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- Oct 24, 2017
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I've decided to take Caine in for his first dental cleaning tomorrow at 8am, alongside getting his eyes checked out. He's around 6 years old and I adopted him from a shelter as an adult, so we're both very new to this, and I think I'm much more worried than he is for now...
I was told by the vet to take away his food the night before, at 10pm. This would be 10 hours before his appointment begins. I've never taken away his dry food before (he uses a slow-feeder) and we have a happy morning routine around his wet food. When I looked up this time frame online, I see a variety of recommended fasting periods from 3 to 12 hours prior to surgery. I read that the risk of vomiting is not actually diminished by fasting more than 6 hours:
"Withholding food for 6–12 h prior to anesthesia or instructions for ‘nothing after midnight’ have traditionally been recommended but are not evidence based." "Long fasting times do not necessarily ensure that a cat’s stomach will be empty. Stress, meal size and lack of dietary moisture can slow gastric emptying. Therefore, the anesthetist must always be prepared for perioperative vomiting. Although there are no data in cats, shorter fasting times (3–4 h) with provision of a small wet food meal 3–4 h before anesthesia may be adopted at the clinician’s discretion."
As much as I am indeed worried from an emotional perspective about his discomfort and hunger, I'm focused on analyzing this instead from a rational perspective where I minimize the risk of complications. He has a relatively clear medical history and no diseases, so I just want to hear as many opinions as possible and hopefully find some studies which answer this question properly...
As a side note, I'm also worried about the rate of feline death on anesthesia in general: "Subsequent international work has reported the risk of anaesthetic-related death in cats to be approximately 0.1–0.2%" and whether it's even worth it at all to get his teeth cleaned, when it will cause him so much distress. He doesn't have any tooth problems, the doctor said it's entirely preventative so I'm getting it at a discount, and the rate of death is reportedly 1 in 500~1000... Yeesh. Not that he'll need his teeth cleaned 1000 times, but if I personally had an elective procedure with that death rate I'd definitely opt out, and just go in for the eye inspection and leave. I know it's different, I know there are risks whether I take him or not. I'm just worried.
Do you all get your cats' teeth cleaned like this? It's all so new and nerve-wracking to me. I'm setting aside my worries about things like money and Caine's temporary discomfort, to ask about what you all think is best. I've always received excellent responses from everyone here and I look forward to hearing your perspectives. Thank you very much for any advice
I was told by the vet to take away his food the night before, at 10pm. This would be 10 hours before his appointment begins. I've never taken away his dry food before (he uses a slow-feeder) and we have a happy morning routine around his wet food. When I looked up this time frame online, I see a variety of recommended fasting periods from 3 to 12 hours prior to surgery. I read that the risk of vomiting is not actually diminished by fasting more than 6 hours:
"Withholding food for 6–12 h prior to anesthesia or instructions for ‘nothing after midnight’ have traditionally been recommended but are not evidence based." "Long fasting times do not necessarily ensure that a cat’s stomach will be empty. Stress, meal size and lack of dietary moisture can slow gastric emptying. Therefore, the anesthetist must always be prepared for perioperative vomiting. Although there are no data in cats, shorter fasting times (3–4 h) with provision of a small wet food meal 3–4 h before anesthesia may be adopted at the clinician’s discretion."
As much as I am indeed worried from an emotional perspective about his discomfort and hunger, I'm focused on analyzing this instead from a rational perspective where I minimize the risk of complications. He has a relatively clear medical history and no diseases, so I just want to hear as many opinions as possible and hopefully find some studies which answer this question properly...
As a side note, I'm also worried about the rate of feline death on anesthesia in general: "Subsequent international work has reported the risk of anaesthetic-related death in cats to be approximately 0.1–0.2%" and whether it's even worth it at all to get his teeth cleaned, when it will cause him so much distress. He doesn't have any tooth problems, the doctor said it's entirely preventative so I'm getting it at a discount, and the rate of death is reportedly 1 in 500~1000... Yeesh. Not that he'll need his teeth cleaned 1000 times, but if I personally had an elective procedure with that death rate I'd definitely opt out, and just go in for the eye inspection and leave. I know it's different, I know there are risks whether I take him or not. I'm just worried.
Do you all get your cats' teeth cleaned like this? It's all so new and nerve-wracking to me. I'm setting aside my worries about things like money and Caine's temporary discomfort, to ask about what you all think is best. I've always received excellent responses from everyone here and I look forward to hearing your perspectives. Thank you very much for any advice