Dental Cleaning

[himawari]

Does anyone here have experience dealing with a URI cat and having him be under anesthesia for dental cleaning while he's being medicated? Is that safe? I talked to my vet, and apparently his URI is being caused by gingivitis so in order to control/make that disappear he has to be under anesthesia. But a vet tech told me that the URI should be gone (ie he doesn't have to be medicated) before being put under...

It's just my vet is insisting on doing the cleaning asap but I don't exactly have the right amount of funds after his blood test & meds for the URI... and I wonder if my vet is selling me the cleaning because of the cost.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I don't have experience here, but I did some googling and reading for you, and am including the easiest article to understand. It looks as if gingivitis does NOT cause URIs, but that they are both symptoms of a viral infection, FCV. I'll let you read the details and decide where to go from there.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) infection | International Cat Care

 

[MistyDawn]

Some microbiota can infect both the mouth and the bladder, but most are opportunistic, meaning something must be up with your cat's immune system - don't worry too hard just yet. We underestimate the things that can put the dampers on our body's literal bodyguards. It doesn't have to be something as terrible as FIV; it can be brought on as something as simple as stress from a move or you getting a new job with different hours. It can also be the effect of some medication your kitty has been on recently damaging normal flora, the bacteria, fungi, and protists that occur naturally in the body and keep opportunistic pathogens at bay by consuming their resources. So, dual infection of both is not completely impossible, but I would definitely get your kitty checked for Calicivirus, as it is just as much of a possibility with those symptoms. Can you see any inflammation in the palette or the back of the throat? Any sores on the face?

If Calici is the problem:
The bad news: This stuff is pretty contagious. If you have other kitties, quarantine is a good idea.

The good news: Don't let the scary looking acronym frighten you. With a good regimen of antibiotics, it will all go away and your cat will be fit as a fiddle.

Regardless, I would consider neither an anasthetic risk.

 

[himawari]

I don't have experience here, but I did some googling and reading for you, and am including the easiest article to understand. It looks as if gingivitis does NOT cause URIs, but that they are both symptoms of a viral infection, FCV. I'll let you read the details and decide where to go from there.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) infection | International Cat Care

Thank you for the link! I did read it and am better informed about FCV.

Some microbiota can infect both the mouth and the bladder, but most are opportunistic, meaning something must be up with your cat's immune system - don't worry too hard just yet. We underestimate the things that can put the dampers on our body's literal bodyguards. It doesn't have to be something as terrible as FIV; it can be brought on as something as simple as stress from a move or you getting a new job with different hours. It can also be the effect of some medication your kitty has been on recently damaging normal flora, the bacteria, fungi, and protists that occur naturally in the body and keep opportunistic pathogens at bay by consuming their resources. So, dual infection of both is not completely impossible, but I would definitely get your kitty checked for Calicivirus, as it is just as much of a possibility with those symptoms. Can you see any inflammation in the palette or the back of the throat? Any sores on the face?

If Calici is the problem:
The bad news: This stuff is pretty contagious. If you have other kitties, quarantine is a good idea.

The good news: Don't let the scary looking acronym frighten you. With a good regimen of antibiotics, it will all go away and your cat will be fit as a fiddle.

Regardless, I would consider neither an anasthetic risk.

He's an only cat, but I do have a dog. I'm assuming my dog isn't at risk? He tested for FIV twice and both results came back as negative. Thanks to the Clindomycin he's on, he won't let me anywhere near his mouth... but that sore comment got me thinking. He developed like one pimple/sore near his lower lip in the fur area. My vet mentioned that it might be the result of mixing clindyomycin & lysine and to keep it under observation (it's been about 5 days and he hasn't grown or diminished). Aside from the nose & eye discharge, the rest of the symptoms for Calicivirus doesn't occur in my cat. But I will call the vet tomorrow to ask... would a senior blood panel cover the testing for that?

 

[MistyDawn]

My expertise is in people more than animals, so I really can't tell you, but I would guess, and take it as just a guess, that it would not. I'd imagine that test looks more at things like enzymes for organ function or maybe cancer markers.

 

[himawari]

My expertise is in people more than animals, so I really can't tell you, but I would guess, and take it as just a guess, that it would not. I'd imagine that test looks more at things like enzymes for organ function or maybe cancer markers.

Yeah I called them to ask about sending me the results but they still haven't /sigh But a friend of mine said that it's better to give this probiotic pill (like cut it open & only give a bit) after my cat is done with the clindamycin. Is that okay?

 

[MistyDawn]

Yeah I called them to ask about sending me the results but they still haven't /sigh But a friend of mine said that it's better to give this probiotic pill (like cut it open & only give a bit) after my cat is done with the clindamycin. Is that okay?

It is okay. It should help your cat's normal flora that might have been damaged by the antibiotics return.

 

[himawari]

It is okay. It should help your cat's normal flora that might have been damaged by the antibiotics return.

That's exactly what my friend said. Do you happen to know how much to give for a 7 year old male? And also, sorry to ask but do you know anything about blood test results? I finally got my cat's but I'm not too sure how to read it. And the receptionists weren't much of a help.

 

[lavishsqualor]

If you post a photo of them here I bet someone would give you some insight.

 

[himawari]

If you post a photo of them here I bet someone would give you some insight.

I've no idea how to do that. When I try, it says "please upload correct image file (PNG,JPG,GIF) when the file is png...

 

[lavishsqualor]

You want to have the file saved onto your computer first. Then click on the photo next to the smiley face. Then you want to choose the file, select it, and then upload it.

 

[himawari]

That's exactly what I did and it still shows up lol Anyway here's a link instead since I uploaded it on imgur

 

[lavishsqualor]

The link is perfect. You should start a thread in the Cat Health section and post it there. There are tons of folks over there who can decipher it for you. I, however, am not nearly that smart!

Good luck!

 

[himawari]

Okay thank you for your help!