My cat needs a dental cleaning. What steps should I take to prepare?

Hi there. I agree having her teeth cleaned it’s a good idea especially if she has tartar buildup.I would start by having your veterinarian run some general bloodwork to make sure her organ function is good and if everything looks good and her heart is healthy and anesthesia is very safe. Having bad dental health can be more detrimental in the long run and getting this taken care of would be a great idea. Also make sure that wherever you have her teeth cleaned has full monitoring devices and that they do intravenous fluids during the procedure. This is a standard safety measure and you want to go somewhere that has that available. Hope that is helpful and have a wonderful day.

The scaling and polishing portion of the dental is the least time consuming, and most inexpensive portion of the $1000 estimate. In addition, tartar left on teeth can further aggravate gum disease. The necessary extractions cannot be done without anesthesia or pre-anesthetic bloodwork to make sure that Baxter’s liver/kidney function appears normal enough to handle anesthesia. With severe gum recession/fractured teeth, cats can develop serious tooth root abscesses and oral pain resulting in weight loss, poor health. If there are in fact diseased teeth in Baxter’s mouth, having a complete dental scaling/polishing with necessary extractions will likely significantly improve his quality of life and decrease the chances of oral bacteria causing heart valve issues in the future. Good luck!

There is no need to take him in to your veterinarian at this time if the area where he lost the tooth is not hurting. Since you obviously have scheduled a dental cleaning for Milo, your vet can inspect the area during the dental cleaning while he is under sedation. The vet will also do dental radiographs to check for retained roots and neck lesions. These will need to be removed.

Hello! Talk to your veterinarian about what time she will need to stop eating the day prior to anesthesia. She may need an earlier dinner the night before her dental cleaning. Anesthesia requires an empty stomach to prevent aspiration, which can lead to pneumonia or death. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hm, maybe your vet has a general handout for after surgeries. I would not be able to come up with a reason why your kitty is not allowed to climb stairs after a dental cleaning under anesthesia. If your vet is open tomorrow morning, give him a call and ask about it.

Yes the best way to resolve dental disease is with a teeth cleaning. I would recommend having your vet do a consultation first and then scheduling Clark to have his teeth professionally cleaned. This process is mostly done while the pet is under general anesthesia, and can resolve dental problems quickly and efficiently. Pet stores only offer to brush your pets teeth, which is technically not a cleaning and will not remove any hard tartar on the teeth at all. After Clark has his teeth cleaning, it is important to brush his teeth regularly to keep up with his dental hygiene over time. I hope this helps and best of luck moving forward with your pet Clark. Take care!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Poppy. Yes an overnight stay can happen. Typically dental cleanings are a day surgery, meaning the animal comes in during the morning and goes home later that afternoon, but if there is a concern about the animal's health during or after surgery, they can stay the night. It may just be an extra precaution by your vet. I would speak with your vet about why they want her to stay the night. I hope this helps.