Dentistry for Cats

Nomad25

Same here Tigerlily, one of my fellas is rather portly and about 12 years, so they do this test to work out how much anaesthetic to give him. Apparently the porkier they are the longer the GA takes to work through their system - so I'm told.

lowis

my 14 year old siamese just had to have tooth out...he had to have his blood tested too. and he had to have a heart scan as during his initial appointment my vet detected a heart mumur, so he wanted to ensure it wasn;t anything serious before putting him under! that added another £305 to the costs!

nothavingfun..

Kez100 wrote: »

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.

I am an auxiliary vet nurse, and would like to reassure you that vets are not 'in it for the money' as it were - that is a long held misconception. Vet nurses with degree level education are only on, or barely above min wage

Anyway, with regards to your kitty. At 15 yrs old there is a chance that her kidney or liver function etc may be compromised, which would complicate the anaesthetic. I recently did a GA on a 15 yrs old cat dental with no problems, but that could also have turned into a horrible situation. The pre GA bloods are there to source out any potential problems, and treat them accordingly

I have seen said 15 yrs old cat have no problem with a GA, but have also witnessed the rare occurence where something serious was picked up on a pre GA blood

UKTigerlily

You will get the choice to have the pre bloods done, I always say yes as I want as little risk as poss + it might pick up something I otherwise wouldn't know about as above says. Never had an issue & even tho urs is 18 I bet it'll be fine x

lazza_w

Dental disease is extremely common in older cats and is a vastly under recognised problem by owners. This has also been compounded by the fact that, until recently, dentisty has been undertaught at University. The result has been that vet students have learnt most of their dentistry whilst seeing practice with older vets who qualified in the '70s or '80s... who have not recognised it as necessary because they learnt their dentistry from vets who qualified in the '40s or '50s....

It is only in recent years that the incidence and significance of dental diease has been recognised properly by vets and even then many are reluctent to 'push' it because there is a lot of resistance from owners to have what they see as non-essential work done.

Cats do not demonstrate pain in the same way that humans, or even dogs, do. Predator animals have no problems about whining, looking ill and generally complaining about the sore tooth. Prey animals don't show signs of being unwell untill they are too ill to do anything other than collapse. If you are a prey animal and you look unwell then predators will pick you off as you won't be able to run away so quickly. That's why guinea pigs and rabbits are often found dead or in a state of collapse before owners are aware that they are unwell. Cats are a bit predator and a bit prey so they generally keep quiet about it untill the pain is extreme (and even then they may only purr a bit if they've had a leg shredded by a car).

The easiest way to judge if there is a problem (if you don't belive your vet!) is to look at the teeth and think 'if my teeth were like this would I go to the dentist?' I assume that your teeth are better, and you go to the dentist anyway!

As well as the oral discomfort, dental disease markedly increases the incidence of kidney and liver problems and will therefore have an impact on life expectancy as well as quality of life. Following dental treatment many owners report that the procedure has taken years off their pet, although they did not realise that there was a problem beforehand. It's probably also added years of life expectancy to their pet.

Some parts of the estimate may be optional and open for discussion. Blood and urine samples will give information on kidney and liver function. Intravenous fluids are frequently given to older animals to help maintain blood pressure to protect kidney function and other problems.

You could choose not to have them but, to compare with the human counterpart, you would be surprised if someone in their seventies didn't have a blood test and be put on a drip before having a general anaesthetic. That doesn't mean that they are obligatory, just that they are not done for purely financial reasons.

£250 sounds like a lot compared to a dentist's charge for a scale and polish, but you are also paying for a general anaesthetic, a professional to perform an operation that may last over an hour, drugs both during and after the procedure and post operative examinations. a couple of years ago I paid that much for my wife to see a doctor privately for 30 minutes of consultation. To put in another way, paying £250 for dental treatment for a pet that you've had for 15 years equates to £16.67 per year. I spend more than that a year in toothpast, and I still need to see the dentist twice yearly.

lowis

when i rang around for quotes for my cat to have his ONE tooth out i was quoted between £300 and £550!!! :eek: i know that living in London pushes the costs up, but the two vets that quoted £500 plus are definitely taking the pee...they aren't even the best surgeries in the area.

Waterfalls

dentals are really had to estimate, as you dot really know the full extent on the problem until they are alseep and you can havea good look inside. but 500 quid does seem excessive,
they arn't cheap though unfortuanltely
def recommend pre op blood as above and intravenous fluids throughout to help keep the blood pressure stable and support the liver/kidneys to filter and excrete the anaesthetic as best they can, if anything is found on the loods they may need fliuds for a day before hand.
if u want to know more about what they plan to do, give them a call

sandy2_2

My 17 yr old cat had a descale and it made a world of difference to him, also you could actually see white back teeth instead of just the brown scale, made his breath better and stopped moth ulcers. Also meant he went back to eating biscuits when he wanted. It cost us about 120euro and improved his quality of life. We also had antibiotics to give him. We were a bit worried about the GA because of his age and the fact that the vet kept going on about it, but anasethics are more advanced these days and they use special ones for older cats, although it did take a day or two for him to recover walking properly once more

rita-rabbit

Your 18 yr old deserves this treatment!

It's expensive but worth it.

Words of warning to cats & kitten owners - you can minimise the need for dental work by feeding a dry food diet.

Toothsmith

rita-rabbit wrote: »

Your 18 yr old deserves this treatment!

It's expensive but worth it.

Words of warning to cats & kitten owners - you can minimise the need for dental work by feeding a dry food diet.

And brushing their teeth frequently.

Difficult with a cat, but they can get used to it, and ventinary toothpastes are meaty flavour, so they can get to quite enjoy it.

It is a faf, but it will save you money, and keep your cat/dog heathier in the long run.