Dentistry for Cats

Kez100

I have just taken my elderly cat to the vet for her annual injection. She is getting on and dentistry has never been mentioned even though we have been to the same vet for 15 years. Today our cats teeth were mentioned and we were told to ring and make a convenient appointment for her to have a full dentistry assessement under anaesthetic and associated treatment. We were then given a full sheet of details about the service.

Now, it is quite possible our cat needs this treatment. She is old and does have some nasty looking back teeth. However, she is in all other ways well andfine. What I mean is she doesn't appear to have toothache.

Looking at the charges it seems we may be in for a bill of about £250 and the cynic in me is wondering if the credit crunch is encouraging such services to be pushed as necessities when, perhaps, they are more optional (as the cat is not in pain from them).

What does everyone on here think?

I have no qualms in having the right treatment for her when needed. I don;t fancy paying £250 for some preventative nonsense under anaesthetic when my animal is 18.

lowis

there are a couple of vets here that might guide you...

i think my vet once told me that some tooth/gum diseases can lead to serious infections of the jaw and bone, hence why it is important to ensure your cats teeth are healthy. if your cat has some teeth at the back which look 'borderline' then the vet may be genuinely concerned about something he saw and want to investigate further.

however, if there is nothing specific he has noted (did he mention a given tooth or anything?) and if your cat doesn't seem to be experiencing pain, i would be concerned that he would want to give your old cat an aneasthetic 'just to have a proper look' so to speak.

the only times my cats have been 'put under' for dental work was when they actually needed a tooth removing - which has usually been decided by a thorough visual inspection without aneasthetic. with all three cats however, once the cat is under, the vet has usually ended up removing an extra tooth or two, ones that he obviously didn't notice before...so with that in mind, maybe your vet does need to do a full-on aneasthetic?

oh...and if you are insured, ask your vet whether the teeth are beign removed to prevent further illness, I think some policies pay out for dental work if this is the case...my cat hasd something called a lesion disease on his tooth and the insurance company paid out for its removal.

No_Future

Sorry, but I think it's very unlikely the vet would try to just make money out of you.

UKTigerlily

Hiya, if your Cat has got to 18 & never needed a Dental that's great, well done! However it is likely she will now, mine is 11 next month & has had two in the time that i've had her (Nearly 9yrs), both were a Scale & Polish under General Anaesthetic but no teeth removed either time. You wouldn't really know if the Cat was in pain, they hide it well, but it could be that the Vet wants to prevent problems or they've seen something they need to look closer at.

I imagine mine will be due another anytime now, I think it's just as we ourselves would see a Dentist but of course a Cat needs to have the GA to be able to do the job, we'd just keep still

lowis

ah yes...did you vet mention giving your cat a scale and polish? this is definitely done under aneasthetic, and if your cat never had one in 15 years, then it may well be (long) over due one.

Kez100

Thank you all.

Yes, she mentioned the scale and polish....

She said the treatment would be to look properly at the teeth and clean the front ones and anesthetic because she wouldn't keep still otherwise. My cynical side was just because I wondered why suddenly at 18? (well, 17 and 8 months actually) The £250 is me assuming a couple of teeth may need to come out.

No she is not insured. Never has been, so we have plenty of years saved insurance premiums to use on any treatment she may require.

lowis

you cat is 18? wow, well done! i would definitely question the need for this then...aneasthetics are not to be taken lightly. hopefully one of our nice vets will pop along and tell us what they would do in their practice.

UKTigerlily

Kez100 wrote: »

Thank you all.

Yes, she mentioned the scale and polish....

She said the treatment would be to look properly at the teeth and clean the front ones and anesthetic because she wouldn't keep still otherwise. My cynical side was just because I wondered why suddenly at 18? (well, 17 and 8 months actually) The £250 is me assuming a couple of teeth may need to come out.

No she is not insured. Never has been, so we have plenty of years saved insurance premiums to use on any treatment she may require.

Maybe up until now the teeth haven't been too bad? Mine has it done about every 3yrs roughly & i'm expecting them to mention it at the booster appointment next month. Last time they said there wasn't enough plaque to justify one. She'll feel much better when it's all done !

Nomad25

Veterinary dentistry knowledge has increased over the years, this is why more are recommending dental procedures. S

Some of mine have had dental work {old and younger}, but I do trust my vet [not the ££ practice he works for] and would go with his recommendations.

Having seen cats with gingivitis, broken teeth and such like, I really wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Kez100

The notes mention that at her age she will need a pre op test before she has the GA. I would be very grateful to hear from a vet and their view. Although we use the same vet practice we are a small out reach surgery (cat would go to main place for the operation) and we have a different vet everytime she goes - so we don't actually have a rapport with the girl herself.

UKTigerlily

Kez100 wrote: »

The notes mention that at her age she will need a pre op test before she has the GA.

Yeah mine has that, they take abit of blood to be sure the liver & kidneys are functioning ok & there's no unecessary risks to the Cat, they probably do it while the Cat is under the pre med, mine's never worried by it./ Drop her off in the AM, call about 3 then collect her. She's normally abit giddy but by the morning she's fine.