Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Who knew cats even have tonsils?
When we took him in for his senior panel very observant doc saw what he thought was a red polyp in his throat but when he had his teeth cleaned doc found it was swollen and red from tonsillitis. We just had to continue with his antibiotics he needed prior to the cleaning.
Both 12 year old cats came through like rock stars. I on the other hand was a nervous wreck the whole day. was so afraid for them cause they are so old but their blood work came back good and the doctor had me feeling good about my decision. Langley had to have only 1 tooth pulled He was off his feed for about 2 days but now he is just fine.
So if you are hesitating to get an older pet's teeth cleaned remember the necessary blood work prior to the dental will give you great peace of mind.
BTW I think Oscar is all better now too.
And I was pleasantly surprised with the cost. Only 1 blood draw for senior panel and dental with our timing. Only $125 per cat for all the cleaning, meds, etc and just a tiny bit for pulling one tooth. Tomorrow we take in both dogs for the same. I'm hoping for excellent results again.
Who knew cats even have tonsils?
When we took him in for his senior panel very observant doc saw what he thought was a red polyp in his throat but when he had his teeth cleaned doc found it was swollen and red from tonsillitis. We just had to continue with his antibiotics he needed prior to the cleaning.
Both 12 year old cats came through like rock stars. I on the other hand was a nervous wreck the whole day. was so afraid for them cause they are so old but their blood work came back good and the doctor had me feeling good about my decision. Langley had to have only 1 tooth pulled He was off his feed for about 2 days but now he is just fine.
So if you are hesitating to get an older pet's teeth cleaned remember the necessary blood work prior to the dental will give you great peace of mind.
BTW I think Oscar is all better now too.
And I was pleasantly surprised with the cost. Only 1 blood draw for senior panel and dental with our timing. Only $125 per cat for all the cleaning, meds, etc and just a tiny bit for pulling one tooth. Tomorrow we take in both dogs for the same. I'm hoping for excellent results again.
Glad everything went well and at a reasonable cost. Hope it goes the same for the doggies.
I am curious, I often read about making sure kitties (especially senior kitties) have blood work before any dental work, but what is the purpose of the blood work? That is, what do you find out from it? Excuse my ignorance, I've just never seen an explanation and forgot to ask my vet.
I took 5 of my kitties in for their 18-month visits a couple of weeks ago, and all did very well. My vet said their teeth all look good; one kitty had a tiny bit of gingivitis but it wasn't bad at all and most kitties had none. I was very glad to hear this of course! She was surprised, given their ages -- two are almost 9, a third is at least that old (that's Quinn -- I got him as an adult so don't really know how old he is), and two are seven and a half. So, so far, so good.
The two who are almost 9 (Hansel and Gretel) have never eaten wet food -- they have zero interest in it (I've tried to feed it to them many, many times). Actually they don't have much of an interest in food, period -- i.e., it doesn't motivate them like it does all my others! The others eat mostly dry with wet a few times a week. I don't know if diet has anything to do with their good teeth (they used to tell us dry food was good for cats' teeth, but now they say that's not true) or if they just have good genes.
Anyway, hope your dogs have a good experience too!
Karen- assumptions here but I think they check for diabetes, iron, white blood count, anemia, stuff like that. i can put my hands on their bill from prior to the dental and maybe it will say more than Senior Panel. I know whenever I have surgery I have blood drawn for all sorts of tests too.
Even for a younger cat i think it is standard to have blood work done before being put under. It's the being put under which is dangerous- not so much the dental work but of course an animal has to go all the way under while people just get locals.
Karen- assumptions here but I think they check for diabetes, iron, white blood count, anemia, stuff like that. i can put my hands on their bill from prior to the dental and maybe it will say more than Senior Panel. I know whenever I have surgery I have blood drawn for all sorts of tests too.
Even for a younger cat i think it is standard to have blood work done before being put under. It's the being put under which is dangerous- not so much the dental work but of course an animal has to go all the way under while people just get locals.
OK, that makes sense, although I am still curious. None of my kitties have ever had to be put under so I never had any idea what the blood work was for. I assume certain conditions (found via blood work) make it dangerous for the kitty to go under? I know I've read (probably here on C-D) about cats who needed dental work but it was too dangerous for them to have.
I will likely start doing blood work as my kitties turn 10 or 12. My vet said (IIRC) that 8 is now considered "senior" but that seems WAY too young for completely-indoor, normal-weight, healthy cats.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was very glad to hear this of course! She was surprised, given their ages -- two are almost 9, a third is at least that old (that's Quinn -- I got him as an adult so don't really know how old he is), and two are seven and a half. So, so far, so good.
