you should see the bill for hospitalization when an infection proves too much for a simple course of outpatient antibiotics.

Don’t skip the recommended extractions. Don’t skip the scheduled cleanings. These are still important even if they can’t prevent tooth resorption. And DO make an appointment with a dental specialist. Make it ASAP rather than waiting for her to need it. Once you have had that initial consultation with a dental specialist, procedure appointments are a lot quicker to come by.

If you are in North America, you can find a dentist through the AVDC directory. Otherwise. I would start with an emergency hospital as these often double as specialty hospitals. I’m not saying take her to the ER. But call them up and ask if they have dental specialists on staff or can recommend one.

AVDC.org | American Veterinary Dental College

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ I am always shocked by what veterinarians charge ... '

 

[daftcat75]

~ I am always shocked by what veterinarians charge ... '

I’m not. I’ve had enough dental bills where my own insurance fell short. I’m always surprised that people expect healthcare costs to scale with the size of the patient. Drugs, imaging, anesthesia, higher education costs: none of it is any cheaper because the patient is a cat. Nor should it be. Rather I believe in pet insurance. Sadly though most insurance plans either don’t cover dental care or they only cover accident and illness. The extractions might be covered But the exam and cleaning is not. But like human dental insurance, pet dental coverage even with accident and illness is often capped far below the policy annual maximum. My own dental insurance through my employer has a woefully inadequate $2000 annual maximum reimbursement. Betty’s policy through Embrace (sadly Krista is no longer with us) also has something like a $2000 annual maximum reimbursement for accident and illness dental coverage; no preventative, exams, or cleanings. Her annual maximum for non-dental expenses is $30,000.

It’s Open Enrollment time at work. I should compare my healthcare costs and coverage to Betty’s (at a smarter hour than this!). I know her premiums are far cheaper than mine if I didn’t have group pricing and employer subsidy. I greatly appreciate the annual premium option with Embrace for Betty’s policy. I pay once a year. Betty, are you worth another $250/year for healthcare premiums? Yes, I think you are. And then I don’t have to think about it again until her next gotcha day anniversary. I had her insured within a week of bringing her home.

 

[Alldara]

Yes, dentals are very important as it can cause a number of behavioural and physical issues.

Cats are very under-vetted. Most people don't take them, so much that there's an international 'bring your cat to the vet' day to encourage people just to get to the yearly exams!!

It's frustrating, because 'seems perfectly healthy' for those owners usually just means nothing happens until it's a very obvious emergency, meaning that the cat was likely I'll for awhile with subtle signs.

Hell, as an experienced cat owner I didn't notice the subtle signs of Nobel's teeth. He had his check-ups but a back one was cracked. He needed dental x-rays to see it.

You can shop around a bit for dental prices if you'd like. It is more expensive if you have a heart monitor but I would always recommend ensuring that they do heart monitoring. Sometimes, you can find lower prices one town over or something.

 

[Antonio65]

~ I am always shocked by what veterinarians charge ... '

Actually, I'm shocked by the veterinary costs and bills in the US every time I read some posts in TCS, and compare them to what I pay here in Italy.

 

[Treecie]

Hi
It's risky to compare cats, because every cat is different even if every variable was the same otherwise.

To answer your question, yes, my Poppycat has had several extractions and a couple resorptive teeth, even with great care and food. If the vet says it's looking painful, please do consider it

Yes, I will go through with the extraction but I was also just wondering if it was normal because nobody told me that their teeth can get this bad even with dental care. I am considering taking her to a dental specialist now. The vet actually did recommend that last time but at the time, I was not brushing her teeth so I thought if I started doing that then it would be okay - I guess not

 

[Treecie]

I’m not. I’ve had enough dental bills where my own insurance fell short. I’m always surprised that people expect healthcare costs to scale with the size of the patient. Drugs, imaging, anesthesia, higher education costs: none of it is any cheaper because the patient is a cat. Nor should it be. Rather I believe in pet insurance. Sadly though most insurance plans either don’t cover dental care or they only cover accident and illness. The extractions might be covered But the exam and cleaning is not. But like human dental insurance, pet dental coverage even with accident and illness is often capped far below the policy annual maximum. My own dental insurance through my employer has a woefully inadequate $2000 annual maximum reimbursement. Betty’s policy through Embrace (sadly Krista is no longer with us) also has something like a $2000 annual maximum reimbursement for accident and illness dental coverage; no preventative, exams, or cleanings. Her annual maximum for non-dental expenses is $30,000.

It’s Open Enrollment time at work. I should compare my healthcare costs and coverage to Betty’s (at a smarter hour than this!). I know her premiums are far cheaper than mine if I didn’t have group pricing and employer subsidy. I greatly appreciate the annual premium option with Embrace for Betty’s policy. I pay once a year. Betty, are you worth another $250/year for healthcare premiums? Yes, I think you are. And then I don’t have to think about it again until her next gotcha day anniversary. I had her insured within a week of bringing her home.

I was reading on reddit when I first got Trudy and people were dscouraging others to get pet insurance which is why I opted to just get the vet clinic's own care plan which includes x-rays, vaccines, physical exams, and dental cleaning & x-ray. The dental cleaning alone is usually $1,500 from the vet and I am paying like $800 a year for this care plan which includes all of the above.

Trust me. Vets do not extract teeth for fun and profit. It’s not fun. And it’s likely not all that profitable given the meds and materials that go into it. If a vet is going to cheat you, pulling teeth is probably not the best way to do it.

My Krista had no problems with her teeth until several weeks before her thirteenth birthday. Then out of nowhere, she started peeing my walls. Peeing outside the litterbox. I spent way too long trying to fix this like it was a behavioral issue. I finally brought her to the vet for an unrelated issue and mentioned this to the vet. The vet popped her mouth open and said, “she’s been peeing your walls to get your attention. Her teeth are painful and several need to go.” Sure enough, with the painful teeth removed, she stopped peeing the walls. She no longer needed to get my attention. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the last of her dental struggles. Many older cats experience tooth resorption. The body starts attacking the teeth and resorbing them back into the body. It’s like the teeth are being dissolved from the roots. This is painful. Unfortunately, for those cats who are unlucky enough to experience tooth resorption, it is often not an isolated event. And because the resorption begins at the roots, tooth brushing and tooth cleaning will not prevent it. Vets aren’t sure why some get tooth resorption or what causes it. They suspect there’s a genetic component to it.

I strongly encourage you to go forward with the recommended extractions. Trust your vet. He’s not trying to railroad you. And since this is not her first extractions, I would assume that she may have more in her future. Between now and the next dental, I strongly encourage you to make a consultation appointment with a veterinary dentist—a specialist, not just a general vet. Initial consultations often have two to six MONTHS of wait time. Make the appointment now before she needs her next extractions. Because if you wait until she needs to see a dentist, you’ll still be waiting that two to six months. Need doesn’t change the wait time. Now once you have met with the specialist, you will have him or her review her records and X-rays and she/he may recommend more frequent cleanings or proactive extractions based on the condition of her teeth and the likelihood that resorption often proceeds until there’s no teeth left. A very painful ordeal. Your cat will likely stop eating altogether before this process gets too far. Cats hide pain. I felt so guilty whenever Krista’s eating would drop off because she was literally telling me her pain was exceeding her hunger. Proactive extractions sound expensive. And they aren’t cheap. Krista’s remaining mouth extraction (it was hardly a full mouth by the time she finally saw a specialist) was about $4000. But each dental with extractions before that was easily $1500. So while it wasn’t cheap. It was more cost effective than continuing piecemeal. I told the dentist, she’s had enough rounds of this. Make this the last dental appointment she will ever need. And he did. After the two weeks of recovery, her teeth never bothered her again. She ate very well for a toothless cat.

You don’t want to skip extractions. Besides the pain, that’s a diseased tooth that can spread infection to her gums, her bones, and systemically throughout her body as a blood infection. If you think an extraction is expensive, you should see the bill for hospitalization when an infection proves too much for a simple course of outpatient antibiotics.

Don’t skip the recommended extractions. Don’t skip the scheduled cleanings. These are still important even if they can’t prevent tooth resorption. And DO make an appointment with a dental specialist. Make it ASAP rather than waiting for her to need it. Once you have had that initial consultation with a dental specialist, procedure appointments are a lot quicker to come by.

If you are in North America, you can find a dentist through the AVDC directory. Otherwise. I would start with an emergency hospital as these often double as specialty hospitals. I’m not saying take her to the ER. But call them up and ask if they have dental specialists on staff or can recommend one.

AVDC.org | American Veterinary Dental College

Thank you for the link! I will not skip on the extraction, I just wanted to know if teeth extractions are this common with cats and I guess it is. I am definitely going to look for a dental specialist now.

 

[Antonio65]

I will not skip on the extraction, I just wanted to know if teeth extractions are this common with cats and I guess it is. I am definitely going to look for a dental specialist now.

I take care of a number of feral cats and I'm also active at the local cat shelter, and I can tell you that the number of cats that had to have extraction (both partial and full) is impressive.
There are a few reason why cats do need extractions, from bad hygiene and cleaning, to genetic predisposition, to viral disease or immuno mediated conditions.