Dental care under anesthesia - what to expect?

[tinytangerine]

Hi folks,

Our kitty needs some teeth extracted and is scheduled to have that done this week. I'm an anxious cat mama and keep coming across stories of things going wrong, cats not recovering well, experiencing personality changes/prolonged fear at home after treatment, or dying from the anesthesia. Though he needs the dental care, I am struggling with the choice having mostly come across negative experiences online.

What I could really use are just a few stories of what it is usually like (vs worst-case). What does the typical experience and recovery look like? What should I be expecting? What things do I have control over that can make the experience better for him?

A bonus would be hearing any stories where things worked out just fine <3. He needs this done but I am just so scared of things going wrong.

 

[Maurey]

As I own Maine Coon (as a breed, they sadly have tendency to heart issues, in general), this is what my typical dental day would look like

-Prior to treatment, the kitty getting the dental has their blood and heart checked (the latter is optional depending on clinic, but my vet dentist likes to be sure, especially with breeds prone to HCM). The former I'd suggest, even if your vet hasn't mentioned it, primarily to test for clotting factors -- this was specifically recommended by my vet in dental procedures where teeth need to be removed. Apparently some cats will have a tendency to have lowered levels of clotting factors, which the vet should really know in advance.
-Pre-anaesthesia checkup to make sure nothing stands out.
-Sedation, then Xrays, assuming you don't have recent ones, to check for things like FORL
-The procedure itself. In your case, it would first be tooth scaling, then extractions.
- Anaesthesia recovery. Where I live, the vet will generally let you take home your kitty once they're awake and stable, but still off their mind on the anaesthesia remnants. If that's the case where you live, you'll want to keep in mind they may be confused and have a weak bladder until they fully recover. You'll also want to keep your kitty warm until they fully bounce back, as anaesthesia plays with the bodies ability to thermoregulate.

 

[Lari]

One of our girls had a couple extractions and a cleaning back in December. I was a nervous wreck, too.

I dropped her off in the morning, and I think there were two cats scheduled for that day. She was done by 1, I want to say, when they called, but they didn't let me pick her up until after 4 because they wanted to keep an eye on her longer and let the anesthesia wear off a bit more. They'd told me she was cuddled up with a heated blanket, so I figured she was decently happy.

I was not allowed to feed her after 8PM the night before, so she was pretty hungry when she got home, but I only gave her a little bit of food to start with in case she vomited.

What they may or may not warn you about (I think they did for me, but it still took me by surprise) if that because of the irritation of being intubated, and also adjusting to fewer teeth, is that her meow sounded really weird for a few days. That's normal and should mostly go away.

The vet also had us give syringed painkillers for a few days after. If your cat is like ours, that will be...uh...fun...

We had to go back a week later because they wanted to check her mouth was healing. It was in and out and they didn't charge us for it.

So overall it was a positive experience.

 

[Tobermory]

My experience was similar to Lari ’s. I’ll add that they can’t really prepare you for how absolutely pitiful they seem when you get them home and how much it hurts your heart to see them like that. Mocha was a semiferal when I adopted her and that may have contributed to her reaction, but she kept trying to run from me when I let her out of her carrier. But she was still so doped up that she’d wobble a few steps and fall over. Get up, try to run, wobble, fall over. Repeat. I stopped trying to comfort her and just followed along at a distance to make sure she was okay.

I made this hiding place for her next to the room where the litter boxes are, and she went in there and looked miserable. She spent the night in there.

The next morning, she was still unhappy looking. They had sent home some buprenorphine, but I couldn’t syringe it into her, so I gave her some gabapentin in a bit of wet food (I added warm water to make it soupy) to take the edge off the pain.

By that evening she was eating pretty well and getting back to normal. And the next day she climbed into my lap and went to sleep!

They pulled all but six of her teeth. She has her four canines and two molars. I feed the cats only wet food so that’s not an issue, but I do give Dr. Elsey’s dry food as a treat. They’re very small round pellets and she just swallows them whole. I was giving them Northwest Naturals freeze-dried pork liver treats, but those have sharp edges and I worried about them hurting her gums. So no more of those!

It’s a rough couple of days for kitty and for you, but the vet will prepare you physically to deal with the aftermath of his surgery. Emotionally, give him love and warmth and bits of soupy food. Make sure he’s safe that first day because he’ll be very uncoordinated. But by day two after surgery, he—and you—should be feeling better!

 

[di and bob]

My Casper had two teeth extracted, came home, and ate hard food like normal. He acted as nothing happened! Even with most of their teeth extracted they just swallow hard food. Cats do that a lot anyway.

 

[Tagrendy]

Mine had neutoring + teeth cleaning / 2 teeth extractions 2 weeks ago. I brought him home while he was still under as I wanted him to wakeup at home. That was the best decision looking back, cause when the wake up they try to move desparately, but they can't hold their head up for good 3-4 hours, so they keep bumping it everywhere. I'm not sure what the vet would've done but best case scenario is they lock him in the career box which still would be miserable for him trying to move and not having space, being in a completely foreign environment with smells of other animals coming in and out. I kept him in arms until he was completely awake, which took 9 hours or so. However the overall recovery was pretty quick. He started to eat well, better than before actually on day 3. He is 3 years old, though the younger the cat the quicker they recover. I think you will have even faster results.

 

[Beholder]

When Morty and Po had some extractions this summer they came home pretty doped up. The first night Morty had a lot of issues jumping and falling over and both of them were hallucinating. Po would just stare at our blanket trying to swipe at invisible bugs (it's marble colored) and Morty would do the same but to the side of our door. They were also both quite sleepy. Po ate a lot after getting home and Morty didn't eat so much...which is about normal for them. The sleepiness got a lot better after that night but the hallucinations remained while they were on the pain killers (a few days). They never showed any signs of pain or any mood changes. Eating resumed to normal and we took them back after a week and the vet said they were healing up nicely. The whole experience didn't seem to leave any sort of lasting impression on them, and this may sound a bit mean but it was quite funny for us watching their strange behavior.

I understand your fear, but if most cats didn't recover just fine from things like this then extractions/cleanings wouldn't be something routinely done by vets. Cats that need extractions are often in pain but not showing any, so just try to remember the benefits for your cat.

 

[Annieca2016]

I remember freaking out when my now-eldest kitty, Snap, came home from a dental cleaning and there was a tiny bit of blood where she had perched on the bathroom rug. Called the vet in a panic...turns out they keep a thermometer inserted the entire time to make sure kitty isn't getting too cold. The little bit of blood was just from the thermometer. Miss SnapCat was back to her usual self in a few hours and no more blood besides that little dribble.

I'm going to worry no matter what. It's just who I am. BUT, I will say that having a vet I trust helps a lot. I trust that my vet will recommend and do the best things for my girls, and in doing so, I know they'll be in good hands if I can't be there for a procedure (like dental cleanings).

 

[cosmic_latte]

I made an account on this website today just to follow this thread! I'm a first time cat-owner with a beautiful rescue, but since she's been a stray for so long, there's a few health concerns that we need to take care of--like her dental work! The vet said she has a mild case of gingivitis so I need to schedule dental care soon as well, and I also can't help but worry and overthink! Especially with all the scary stories about undergoing anesthesia and she has a slight heart murmur :-(

Just wanted to say that you're not alone!! I hope your kitty recovers well, and I'll be keeping them in my thoughts this week!

 

[tinytangerine]

Thank you SO much to everyone who has shared stories so far. You have all brought a lot of comfort and confidence to me that I desperately needed. It is great to hear more about what to expect and what is normal for them before and after the procedure.


C cosmic_latte , thank you for the well-wishes and all the best to you and your girl.

This community is wonderful - thank you all!

 

[neely]

I've had more experience with teeth extractions in our cats than I'd like to think of but the good news is that all went well. One piece of advice would be to take your kitty to a Board Certified Dental Specialist if possible. Many vet clinics have a dental specialist within their practice. What is a Veterinary Dentist? | AVDC.org

Another question you might want to ask is what type of anesthesia the vet will use. Since our present and some of our past cats were Persians they are a Brachycephalic or flat faced breed which requires extra care during anesthesia procedures. For that reason, I have learned to specify the type of anesthetic I want them to administer. You can scroll down to dental problems for further info on these breeds: Flat Faced Cats - Investigating Brachycephalic Cat Breeds

But the best news is that all our cats have done well with the necessary dental procedures and surgery. I completely understand your apprehension and worry so please feel free to update us after your kitty's extractions. Best of luck!