Encouragement Needed To Get Dental Cleaning

[tuffsmom]

I am facing a dilemma. . When Tuff had his checkup the vet recommended a dental cleaning. I am so afraid
he may not wake up after the procedure, even though there was no problem when he was neutered. A friend took her perfectly healthy dog to the vet to have him neutered and he died from being put under. I have been scared of this ever since.

 

[tuffsmom]

I need to add that my friend's vet is not the one I use. I am very pleased with my vet.

 

[Elfilou]

I'm not going to try and minimize what you're feeling here. Your feelings are valid, and after expierencing or hearing of something like that in your direct surroundings it's not that strange that you have these fears.

Now, the chance that this happens to your kitty is very, very small. Very very small.

Think of how much better your kitty will feel after this. Kitty probably has aching gums, maybe some discomfort eating. Eating will be much more enjoyable for kitty after the teethcleaning!

Just think of the desired end result, and why you are doing this!

 

[tuffsmom]

Thank you so much for this encouragement. I think I will make an appt for the dental.

 

[bodester413]

I worry about that too. My cat hasn't needed to be put under since he was neutered either. When he got his shots a few days back the vet said he had some tarter buildup on his back teeth and recommended some dental chews (Greenies) which I tried years ago and he wouldn't touch them so I'm probably looking at having to get him a cleaning sometime down the line...That fact that your cat has been put under once before and was fine would definitely make me feel better about having to do it again...Someone that knows more about it should eventually chime in here....Maybe ask the vet if Tuff should get a checkup to make sure everything is ok health wise before the cleaning?....That would make me feel a lot better knowing before the cleaning that there weren't any health issues that would change how the anesthesia would effect him.

Edit- Looks like someone with more knowledge about it did reply while I was typing my post.....It's good to hear that it's really rare to have anything go wrong.

 

[tuffsmom]

Thanks for the encouragement. I feel much more confident and plan on scheduling an appointment .

 

[KatMom777]

I found this site while searching for information about dental cleanings for cats. A little backstory here...

We adopted two kitties in 2011. They were born at the shelter in 2010 when their mom was turned in as a stray just before giving birth. No time to get her into foster care. Misty and Mira were the last two of the litter to be adopted, and they were so strongly bonded that the shelter wanted to keep them together. It was perfect, because we wanted to adopt two cats following the loss of our first one, Lizzie, who succumbed to cancer at 16 years old.

Recently, we lost Misty to FIP--a horrible, horrible disease--and totally unexpected for a 7 year old cat that received a glowing checkup just 2 months before! Her sister, Mira, went through a hard time during those awful last weeks. We spent another week back and forth at the vet getting her back to normal. Mostly, she suffered from stress, but we had to rule out any other illness before we came to that conclusion.

Mira is now doing very well! She's happy and seems healthy, doing all the things a normal kitty should. She seems to have adapted to the loss of her sister, perhaps thanks to the vet letting her see Misty after we had her euthanized. On a follow-up visit last week, Mira's blood work came back in tip-top form. But the vet says she should have her teeth cleaned, and frankly, we're still shell-shocked over losing our Misty. We're trying to convince ourselves that the cleaning would be beneficial for her, but the idea of anesthesia terrifies us. The vet indicated that she has what would be expected for tartar build-up in a cat her age, and there's no real hurry for the cleaning.

I was wondering if anyone out there had tried some of the dental products out there and seen success with them?

Meanwhile, we still wrestle with the recommendation of a cleaning...

 

[Furballsmom]

I haven't tried most of the dental products although I'm trying a treat by vetriscience thats a perio support product. I'm likely too inconsistent in giving it and when I do it's not the recommended amount because I always figure those are too high--all that said it's more for my benefit (sigh) so that I feel like I'm doing SOMEthing. Anyway, tartar, gingivitis, all that dental stuff causes tooth destruction and pain, I'm not saying that to scare, it's just a fact of life given what they're typically eating. My vet says about every three years there'll be a cleaning. The last time he was in, she was able to knock a piece off a tooth and dang if his gumline didn't bleed but she double-checked and said it was ok. With all of THAT said, I have read that cats on raw diets seem to have less buildup. In any case, one other note is that you should stress to the vet to be very careful and gentle both with the intubation and when they roll the cat over to do the other side because you and your cat don't want to and shouldn't have to deal with any voice loss. Don't get me wrong, I hate all of this kind of thing in a major major way but I have to balance his health and safety against all the rest, and that comes out on top.