My FIV+ cat needs teeth pulled. Is anesthesia safe for him with FIV?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Milo! Most of the time they do just fine! It is best for his health to have the diseased tooth taken care of. You can ask your Vet to prescribe a sedative to you to give to transport him to the Vet. Anesthesia is always risky but complications are rare and we do everything possible to eliminate risk. Monitoring is done during anesthesia and blood-work should be done prior I wish Milo the best

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Mi! When kittens are diagnosed with FIV we tell the owners that they can live well in to their geriatric years. FIV is like HIV in people. The pet will do fine until the immune system is compromised then the pet gets sick with secondary infections or cancer. If Mi is otherwise healthy I would recommend full mouth extractions for the stomatitis. He could have nasal discharge due to dental disease. While he is under anesthesia the vet can get skull X-rays to look at his nasal cavity. But the nasal discharge can also be due to lymphoma (cancer), bacteria, viral or fungal infections. If the stomatitis can not be managed and he is too painful to eat then I wouldn't expect him to live comfortably very long. If your Vet can control the pain and inflammation then I don't see why he couldn't have more time. I don't think I can give you an exact time frame with out examining him or knowing more about how he is feeling currently. I hope this helps and I wish Mi the best!

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.

That is a very tough question to answer without actually seeing her. However, I would wonder if she is healthy enough for anesthesia? If so considering pulling all of her infected teeth may make her a lot more comfortable. If she is painful, and nothing can be done to improve her quality of life, then that is usually when I start to consider euthanasia. I hope this helps guide you, but it is never an easy decision. Take care.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I think you are between a rock and hard place. I would find a Vet comfortable with Harley's kidney disease and is fast with dental extractions. Specialists aren't always the fastest at removing teeth. Sometimes the general practitioner is quicker and what Harley needs is to NOT be under anesthesia for 3 hours. Your Vet may just not feel comfortable with the severity of his teeth, his age and underlying kidney disease. Who and how they monitor anesthesia is also important. For the sake of his kidneys they need to be sure his blood pressure is stable and doesn't drop too low. I think you can have his teeth done, but there is risk due to his age and kidney disease but you don't have much choice at this point. I would find someone with in your budget that feels comfortable and you need to be willing to accept the risks and go for it. I wish you the best!

We sometimes do anesthesia multiple times on animals in just a few days or weeks. That is not abnormal. I can never tell you that she will be fine to have anesthesia again after 5 days. No one can tell you that. As long as they are hydrating her (putting her on IV fluids during the procedure) though, I would not be overly worried. Anesthetics we use are the same as in human medicine (in most cases) and are very safe. If she is eating better and you want to wait a couple weeks that may be an option. You should voice your concerns to your vet and go from there. They may agree with you that since she is eating better maybe she can wait a couple weeks. They may have a reason they want the procedure done so quickly. I don't have enough information to know what they are thinking. Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes.

If his heart and lungs sound normal with no murmurs and his blood work is other unremarkable (testing liver, kidneys and blood sugar), then most people are willing to pursue anesthesia still to help him. IF there are abnormalities in these areas, they can still anesthesia, however, they often may use different medications to accommodate those problems. It is very common for cats of that age to get sedated for procedures though.