My cat needs to have his teeth cleaned but im afraid....?

My cat has to have his teeth cleaned. He is 3 almost 4 years old and his breath has started to smell bad and his gums look alittle red so i know its time to have his teeth cleaned. The only thing is im sooo afraid that he's going to die whenever they have put him to sleep( or whatever it is called,maybe anestesia?) to clean his teeth. I need people's advice who have had to get their cats teeth cleaned, Should i be so worried? what all goes on when they clean their teeth? is their a high risk he migt no wake up? i dont know what i would do if he never woke up...thanks for your answers

My cat needs to have his teeth cleaned but im afraid....?
Anesthesia is always a risk, but it is a very remote one. The best precaution you can take is to have a thorough exam and bloodwork done before the anesthesia, so any potential problems can be identified and dealt with. Most vets have anesthesia monitoring equipment as well to keep an eye on vital signs such as heart rate. The health risk of those mouth bacteria affecting other organs (heart, kidneys and liver commonly) is greater than the anesthesia risk. I anesthetize on average 3 animals a day, but when it comes to my own babies I have to let someone else do it. Nervous pet parents are common : ) You can ask the vet's office to call as soon as it's done, we do that all the time.





As far as what is done: we do a full scaling and polishing, exactly like what you'd get at the dentist's office, which is why anesthesia is needed. Animals don't sit still for that. We can do dental x-rays of any suspicious teeth and remove any that are causing a problem. Most vets don't do fillings or root canals because of the expense, but a specialty practice would do that. Our dentals go home the same day, whether or not they stay overnight depends on the vet and what drugs are used.
Reply:My cats have had their teeth cleaned a few times, and they woke up from the anesthesia fine. He will be a little loopy afterwards, he'll be very calm, and he might have some difficulty walking, but he'll be back to normal as soon as it all wears off!
Reply:I work at a vets office, and your afraid you need to talk to your vet, and make him make you feel comfy about the process, ask for a tour talk to the people who will be doing the dental for your cat, ask qestions like what kind of stuff they use to montor the cats heart rate, sidations, are the staff knowning what they are doing, if you dont trust them, get out, simple!


ask them to do blood work to see if everything is alright. yes it may cost you more for the blood work, but its worth it :)


hope everything goes alright


Cheers!


Matt
Reply:awwe, well I got to take in Nibblet too.. but, really, the kitty will be fine. they run blood tests beforehand, to make sure your kitty is up for the procedure, and then when they do the work, kitty will be sleeping soundly... then they keep the kitty overnight, so it will be all rested and ready to go home... it is well worth it honey. If you don't have it done, the kitty could get ill and die. I had a kitty that I took every year for his teeth cleaning, and he lived to the ripe old age of 24!!! get the baby's teeth cleaned, they will thank you....
Reply:It is always a risk when a cat is "put out" under G.A., but for a young cat it's pretty safe, providing they're healthy and necessary blood wk.'s been done.





I've had cats who didn't need to be under general anesthesia, a couple of the good old-time vets I'd used would just scale the tartar off teeth with the help of an assistant,.. no need to put any stress on cat.





Others,.. and I'm finding lots of nowaday vets find it a "cash cow" and want to "clean teeth" with every checkup visit.


Which I really must see the cat in distress or the badly affected teeth/tooth before I will allow the procedure under general.





Usually in elderly cats, the good vets will weigh out the risks and benefits beforehand.





Anyways, if your young kitty is troubled by his oral health (not eating well, showing discomfort, etc.) and vet recommends, then best to get done, he will be fine.


Gd. luck.
Reply:My cat is about the same age as yours. I took her to the vet in October, and he showed me her teeth and gums. He told me that she could use a cleaning, and he also suggested that I start brushing her teeth with CET toothpaste. Instead of doing either of those things, I bought PetzLife gel and tried that on her. It has worked really well. I didn't love the idea of anesthetizing my cat, buy I was honestly just as concerned with saving money. Her teeth and gums look better now, and I think I can avoid scaling for now.
Reply:The anesthesia used in veterinary hospitals for any surgery and/or dentals has gotten much safer than it was in the past. Many hospitals take precautions to ensure there are no problems with the pet. However, there is always a risk ANYTIME anesthesia is used. I wouldn't worry though. Unless your cat has some problem, it is very safe to have the dental done. In fact, the chances of your cat having problems from the teeth going bad is a greater risk than the anesthesia used for the dental.


If you have concerns about your regular vet, have him give you a referral to a vet who specializes in dentistry.


I am actually trying to get my 10 y.o. cat in for a dental, but she is having issues with her bloodwork. Until I can get it straightened out, I have to wait on the dental. Vets will usually do dentals on young animals with only limited bloodwork on the day of the dentistry. Pets older than 7 years should have complete bloodwork done within 30 days of the dental, to make sure the pet is in good health to come out of anesthesia ok.
Reply:Don't worry, when they clean your cat's teeth, they only sedate them. They don't put them to sleep. My cat was sedated, and she came out all big eyed and weird acting, but she was fine after half an hour.
Reply:my mom is a vet tech and so i spent a lot of time in vet offices behind the scenes. i also worked at a vet clinic for awhile. dentals aren't much to be afraid of. think of going to the dentist for a tooth cleaning yourself. i'm not going to lie, they do use a dremel, but the same thing is accomplished. also any extractions will be performed during this time. anesthesia does hold a risk of death, but a small one. we had only one cat die in over 3 years from it. we put about 3 animals a day put under so that adds up to a lot. there will be pre-work done like blood samples, and a history. the vet will talk to you about any concerns. the kitty will go to slumberland and not feel anything! (in my opinion very lucky as i do not like going to the dentist and we have no way of communicating what we are doing to an animal so they are not scared). dentals will actually improve his quality of health and therefore should be done. do realize that this is not a $50 procedure though....ask your vet also, my clinic allowed animals who had minor surgical work done in the morning to be picked up at night. they will be groggy until the next day. but nothing to be scared of.
Reply:There is always a slight risk when a cat has an anaesthetic, but a dental cleaning is a fairly minor operation and they aren't under for long. My cat had his teeth cleaned (and a couple of extractions) under anaesthetic 2 years ago aged 8. He was fine and when I got him home he acted like nothing had happened. Discuss your fears with your vet and I'm sure s/he'll be able to set your mind at rest. You can have some blood tests done beforehand to make sure his organs can cope with the anaesthetic.