Dental care for a 14 year old cat

[ReneeM]

My kitty Sasha pictured above hit the 14 year old mark this month. She was my first kitty at the age of 15. She recently had a physical just to make sure she was still doing okay for her age. She weighs in at only 8 1/2 pounds, but has maintained a steady weight. She also does not groom herself very well.

Her teeth are pretty bad. My vet said a dental would be hundreds of dollars due to her age. I'm afraid of losing her under anesthesia as well. It's not a risk I'm willing to take. She still eats fine, and I have begun brushing her teeth. They bleed pretty bad though :/

Should I be doing anything further for her?

 

[Stackie]

You could discuss pulse antibiotic therapy with your vet. It's basically treating with an antibiotic (Clindamycin) once a month, every month for 5 days to get the bacterial levels down. It's better than nothing.

I'm not sure why a dental would cost any more for an older animal, unless they are charging extra due to increased anesthesia risk.

 

[ReneeM]

It would require senior blood work, as well as an IV drip during the dental. That's another couple hundred dollars. I'm more worried about losing her if she was to go under anesthesia. It's probably selfish on my part, but I'm not willing to risk losing her. Ive lost to many pets in recent months to take any chances. She is my last childhood pet, and I can't imagine losing her after losing my dog.

She also has several small tumors on her ears, and is on steroid ear drops to help with itching. My vet does not believe they are cancerous.

I'll ask my vet about antibiotics, thank you for the idea.

 

[Stackie]

Ah, I suppose that would make sense. I'm used to doing full panel blood work and IV fluids for all dentals, high risk or not.

Look into some of the foam plaque removers too, I have seen some actually do a pretty good job.

 

[obcsed]

My elderly cat had dental procedures every year or so until he passed at the ripe old age of 24. There was blood work done each time but included in the $150 procedure. He passed from kidney failure not a dental procedure. Perhaps a second opinion would help. Bad teeth can cause a lot of secondary problems and should be addressed.

 

[ReneeM]

I trust my vet. I have been using him for 15 years. I will ask him about the risk of a dental on my girl.

I will have to save up though. Had many vet bills recently adding up to about $3,000 between my dogs all of my dogs.

I may have to wait on neutering my puppy instead. He is only four months old. He has no chance of getting anyone pregnant (my female dog is spayed). I think a dental would take priority.

Her mouth smells pretty bad ;/. She has always had bad teeth.

She was actually born in a junk yard 14 years ago

 

[Dreamlite]

We do dentals on older pets regularly at my vets office. Its the older pets that need it more than younger ones. I would start with the labs and go from there. Many of the mouth sprays can work to a point but they don't get rid of the tarter build up. They can take care of the ginvitis but without clearing away the tarter its only gonna come back. I understand your consern but having dental disease can lead to heart, kidney and liver infections which can be deadly. Doing the dental may add years on to her life. Cats are living to be 18-20 regularly in my vets office. So I wouldn't let her age deter you.

 

[ReneeM]

She has very bad build up on her teeth, the vet got some of if off, and I thought he had pulled a tooth out. I will defiantly give him a call Monday and see what can be done.

Thanks for easing my concerns everyone! I was just afraid because of her age. Years ago she was diagnosed with pancreatitis and is now on Blue Wilderness because it is grain free. She also has a mild heart murmur, but has had it for years.

I think he will end up pulling alot of teeth :/

 

[Spoof]

My friend has a cat that is the same size/weight/age as yours. She had 80% of her teeth pulled last year and is doing great. Somehow she still manages to gum the kitty grass to death and keep her body weight with dry food. She also gets the Blue Buffalo.

It does seem like she keeps herself cleaner and has a lot less hairballs then when she had teeth.

Good luck with your kitty!

 

[ReneeM]

I'm defiantly going to look into it.

Im much more comfortable now considering it.

She is my family's oldest pet. I want to make her as comfortable as possible in her old age. She isn't very active anymore, and sleeps alot. I'm hoping to have several years left with her

 

[ReneeM]

Just wanted to thank everyone! I was surprised the other day to get an unemployment extension! Another $3500 due to unemployment rates in my state. Although I did just start a new job yesterday

They back dated it a month. Im putting $400 aside to pay for my girl's dental.

I'm taking her to the vet Friday for a physical and to talk to the vet about the procedure in general for my old girl.

I was reading about dental disease, and how it can cause cats not to groom. Sasha's fur is raggedy. The vet mentioned this at her last physical a couple of weeks ago. She can't be comfortable.

If she is in good enough health then I'll go ahead with the procedure. I have read about cats living to be 20, maybe Sasha still has years left. I can only hope

After losing my 13 year old dog to cancer (and not being able to treat it), Im going to do what I can for my cat. Since it can be treated.

She is only 8 1/2 pounds, which is underweight for her size. But she has maintained this weight for a year.

 

[ReneeM]

My cat isn't able to get a dental. She lost 1/3 a pound in a month. My vet just did a full blood panel to try and figure out what is going on

 

[Pikaia]

Aww. I am sorry Renee. Hopefully everything is okay with your kitty. We had a cat down here at our shop for many years. My grandma found her sleeping in a car one morning. She was probably around 20 years old when I had to put her down (congestive heart failure), but she had no teeth for as long as I can remember! I don't really know what happened because my grandma took care of her and then I took over. She only lived for around 3 years after I got there. She was able to eat anything really.

Hopefully you find out what's going on and are able to treat it!

 

[Stackie]

My cat isn't able to get a dental. She lost 1/3 a pound in a month. My vet just did a full blood panel to try and figure out what is going on

1/3 of a lbs? Are you sure it was not more? A third of a pound really is not much- it's about 5 oz- that could fluctuate with something as simple as having an empty stomach.

 

[ReneeM]

I meant half a pound. Sorry! I swore I read 1/2. My vet was concerned. My cat is very bony. She has been like that a while now. Blood work a year ago showed nothing, so we switched her foodand her weight remained stable.

 

[ReneeM]

Her blood test came back normal. She will be having a GI panel December 3rd to find out if she has pancreatitis again.

I have started giving her blue buffalo grain free wet food. 1 can a day. At 1.70 a can, I can't afford more than that

I'm hoping this next test shows something. If not then I will schedule xrays. I'm hoping whatever she has is treatable. I just lost my dog in August, I'm not sure I can handle losing my first cat

 

[Sycamore Chins]

Did they do thyroid (T4/free-T4) levels in her?

 

[ReneeM]

I would need to contact my vet. I had assumed it was included in the blood test they did. I was told it was a full blood panel, and everything was normal.

She had had pancreatitis before. My vet said it could be recurrent.

She is acting normal and eating. She is very bony and skinny though.

 

[Sycamore Chins]

Full blood panel can mean many different things, most of the time it means a CBC and chemistry, which doesn't include anything thyroid related.

Acting normal, eating and losing weight in an older cat, to me, screams hyperthyroid. They can also have heart murmurs, and other heart problems, with hyperthyroidism.

 

[Dreamlite]

I agree with sycamore. Hyperthyroid is very common in older cats. Eating but loosing weight is the main signs of it.