First teeth cleaning

[thehistorian]

I feel terrible. About two months ago I began to notice my girl's breath stank. So I opened her and went "oh crap. I messed up". Tartar everywhere and red gums. I know she is at some stage of periodontal disease, but I hope they can save most of her teeth. It's bad but not like any of the extreme case pictures you find on the Internet.

Of course I scheduled her a vet appointment as soon as possible for a professional cleaning. In the meantime, I am trying to do what I can. I brush her teeth as gently as I can every few days and squirt some pet dental gel on them.

I know these steps will not get rid of what is already there, but I like to think the brushing and gel helps a little but to prevent it from getting much worse.

My question is: is it a good idea to do what little I can prevent further progression of the disease via brushing and gel? Or should I stop ASAP?

Second, my girl goes in December 5th. I will likely be a wreck that day. What should I expect after her cleaning? Is it like after she was spayed - acts a little dopey?

If she has teeth pulled, will it be okay to let her eat right away etc.?

Help. I've never done this before and regret being so ignorant as to let her even develop the early stages of periodontal. I want to do the best I can to reverse my human mess up, and get her back to healthy and happy as soon as possible after the cleaning.

 

[jdollprincess]

Don't feel bad, a lot of times it's not nearly as bad as it looks (or smells). I'm a vet tech and have done many dental cleanings. The actual tarter is easily scraped off and is what usually looks and smells so bad. Most vets take dental X-rays during the procedure so they can see exactly what's going on under the gums and it allows them to see which teeth if any need removed. Cats bounce back very quickly from extractions and it's normally recommended to feed either wet or softened dry for 10-14 days until the sutures dissolve. Since they do go under anesthesia they usually are a little dopey afterwards, esp if pain meds are given and may be a little drooly if teeth were removed. I'm not sure if brushing now would do much good but after the procedure it's def a good idea to start brushing if your cat will tolerate it. My vet always tells clients if your gonna brush you need to do it at least 3 times a week to make a difference but I think all vets may have different opinions on this so I would follow what your vet recommends. Also my one cat Chloe had horrible tarter chunks on her back teeth, the vet thought they were reabsorbing and would need to come out and after scraping the tarter off and doing X-rays the teeth were fine and stayed in. Good luck and try not to worry too much.

 

[samnmag]

I understand where you are coming from.  A couple of months ago, my vet and I had a lengthy discussion about my senior cat needed his teeth cleaned and he showed me why.  Of course, I dug my heals in a bit because he has a slight heart murmur and he is older.  The vet advised that bad teeth can make a heart condition worse for a number of reasons.  Anyway, I sadly looked at my Pepper and said we had best do it as the teeth looked like they would make him uncomfortable.  The morning I took him in I felt like an executioner's assistant.  I looked at all the staff in the vets office and told them in no uncertain terms I wanted him back alive and healthy!!!  (it's okay, they know me and how I feel about my kitties). I was a wreck.  I am sure they even gave me my own phone number to the clinic.  Anyway, he was toward the last of the surgeries done that day which I understand is common for dental work on cats.   Finally, the phone call came.  Pepper is done, he is fine, and he can be picked up once he wide awake and alert.  Yes, he had a few teeth removed but still has a good number left.  When I picked him up, he meowed, glared at me a little but was happy to be home.  Of course, when I got him home, Emily, my other little cat smelled the vet's office on him and took off like a shot.  After letting him settle in for about an hour, the vet had okayed me giving him a little soft food.  I gave him a small amount of soft pate (salmon I believe).  He ate it right up and then snuggled down for a sleep.  Several days later, when I was told I could try him with hard food, I softened it with warm water.  Of course, that did not meet his approval but then a couple of weeks later, I let him back on his regular hard food.   Pepper is approx. 13 yrs old.  Procedures and anesthetics have changed so much.  Even though we consider it a major procedure, I think most vets have such a handle on it now that it is so much safer.  I would love to say something to you that is going to make you not worry but there just isn't anything that will do that.  Your vet will check your kitty out thoroughly.  Quite often they will put them on an antibiotic a few days prior and then kitty will be in and out...with shiny teeth.  You are in my thoughts and let us know how it goes. 

 

[mservant]

You checked her mouth and you took action as soon as you realized there was something wrong.  You have scheduled in her appointment for a dental. This is all good.   OK, so it could have happened sooner if you had more information about kitty breath, so you are in a pretty similar place to where I was about 3 years ago - no doubt beating yourself up, feeling extremely guilty, like a bad cat parent responsible for their cat being sick and in pain.  

    I was so stupid I didn't even notice something was wrong until my furbaby stopped eating one day.  Luckily Mouse didn't need a dental, his teeth didn't need professional cleaning and no teeth needed to be removed - but he did need several repeat prescriptions of antibiotics for the tonsillitis and numerous ulcers he had developed on his gums and tongue, and went through several months of serious pain and feeling very unwell.    We have both learned a lesson so feel good about that and put all your energy in to doing everything you can to help her through what ever the next stage of this is for her.

I do think 'brushing' her teeth from now with an enzyme paste is a good thing, but if she has red gums or sore bits in her mouth I would not use a brush of any kind.  Let her lick the toothpaste off your finger, cotton bud or similar, and if she will let you then rub it gently around her gums with your finger or something soft, not hard as her mouth is almost certainly painful for her.  If she won't let you rub the paste in or to lick it off something you can also wipe a little on her lips or around her mouth so she will lick it off.  Gently introducing the paste to her now hopefully gets you both in to a routine and if she feels it is gentle and she is in control of it she is more likely to tolerate it being done long term.  The enzyme paste will help to reduce bacteria and any further build up of plaque even though it will not remove any established tartar or repair enamel or gum damage.

I hope she is liking the taste of the paste you have, most people seem to have poultry flavour which is what Mouse has and he loves it. (I buy Logic but I think there is another similar kind which is more readily available in the US and other countries).

How old is your girl?   Mouse developed this while he was still teething and is now coming up for 4.  He still has all his teeth - never needed a dental cleaning, and has regular daily tooth cleaning routine plus prescription dental food so look for positives and stick with any preventative management routine your vet recommends.

  Hope all goes well on the 5th.  

 

[thehistorian]

Thanks guys, all the advice and stories have helped me feel a lot better. Luckily, I caught her teeth before they began to cause her any pain I would notice. Her appetite has not changed at all.

Yes, I am using an enzyme based poultry flavored toothpaste with her. She loves the paste...not me sticking stuff in her mouth those. She fusses and struggles a bit, but not so badly that I cannot get the stuff soundly on her teeth.

She is five years old right now. The baby will be six years old next March. Needless to say the fiesty lady has a very attentive and fussy human.

Thank you all so much again!

 

[mservant]

Thanks guys, all the advice and stories have helped me feel a lot better. Luckily, I caught her teeth before they began to cause her any pain I would notice. Her appetite has not changed at all.

Yes, I am using an enzyme based poultry flavored toothpaste with her. She loves the paste...not me sticking stuff in her mouth those. She fusses and struggles a bit, but not so badly that I cannot get the stuff soundly on her teeth.

She is five years old right now. The baby will be six years old next March. Needless to say the fiesty lady has a very attentive and fussy human.

Thank you all so much again!

If she likes it, I take the little bit twice daily like a treat licked off the finger approach and that way it's got less chance of being a fight in the longer term - you can rub around the mouth more thoroughly once or twice a week and she'll be less likely to start avoiding it.  

 

[thehistorian]

Thanks for the extra advice MServant! The only thing squicking me out now is the anesthesia. I hate having her put under...it just makes me uncomfortable. She did fine with her spaying, but still. I can't wait until it is over and she is home safe with her human folk. Ugh.

 

[luckybabycat]

I think I'll be taking my middle aged cat in for his first cleaning/extraction prob in a couple of weeks. Gums are red. (Vet wanted to wait because of another issue currently) At least one tooth will extracted, he showed me that it is loose enough to wiggle. I forgot to ask; just curious; do they usually keep them overnite or longer?  He gets so upset there I hate to think about leaving him.

 

[ritz]

I believe the level/amount/degree (? don't know the proper term) of anethesia for a dental cleaning is considerably less than for a spay. Ritz was a tiny bit loopy after her first and second dental cleaning and wanted to eat immediately. (She was totally out of it after her spay.)
Ritz is prone to gingivitis; some cats just are. She averages a dental cleaning every other year; her first one was when she was little over two years old. She probably had poor nutrition when she was a kitten--dumped in November, survived a frigid and snowy [20 inches] December.
Ritz will not tolerate any kind of tooth brushing or toothpaste. FWIW: I fed prey model raw, including (raw) bone. She chews it, so I hope that lessens the amount of tartar/red gums.

 

[mservant]

I think there are quite a few people over in the Raw and Home Cooked forum who, like @Ritz,  have gone down the raw food route when they found their cats had dental problems and feel it helps so looking around there and reading some of the discussions might prove interesting @Thehistorian.   I know I've thought about it but it doesn't work for Mouse and me, at least for now.  

Anaesthsia is always something that I feel anxious about but sometimes it is necessary.  Hopefully it will not be a lengthy procedure and with an established dental routine afterwards any future dentals can be kept to a minimum.  I do believe there is a strong element of genetics in cats prone to tartar build up just like there is with humans and no matter how much care you take with some cats, and what you feed them, the tartar seems to accumulate.  You can minimise it though, and every little has to help.

 

[thehistorian]

Thank you all for your stories, advice, and reassurance. MServant, homemade raw is not an option for me right now, but I have tried to go all wet in the past and it did not work because she would never finish her second wet meal of the day. Thus, a lot of food was wasted. Secondly, one of the wet foods I had her on for long period of time ended up causing her a bad bout of constipation because it had several gums in it. Since then, I have returned to half wet, half kibble. I would rather do wet, but after my last experience, I am a tad worried. I am probably going to try it again when I finish the new bag of kibble I just bought.  

As for her teeth right now - I try to put the enzymatic toothpaste on her teeth several times a week right now. 

 

[furmonster mom]

I've had a few animals go in for regular extractions.  One was my mom's older schnauzer (16 yrs when we took him), who seemed to have never had his teeth cleaned.  The other is our older cat who had chronic FORLs (feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion).  There are a few things that I cover with my vet before procedures...

1. anesthetic - I prefer Sevoflurane.  It is a gas that they use on infants, easily discontinued and cleared from the system if there are any adverse reactions.
2. pain management - NO RIMADYL.  This is a pain med that is specified for dogs only, but a lot of vets use it on cats.  When it's used with surgical procedures, it's administered as an injection.  The problem with that is if your cat has a reaction, it cannot be flushed out of the system.
3. For that reason, I prefer oral meds to be given at home.  If there are any reactions, the meds can be stopped and swapped for something else.  Buprenorphine/Buprenex is popular these days, but my older cat had a reaction, so we use torbutrol.  The difference is that Bup is an opiate that targets the entire nervous system to dull pain.  Torbutrol runs through the blood stream to target the specific pain (like asprin).
4. Antibiotics - again, I prefer oral over injections for essentially the same reasons as the pain meds.  It couldn't hurt to ask your vet if you can get a jump on the antibiotics to put any infections in check if the situation warrants it.  I've done this when I had to wait a month or so to get the procedure scheduled.

I have a long relationship with my vet (11 years), so we've had many discussions on these issues and she knows how I think/feel.  There was one time that a new vet took our consultation, and I literally had an argument with her over the Rimadyl issue (and a few other things).  I made no bones about talking to my regular vet about the experience.  Point is, do your research, talk about your options and preferences, and stick to your guns on things that you feel are important.

 

[thehistorian]

So far so good!

Enya had her dental cleaning yesterday and everything went fine! Her teeth look so much better and her breath does not smell at all. Here pre - cleaning bloodworm was good too.

Thankfully no extractions were needed and she could go back to eating the dry half of her diet ASAP.

I was also given the okay to start brushing her teeth as soon as I liked - and I did her first post -cleaning brushing tonight - well kind of. She fought most of the way. LOL

My only concern is that she has not pooped since the night before her cleaning and it is now late the night after her cleaning. Experience has taught me that she has a tendency to get stopped up after going under. How worried should I be?

 

[samnmag]

I am so pleased that all went well with Enya's dental cleaning.  Give her a couple of days and I bet she will notice her teeth feel better also.  It is always a concern if they don't have a bowel movement or urinate the way they normally do but don't forget, she just underwent a procedure which will be a bit stressful to her.  You will have to monitor it of course and not let it go too.  You might try mixing some warm water in her wet food and/or dry food or even adding some pumpkin.  As she gets back to her normal activity of running and playing, that will certainly help also.   I do not know anything about the laxatives for cats so I can't advise on those but if she doesn't go fairly soon after a couple of meals, I would call the vet to see if they carry a laxative you can administer.  Do let us know how you make out. 

 

[thehistorian]

Thanks Sam! I am even more worried though because she just peed but she has been wandering back and forth to her litter box, digging a little, leaving, crying a little etc. she has done this at least twice. I have to go to work all day.

I am so bloody worried now. She has a constipation episode back in June/July due to a food I have her. I really have no money to afford another one right now. Oh god. Panicking a bit right now.

 

[mservant]

I am so relieved for you and Enya that she didn't need any extractions and her dental went well. 

    Awful when we sit and worry about after effects of anaesthetic, esp when you know how she has reacted before.  It would be reasonable to give your vet a phone call to talk through how she is and ask for advice on her not having pooped since she came back round.   I think @samnag's advice  is good though and until you can call the vet adding water to increase fluid intake and try adding a little pumpkin puree sounds like a plan.  A lot of members have success with this.  Hope all works out good and not further vet action is needed and Enya is back to being her pre-sore mouth self very soon.   

Are you using a brush with the paste?   If so, try to get her to accept it on a cotton bud or similar first so she doesn't associate it as such a negative thing - it's something you are going to have to do regularly and for a long time and the easier it is for both of you the better it's going to be.  Even if it means only getting the good brushing in once a week without a big battle it will be better than her running off every time she sees you coming!

 

[stewball]

I'm glad the teeth cleaning went well. I hope by now the business has been done.
My lotto had his first teeth cleaning when he was 8. I think he had another one a few years later later. Towards the end his breath was astronomically disgusting and his gums were red but at his vast age - 20 - no way was I going to risk having him put under so I lived with his stinky breath and he still ate his dry food with no problems so no pain.
Good you noticed quite early that the teeth needed cleaning.
Lotto went to rainbow bridge with all his teeth.

 

[furmonster mom]

... I am even more worried though because she just peed but she has been wandering back and forth to her litter box, digging a little, leaving, crying a little etc. she has done this at least twice. I have to go to work all day.

I am so bloody worried now. She has a constipation episode back in June/July due to a food I have her. I really have no money to afford another one right now. Oh god. Panicking a bit right now.

My vet has recommended that a small amount of Miralax can be mixed into the food for occasional constipation.  I'd give your vet a call and see what they say about that possibility.

 

[samnmag]

Firstly, I know you are very worried but do not panic because she will pick that up and will stress her out also.  Secondly, you haven't mentioned how much she is actually eating right now and what she is eating.   MServant is right on when she mentions the after effects of anaesthetic.  It can cause some minor issues that take a little time to get over or that need a little help to get over.  A simple call to the vet may be all that is needed.  Another thing you could try but you will need to mix it with warm water is bran.  Mix it with warm water to make it very soft and add a little to her wet food.  Just add a little, about a tablespoon of the bran/water mix.  It is better to be liquidy than solid right now.  Please keep us posted as we are thinking of you and Enya.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that she surprises you overnight. 

 

[mservant]

How is Enya doing now?