Moon is home from his teeth cleaning...funny pic :)

[MoonandBean]

Hi everybody! I have a question about whether on not to get Moons teeth cleaned. I always value the great advice here so much. He is 10 years old and has never had any health problems (Thank God) other than his obesity (18.5 pounds of pure cuddlebunny ). When we took him to the vet in February, he said he should have his teeth cleaned as he was showing some signs of periodontal disease (red lines around his gums). My initial thought was "No" because 10 years ago, my beautiful orangeman Rocky had his done when he was 10 and he had severe vertigo (couldn't walk without falling over) for several days afterwards. The vet back then said he had an ear infection and gave him drops and he did get better but I always wondered if it was the anesthesia and his advanced age. He ended up dying about a year later from what we believe to be Lymphoma (we came home and found him bleeding from both ends and barely conscious on the basement floor...we rushed him to the vet and he died there before we could even put him down). Again, I wondered if the anesthesia and maybe an undiagnosed lymphoma caused his vertigo. So...ever since then, I've been wary of teeth cleaning in older animals. We brought Moon in again last week and again, the vet said he needs his teeth cleaned. He said "I told you this in February" and of course, it's not just going to get better on its own...of course, it will get worse and Moon might end up losing teeth as he continues to age.

SO....despite my fears that the anesthesia will end up hurting him, we are considering this. I don't want him to get sick or lose his teeth but I hate the possibility of hurting him as a result of trying to help him (as is the risk with all surgeries, of course) They will do bloodwork first to check his kidney function, etc... I would just hate for an otherwise healthy cat to end up with problems because we tried to do something proactive.

What do you all think?

Thanks so much!!!
Deb and Moonie

[caseysmom]

I usually ask them to give Casey the most mild anasthesia they can she has had pretty severe reactions to the anasthesia...I still do the cleaning every year because her teeth get very dirty.

[emily_the_spoiled]

This past summer I had Miss Bear's teeth cleaned and she is 16 yo. Before they put her under, they did all the blood work and everything else. Of course I was worried because of her age, but she came out of it with no problems what so ever. If Moon is healthy and he needs his teeth cleaned then you should seriously consider it. As you said, this will not go away on it own.

[caseysmom]

For some reason I thought you were asking about a dog...although it is probably similar but Casey is a dog. My kitty so far has been okay but he is only 6 I think cat's teeth do not get as dirty as dogs.

[MoonandBean]

Thank you both! I also have to convice Moon's other human so I am collecting as much info. as I can.

[carole]

I certainly understand your fears, i too went through the same thing with my Ash, he is around 13 yrs old maybe older, i was worried how it would go,everything went fine,however he was at a point it was necessary to have his dental done, or he was going to suffer, and have repeated infections in his mouth, he ended up loosing two teeth,and of course with older cats they always do a full blood test, and hydrate the cat before hand, also my Ash has a heart murmur so that was even more of a concern for me,they are very professional and make sure they give him just the right dosage, and he sailed through it, alas we discovered he had early CRFailure,but still it is better to know than not,however it was not due to Ash's teeth that he has CRF, which i was worried about, just simply his old age,good luck i am sure kitty will be just fine.

[Catlady711]

I'm sorry you lost your other kitty before, however I'm inclined to think that the other health problems had alot to do with it.

Anesthetics today are much safer than they were 10 years ago. Pre-op lab work helps the vets to find any hidden health problems before they even begin. The results may also influence which choices of anesthetics they use for your particular pet to make it as safe as possible.

All anesthetic carries a minimal risk, however LENGTH of time influences the risk more. If you keep up with dental cleanings then the pet's time under anesthesia is much shorter, thus a smaller risk. If you let the pet's teeth go untreated, it will take much longer for the work to be done and increase the risks. Not to mention that it would not be good for the pet's health at all.

Bacteria on the teeth get into the gums, which then get into the blood stream. Not only could untreated teeth/gums cause pain and tooth loss which can cause difficulty in eating, but also can and do cause abcesses, infections in the jaw bone, and eventually organ failure (heart, liver, kidneys). I have personally seen too many animals at work die at very young ages from organ failures because of untreated oral disease. It's completely preventable with regular dental cleanings done by your vet.

Although Dusty is no longer with me, she passed away last year for reasons unrelated to teeth. I did have her teeth cleaned when she was about 15 years old which was the second time she'd had them cleaned in her lifetime. She had no complications during or after the dentals.

In the years I've worked at the vet hospital I've never seen a pet lost because of doing a dental cleaning, however I have seen pets lost at too young of an age because of NOT having dental cleanings done. I have personally seen pets as old as 19 have their teeth done without problems.

If you still have concerns talk them over with your vet, he/she should be able to explain their particular procedures that make things as safe as possible for your pet. Vets don't like to lose patients anymore than we like losing our furbabies and vets go through a great deal of things before/during/after any anesthetic to make it as safe as possible.

There are places that advertise 'non anesthetic dental cleanings' however I would never recommend that in place of a vet done dental for a number of reasons. Since the reasons are lengthy I'll simply refer you to these two sites.

http://www.avdc.org/position-statements.html#cadswa (this is from the American Veterinary Dental College)

http://www.petconnection.com/blog/20...e-dentistries/


And since I see that you're needing the consent of someone else to have the dental done, if they can stomach the accompanying pictures, here is a website showing some of the nasty peridontal diseases on pet teeth and some of the reprocussions of not having them timely done.

The website is from a vet hospital in CA. and does have some rather graphic photographs of nasty teeth and some of the consequences of not taking care of them. Be warned the pictures are very graphic but if you really need to convince someone else this needs to be done for your pet's health, I don't see a more dramatic way of showing it. http://lbah.com/dent.htm

Keep us posted on what happens.