Dog need plaque removing from teeth under GA. Questions

[YourHandInMyHand]

Dog needs her teeth cleaning and vet said will be put under general anaesthetic to do so. Is this standard? She is quite a nervous dog. Are there any risks or things I need to know?

Is it something I can claim for on her pet insurance?

She's a greyhound rescue and prone to bad teeth, I do try to keep them clean but like a lot of GH rescues som damage was already done before she came to me.

I know a friends dog had to be put under so sounds right. I think my insurance has a clause which says dental work only covered if he has had a checkup within the last x months which included a dental check so I think you might have to read the small print in you t&cs.

Our dog has had the procedure under GA twice -it is standard where we live. I still worry though but she has been fine.

Mine too, 10 teeth out last time and a £500 bill

It's much kinder to them to have a ga. Pretty standard where I live. She'll likely be groggy for a day or so then back to her old self.

Yes it's normal, no, it's not covered by your insurance and risks are the same as for any GA.

Thanks for replies I feel more reassured now.

Except for the 10 teeth out!

I worry about her same as I do if they'd told me my DS needed a GA. I've booked her in on a day where I'm home that day and the next two too so can keep her company.

I can afford it so it's not a case of if insurance covers it she can't have it done, I will happily pay it, I've just never had to use my insurance before [touch wood] so wasn't sure what it did and didn't cover.

Yes, this is a standard and usually straightforward procedure. The vet may well advise a blood test before giving the GA to see if it brings up anything that may put her at increased risk of complications.

When she has had them cleaned and any bad teeth removed, you may want to consider giving her Plaque Off (available from Amazon) As a preventative measure for the future. My vet recommended it after my current dog had the same procedure last year and it does seem to be making a difference to her teeth.

Absolutely normal and very common in greyhounds post adoption. All of ours have regular dentals under GA. Bear in mind that an untreated mouth can be a harbour for some nasty infections which can spread to other parts of the body, and poor teeth can also be painful. One of ours ended up having all hers out - she came to us in a very poor state but once out she never looked back and was soon pinching kibble and getting up to mischief again very happily.

Of course every GA carries risks (same as for humans) but your vet will do everything possible to minimise these, and it's worth discussing the issues with your vet if you have any concerns. Many of the worries about greyhounds/GA go back to older style anaesthetics which are not used these days, and these days it is also much more common for vets in general practice to have greyhound patients, so they are likely to be familiar with the quirks of the breed (medically speaking).

It was worse than first thought, funny they didn't take out the ones we thought they would. It wasn't too bad for him although 10 teeth was a lot, mostly little ones and a snapped from one.

We have three whippets, only one is insured and his teeth is covered via insurance.