Cat dental surgery: How long for recovery and cleaning tips?

It depends how bad the gums are at the moment, i usually recommend at least one week of antibiotic treatment prior to the procedure and continue the antibiotic treatment another 2 weeks after the procedure. if you are talking about total extraction (often it can be done without extracting the canines), it's important to provide adequate pain relief for after the surgery as some cats may stop eating if the recovery involves a lot of pain. wet food feeding is usually a must after the surgery for as long as needed.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry to hear Squeak hasn't been feeling well after a tooth extraction. With older cats, it sometimes can take a couple of days for them to recover from anesthesia, depending on the medications that were used. Did Squeak have any bloodwork run before his procedure? If he had an underlying kidney or liver issue, it could explain some of the signs that you are seeing now. If he is still on pain medications for his tooth extraction, it could also be that he is weak if the medication is affecting him strongly. If he hasn't had bloodwork done, I would recommend checking his liver and kidney function, as well as screening for diabetes, all of which could be adversely affecting him. Additionally, there are appetite stimulants for cats that can be given post-surgery to help kickstart them into eating normally again. I would recommend Squeak be re-evaluated by his veterinarian and have any testing done that may be necessary to start treatment to get him back on track. Good luck!

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. I usually recommend having the full mouth extraction done all at once rather than putting her through 2 anesthetic procedures. The nice thing about mouths is that they do heal quite well. I would say that the first 3-5 days are the most painful but with adequate pain medication she should be comfortable. I like using an antiinflammatory such as metacam and opioid such as buprenorphine together for pain control. This typically keeps most of my patients comfortable at home. You would be surprised at how fast animals adapt to having no teeth as well. I would feed softened food for life to make it easier on Keira. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available via consultation if needed.

Poor Cezare! It's no fun to be recovering from surgery, but it sounds like you're doing a great job protecting him. One thought is that if he's only inside because of the neighbor's kibble, you could ask them to bring the kibble in for the remainder of his recovery period. If he's inside for the other reasons as well (such as still needing regular medication or rest), walks outside on a harness or just hanging outside with him on a long lead and the harness can give him an outlet. I'm not sure if you'd want to spend a bunch of money for just the next few days, but if he likes to hunt birds outside, there are bird feeders that can be attached to the outside of your windows to attract birds and then have a one way glass so Cezare could see out at them. If he likes to hunt mice, Doc and Pheobe's makes a great indoor hunting toy: https://docandphoebe.com/ You could use some canned food in this. Finally, if he's really struggling, I would recommend asking if you can come in for a check up 7-10 days after the dental surgery to have the vet evaluate Cezare's extraction sites and see if they are healed enough to resume eating hard food before the full 14 days is up. Some animals take the full 14 days, and others are ready to go sooner, so it might be worth an exam fee to check. Wishing you the best of luck! I hope Cezare is back to his normal self soon. Thanks for using PetCoach

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sometimes it can take some time for cats to recover from anesthesia and administration of these medications together so that could be a reason why it has been taking him longer than expected to recover. If he is eating and otherwise doing well, it may be ok to monitor him for a bit longer. However, if he worsens or by tomorrow he has not improved, he should be evaluated by his veterinarian for reevaluation. Good luck and have a great day!

I am very happy you were able to take Maxie to the vet today. Once the abscess is removed and the tooth she will feel much much better. The tooth hurts, and when it is removed most of the pain will be gone and tomorrow she will hardly have any pain left. She will be able to chew and eat without any problem at all. You can soak her kibble in water for a few days to make it soft to help with chewing. But overall she should be fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Dusty. Gingivitis and an infection under the gumline can recur as quickly as 14 days after having the teeth professionally cleaned under surgery. To combat this problem, he will need at home care. Some cats will allow you to brush the teeth. Others simply will not tolerate it. There are dental treats that are available. There is also a dental gel called Maxi-guard that works very well. I hope this give you some options to help with his breath. Great job being attentive to his oral health! It will make a huge difference for him.