Dental Surgery On Tuesday

[flowergirl]

Hi everybody,
My little man, Pierre (14yo), has his dental surgery scheduled on Tuesday. All of his pre-op bloodwork looks good, and they think he needs about 4 teeth removed. I'm SO nervous, I'm actually paying extra to have the anesthesiologist in the room and with him the whole day to make sure he is okay. I'm hoping/expecting the surgery and recovery will go smoothly, but my anxiety is pretty high. Does anybody have encouraging stories about tooth extraction going well for a senior kitty?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Just wanted to wish you and Pierre well with the tooth extraction! I know that daftcat75 has experienced this with his Krista, but I don't know for sure how old she is. He can at least provide some of his experience with Krista. He is on here fairly routinely, so perhaps he will see this message soon and can offer some advice. I am sure other members will also come along soon too. Just give them some time!!

 

[flowergirl]

Thank you so much for the reply. I'm such a nervous cat mom! I can't wait to be past this.

 

[weemomma]

My 12 year old girl had dental done a week ago and I was a wreck too. She had two teeth extracted and had a rough first day back at home, but she is bright and active and back to normal now.

Ask them when they think they will begin the procedure and how long they think it will take. That did a lot to ease my mind. I knew she was first and I knew it would take about an hour and a half. When I got the phone call at the end, it was a relief.

 

[daftcat75]

Krista is 14 and has been through several rounds of tooth extractions. She always bounces back remarkably fast. Your boy will likely be sent home with a long lasting pain relief injection in him (buprenorphine SR.). If so you’ll be told to wait a few days to start pain meds. He should be sent home with at least three days of pain management. He may need more. Assume he will need them and follow the schedule even if he doesn’t seem to be in pain. If you wait until he seems like he needs them, that’s too late. It could take a couple of doses for him to feel enough relief. That’s why it’s better to just keep it in him as long as the vet says he should have it.

Ask your vet about transdermal buprenophine. I think it’s sad and almost mean to have to give pain meds for a sore mouth by mouth. Also because buprenorphine isn’t effective if swallowed, it becomes tricky to give this because you are basically aiming where it hurts. The gums/cheek tissue. Transdermal is so much easier and consistent. You don’t have to worry about some of the dose being swallowed and hence lost.

 

[flowergirl]

My 12 year old girl had dental done a week ago and I was a wreck too. She had two teeth extracted and had a rough first day back at home, but she is bright and active and back to normal now.

Ask them when they think they will begin the procedure and how long they think it will take. That did a lot to ease my mind. I knew she was first and I knew it would take about an hour and a half. When I got the phone call at the end, it was a relief.

Thank you for sharing your story. Right now it all seems overwhelming. Like not feeding him before (he'll be SO mad) and he doesn't do well in the car. And he vomits a lot so what if that happens during the surgery. So much to worry about! I will be so glad when I'm a week out from it.

 

[flowergirl]

Krista is 14 and has been through several rounds of tooth extractions. She always bounces back remarkably fast. Your boy will likely be sent home with a long lasting pain relief injection in him (buprenorphine SR.). If so you’ll be told to wait a few days to start pain meds. He should be sent home with at least three days of pain management. He may need more. Assume he will need them and follow the schedule even if he doesn’t seem to be in pain. If you wait until he seems like he needs them, that’s too late. It could take a couple of doses for him to feel enough relief. That’s why it’s better to just keep it in him as long as the vet says he should have it.

Ask your vet about transdermal buprenophine. I think it’s sad and almost mean to have to give pain meds for a sore mouth by mouth. Also because buprenorphine isn’t effective if swallowed, it becomes tricky to give this because you are basically aiming where it hurts. The gums/cheek tissue. Transdermal is so much easier and consistent. You don’t have to worry about some of the dose being swallowed and hence lost.

Oh that's a good idea, thank you. He's been on bupe while we're waiting for the surgery, but I hadn't thought about the painful mouth thing. I hope he will take all the meds okay, I plan to follow exact instructions but he can be a difficult little patient.

 

[daftcat75]

I’m assuming sedated cats don’t vomit. But if that is a concern, you can bring that up with your vet beforehand. You might be able to pick up a Cerenia tomorrow to give him before the car ride to turn off the vomit signal. Otherwise the office themselves can give him a Cerenia injection before the procedure. They very well may do that anyway.

 

[daftcat75]

Transdermal antibiotics is not recommended. So my recommendation would be to give him a transdermal bupe and then once that’s kicked in, he should be easier to give the antibiotic by mouth.

 

[flowergirl]

I’m assuming sedated cats don’t vomit. But if that is a concern, you can bring that up with your vet beforehand. You might be able to pick up a Cerenia tomorrow to give him before the car ride to turn off the vomit signal. Otherwise the office themselves can give him a Cerenia injection before the procedure. They very well may do that anyway.

Yes, they did mention doing that at the consult. She said they have a lot of chronic vomiters and they've never had one throw up during a procedure. I guess it's more common with dogs.

 

[flowergirl]

Transdermal antibiotics is not recommended. So my recommendation would be to give him a transdermal bupe and then once that’s kicked in, he should be easier to give the antibiotic by mouth.

Do you know if it's one of the antibiotics that can be given by shot?

 

[daftcat75]

You can get a starter dose by injection. But I don’t recommend the long lasting antibiotic, Convenia. In fact, bring this up with your vet beforehand. No Convenia! Every cat is different but some cats react very poorly to it. And since it is long lasting, there’s little to be done for them when that happens except wait it out. My philosophy is to avoid long lasting drugs when you can because it’s always easier to get more drug into a patient if it’s not enough than it is to get the drug out of the patient if it’s too much. Bupe SR is my exception because Krista has already had it and tolerated it well.

 

[flowergirl]

OK, we are back home now and the vet and anesthesiologist both said he did well during the procedure, no blood pressure or other issues. He had four teeth extracted. He ate a little bit at the clinic and they told me to feed him a small amount tonight and then more later if he is hungry.

I know they said he would be out of it when he got home, but he is SO wobbly and his pupils are huge. The tip of his tongue kind of sticks out. When he ate a little bit of food earlier, he made a lot of weird nasally sounds while he was eating. Does this seem like normal post-anasthesia? We are about 4-5 hours out from when his procedure started, probably 3 from when it ended.

 

[daftcat75]

He will have swelling in his mouth. That's why it's not closing. It will go down in a day or two. Cats heal remarkably quick.

Mine had less than a smooth time today. A couple root extractions. But she also pooped herself in the cage and the carrier. She's in such a foul hissy, swatting mood that I unboxed her in the bathroom and she's in timeout until she cools down. At least long enough for me to eat some dinner and then I'll figure out how I'm going to clean her.

 

[flowergirl]

He will have swelling in his mouth. That's why it's not closing. It will go down in a day or two. Cats heal remarkably quick.

Mine had less than a smooth time today. A couple root extractions. But she also pooped herself in the cage and the carrier. She's in such a foul hissy, swatting mood that I unboxed her in the bathroom and she's in timeout until she cools down. At least long enough for me to eat some dinner and then I'll figure out how I'm going to clean her.

Oh, I didn't even think about swelling, that makes sense! He has come around slightly in the last half hour in terms of alertness, which is good. I'm supposed to give him a dose of bupe in a half hour and I'm nervous with how sedated he still seems.

I'm sorry about your day. I used to have a girl that reacted that way too; I would get so mad and then feel bad about it. Fur children are just so hard!

 

[daftcat75]

I'm not mad at her. I just want to go in and clean her up. But she was hissing, spitting mad before. I will likely still need to try my hand at the Cat-In-The-Bag again. And maybe a purrito too.

She's kind of fun to watch on the camera I put in there with her.

 

[daftcat75]

So poop chaps aside, I think the root extractions were a success! I’ve already fed Krista several small plates of Rawz adding up to about half a can so far. Such a relief! She needs to be eating this good stuff again so she can gain back the weight she lost to this and the antibiotics before it. And so she can normalize her gut and butt and stop wearing poop soup. Maybe smelly cat will let me do another pet wipe pass over her later tonight after she’s had more time to get over the vet visit and the anesthesia. She’s cleaner but still stinky. She’s calm again now as long as I don’t try to clean her. She can clean herself. Gross! But worth it all!

 

[flowergirl]

Hey that's great news! I'm glad both of out kitties are through this week!

So Pierre has been on an upswing since the vet had me skip a dose of bupe yesterday morning. She said he seemed way too sedated. He is still on pred and lower dose of the pain med. His alertness, eating, and returning more normal behaviors have all improved. Two things I am watching:

1. He still has only pooped a small amount since he's been home. Like a couple of small balls Weds and a couple this morning. I'm not sure when to worry about this. The vet doesn't really respond about it which makes me think it's not an emergency.

2. I noticed this morning that he had not meowed, at all, since he got home. Today I came in after being out a few hours and heard him meow for the first time. A few minutes later he was rolling around on the floor and when he got up he let out what I think was supposed to be a long meow, but sounded like someone squeezing the meow out of him from the inside. It was low but squeaky and kind of scary sounding. Does it take a little bit for the meow to sort out? I'm hoping it's not a pain response, but he otherwise seems normal. Any thoughts?

We are just about 3 days post-extraction.

 

[daftcat75]

I think it takes awhile for the meow to sort. Especially if he’s still on bupe. Krista’s meow gets more normal towards the end of her bupe doses. It’s kind of my cue even though we’re already on a strict schedule. However, I can’t wait to get her off this stuff. She’s been on it for about eight days now. Tonight’s midnight dose will be her last and this weekend I get to see how her mouth feels without bupe four times a day.

 

[flowergirl]

Wow, 4 times a day! Pierre has been on 0.2ml once a day for about 6 weeks while waiting for the dental surgery. Then they put him on 0.3ml 2x per day for 3 days right after, along with pred. By morning 2, I was still having a hard time waking him up and then he would just sit and stare into space. The vet said the dose seems too high, so we skipped one, then started him back at 0.2ml. It definitely resolved his alertness and energy, but I'm hoping it's also killing the pain. We are at the end of day 3 now, so hopefully the pain is resolving anyway. I will be more glad to be done with the pred. I have to crush it and mix with food, and he gets smarter each time so I have to keep coming up with new ways to trick him.

I'm excited to hear how it goes with Krista off meds. Can't wait to be there!