cats and teeth descaling

[friendlyedjit]

Just wondered whether anyone else has had experience with this. Took cat for yearly check and suggested that she have her teeth descaled. 9 year old charmer who eats well happy etc. I'm worried re risk vs benefit of general anaesthesic. Financially it will also cost about 300- 350 squids. we have two other cats of 10 and 15 years who go this afternoon for their jabs and I wonder if this will also be suggested. The vet we saw was not our usual vet, although same practice. Our cat this morning has always had awful teeth, but has never seemed bothered. Eats dried food and unfortunately has put on weight over the last year, in the rgion of 0.4 kg. Her main exercise seems to be throwing herself at the back door trying to get back inside to go to bed!!
Is this a new thing- a new fashion to push feline dental treatment??

Do they hunt?

ie eat bones of mice etc

cos i think that should make them ok

She eats everything and anything else so I'm sure she wouldn't be adverse to a few mouse bones! But although they have brought in a few presents proudly, they seem to have brought in fewer of late and she is so lazy that she has never evn groomed herself she lets the older ginger tom do all the work!!

LOL @ grooming from other cat

I think if she does hunt and eat the catch the teeth should be ok IMHO and IME

BUt I am not a vet

My cat got to 20 and never had them done, wheras her sister had hers done at 18 due to LOADS of tartar ..funnily enough she was the one who ate the dried food yet had the worse teeth.

The cat I didn't have done, the vet was always saying she needed it, but when I opened her mouth to have a good look I never felt they needed it. So yes, often vets can want to do it as a 'preventative' measure when the teeth do not really need doing at that time. Not to say they might not need it 12 months down the line.

I say use your judgement, gutfeeling. Oh and that cost is stupid...I paid £225 for my dog to have a full dental including 8 teeth removed, and 2 warts removed at the same time..with pre-anaesthetic bloods done beforehand included in that price. So, shop around! Might be time to change your vet...

It all depends what is happening at the gum line. Most of these cases progress to develop gingivitis = inflammation of the gum, usually where it meets the tooth in these situations. There may also be small holes form at the gum line in the tooth and these may not be seen until the tartar is removed. These holes can lead to teeth breaking as they significantly weaken the teeth. They also are very painful though cats may not show this very readily by their nature. Untreated gingivitis in the longer term leads to erosion of the supporting ligaments of the teeth and eventually bone erosion. There is a constant immune challenge from the damaged tissue where bacteria can enter the blood stream more easily and this in turn can put other organs at risk of infection/inflammation. It is not unusual to find (reversible mostly) liver changes in cats with dental disease, and we do from time to time though thankfully rarely see more serious disease with the heart valves being damaged by bacteria. There is also some concerns in cats with renal disease that the immune reactions that happen re the bacterial challenge in the mouth can contribute to exacerbating problems too.

All in all the best of options give all of the above it to treat dental disease before it reaches major risk levels. Not only do you improve their health by sorting out the dental hygiene but also this sort of treatment is much simpler and less time consuming - hence shorter anaesthetic time - than when they get to the stage that teeth have snapped, bone is damaged etc. It is far better to have a cat have several short dental hygiene procedures in their lifetime than to end up with a very long one later on.

Hope that helps explain a few things - I fully understand the "if is aint broke don't fix it" thoughts, but sadly all too few vets actually explain why these things are actually necessary when you as an owner find it hard to see/understand that much of a problem.

Is it correct that ours cats will help to keep thier teeth healthy by eating wildlife incl bones?

Chewing does help the teeth yes - hence why cats that have biscuit diets usually have better teeth. Sadly though nothing is guaranteed to be the thing that works above all others though and some hunters will still not have great teeth. If yours are anything like my cat then he catches, plays, doesn't eat much and makes me - but then that is cats nature of course too and I still love him really!

Thanks

Ours deffo both cats eat everything mice, voles etc etc and yes they eat everything {incl bones/skull} apart from the intestines

I think every day they catch something but we live in the countryside ~ I wish the fluffy one didn't {just before coming in the house} cos it makes her breath STINK !!!!!

sorry about hijack

Mmmm nice!