Lip entrapment

[Twocoastscat]

Three weeks ago my vet extracted Jeter’s (13 years old) upper canine d/t resorption . He’s a nightmare at the vet and requires total sedation even after giving him sedating meds prior to the visit. He’s eating and acting normally after the protocol of two weeks of soft food, getting Bupe into him, getting stool softener into him to counteract the constipation from the Bupe, etc. Thanks to posts on this site I’ve been keeping my eye out for lip entrapment and saw a few tiny spots of bloody drool on his bed this morning so looked in his mouth and here is what I saw. I called vet and sent her this picture and am waiting to hear back but I dread having to bring him back in and possibly going through this whole scenario again. Has anyone had a cat who’s healed from this without extracting the opposite canine?

 

[cejhome]

Our previous kitty, Nilla had to have a fang extracted - on of the top ones. She cracked it when trying to rush out the door on her leash and harness for a walk with me - she was moving fast and then turned to look at me and whack! Hit the edge of the door hard. It took a few months for us to realize she had a problem - for it to get to be a problem and cause her pain. Extraction at the dental specialist vet. She didn't extract the lower fang as well, she just coated it with something - clear coating to blunt it. Everything healed just fine. No issues with her lower fang causing issues on her top gumline. This was quite a while ago - maybe 8 years or so.

 

[Twocoastscat]

Love the way you call them fangs! They are for sure. Still waiting for vet to get back to me but in the meantime am making an appt with a vet dental specialist just in case since I know it is a very long wait.

 

[daftcat75]

Love the way you call them fangs! They are for sure. Still waiting for vet to get back to me but in the meantime am making an appt with a vet dental specialist just in case since I know it is a very long wait.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. I always tell folks if a cat gets a canine extracted without its opposite match, schedule a dental specialist consult. The wait time is so long that by the time you get to that appointment, you will know whether any kind of corrective action needs to be taken. If you wait for it to become a problem, the wait time for the specialist doesn't change. Your general vet *might* be able to extract the opposing canine. But they're usually very adverse to pulling healthy teeth because it can break their jaw. In that case, you need the services of the specialist who has the training for more advanced dentistry like dulling or capping the point.

 

[Twocoastscat]

Miraculously I have an appt with a well-reviewed specialist a week from Monday. It’s a bit farther away but I had initially called a practice that was closer and when I explained how challenging he is to handle they said they are a small group and suggested I go to a larger practice with more people on-site to handle him. Now the next hurdle is getting him there and getting him seen. I was honest about how he behaves at the vet (even after sedating meds) but they said that many of the cats they see are similar. So fingers crossed it won’t be too traumatic for him - and them - and me.

 

[daftcat75]

Miraculously I have an appt with a well-reviewed specialist a week from Monday. It’s a bit farther away but I had initially called a practice that was closer and when I explained how challenging he is to handle they said they are a small group and suggested I go to a larger practice with more people on-site to handle him. Now the next hurdle is getting him there and getting him seen. I was honest about how he behaves at the vet (even after sedating meds) but they said that many of the cats they see are similar. So fingers crossed it won’t be too traumatic for him - and them - and me.

Have you tried giving him gabapentin several hours before the visit?

 

[Twocoastscat]

Oh yes. The last time (the visit during which the tooth extractions were done) I did 200 mg gaba along with Cerenia the night before (because the first time I gave him gaba to gauge his reaction he vomited two hrs later) and then 200 mg gaba two hrs prior to the visit. He was relatively quiet in the waiting room but did his usual thing once he got in the exam room - charging at the sides of the carrier, howling and growling - the vet was VERY reluctant to handle him long enough to give him the sedation but did it. When I went to pick him up they struggled to get him back into the carrier even though she made a point of having me come when he was still “groggy.” Unfortunately my presence had absolutely no ameliorating effect. He’s obviously terrified and reacts by attacking.

 

[Twocoastscat]

He is only my second cat but my son has had many and I’ve known them all. He is by far the toughest and smartest we’ve ever seen. He has opened my medicine cabinet and pulled out bags of treats, chewed a hole through them, and helped himself. He once chewed holes in a plastic bag on the counter and helped himself to corn muffins inside of it. He’s a voracious eater but don’t try to disguise a pill in his food. He was fostered with his litter from birth and we adopted him at 12 weeks so he was never feral or mistreated. It’s just the way he’s wired.