Checks in advance of general anaesthetic

[RogueFemale]

The vet says my cat's teeth need a clean and they have to do it under general aesthetic. Cat is 6 years old, healthy. I am an anxious middle-aged cat lady.

I've read that pre-GA checks e.g. blood test, can reduce risk.

The teeth must be cleaned but I feel really anxious about the GA. I doubt it's as expertly monitored as human GA, for a start.

What tests are advisable and what questions should I be asking the vet?

I only have bloods done in older cats. Spent bother for my three year old. They are just as closely monitored as humans are in my experience. If they offer you fluids I would take them.

6 years is no age - your cat will be fine. Our old boy had a GA for his teeth last year when he was 16. His sister 2 years earlier when she was 14. As they were elderly they had bloods done first.

Over the years many of our pets have had GAs, 2 male Guinea pigs, numerous cats neutered, older cat for intestine problems as well as skin biopsy and he had diabetes too. All absolutely fine.

Mine had multiple GA's. All fine.

I've never paid for pre-op bloods. I'd only do it on a senior cat but in a healthy six year old the risk is incredibly small.

Mine had his first pre GA bloods done this year at 10 years old. 6 is young IMO.

However if you can afford it the peace of mind will be worth it if you’re anxious.

To reassure you about anaesthetic monitoring in veterinary practice in our practice we use a similar machine to human anaesthetists monitor ECG, spO2, end tidal CO2, blood pressure and temperature through the surgery. This is in addition to a registered veterinary nurse with a sethoscope listening every few minutes and checking various reflexes, the tone of the jaw and the colour of membranes. All of this is recorded through out the surgery. In fact often in veterinary medicine we check more things than human anaesthetists due to the type of anaesthetics we use.

I doubt it's as expertly monitored as human GA, for a start

Well you'd be wrong, go and educate yourself on what vet nurses do.

I wonder why GA is necessary; mine just had her teeth cleaned and scaled under sedation only.

I spoke to a neighbour tonight with many years experience with cats. She told me her cat almost died after a GA fuck up at the local vet, and that the person in charge of anaesthesia was an inexperienced junior. Years ago, she also had a bad experience with another cat and another vet/GA; they injected the GA in the wrong place - with the result that the cat was in agony at the leg injection site and tried to gnaw her own leg off when she woke up. Neighbour only discovered the reason after taking the cat to another vet the following day. So, yeah, I'm a bit more educated now of the potential for fuckups.

I'm going to ask. In the old days the vet would just remove tartar with their thumbnail. Apparently not done these days, dunno why.

Thank you @Lonecatwithkitten but I remain really anxious about GA after hearing my neighbour's experience with a local vet (in Oxford) as per my comment earlier this evening (not the vet I'm with now, but one I've been with before).

Could you tell me what is the absolute top qualification for a veterinary anaesthetist? What sort of other questions I should ask, given that not all vets are necessarily 100% competent?

My cat is like a baby to me. I'm middle aged and childless. I need to be sure. I'd be suicidal if my cat died as a result of taking him in for cleaning his teeth.

There are risks with every anaesthetic both human and veterinary, but they are small. Your neighbours experience the cat where the anaesthetic went in the wrong place sounds like the anaesthetic Thiopentone which hasn't been used for over 20 years. Also 20 years ago there was less monitoring equipment and fewer registered veterinary nurses.
The very top veterinary anaesthetists are vets who hold royal college and or European college diplomas in veterinary anaesthesia and are RCVS and ECVS specialists in veterinary anaesthesia ( titles awarded yearly by a panel of their peers) they tend to work in referral hospitals dealing with the sickest and most injured animals.
Many veterinary art nurses have carried out advanced anaesthesia training as they have to complete a minimum of 15 hours continuing professional development a year. There is also a postgraduate certificate in advanced veterinary nursing anaesthesia.
The reason an anaesthetic is needed to clean teeth is you can't do the most thorough job or get subginigval tartar without a GA as they animal would bite the vet.

I think you’re looking at this the wrong way round. Teeth/gum problems in cats is a real cause for concern, it can cause severe pain and discomfort and impact the animals quality of life, and in extreme cases be life-threatening.

Any treatment done without GA, will be less thorough, and be painful and distressing for the animal.
Do not base your decision on anecdotal scare-mongering by a random neighbour. Do your own research and not base your decision on hearsay.

To properly clean cat's teeth, you need to put them under GA. It means the teeth can be cleaned thoroughly (and removed if necessary). It means the vet isn't rushing or at risk of being bitten or attacked.

"Scraping it off with their thumbnail" is hardly comparable nor is it the proper way to deal with dirty teeth.

I understand you're concerned but if you leave it, the teeth could cause fatal problems anyway.

Thank you very much for your helpful reply, including the top qualifications info.

I continue to be concerned about the neighbour's experience with a cat at the local vet where it nearly died after GA for teeth cleaning. I'm in Oxford and the neighbour is an academic, not a 'random scaremonger' as suggested by a PP.

She said that the vet gripped her cat's head so tightly during a tooth extraction that it damaged a nerve in the cat's ear, and afterwards the cat lost all sense of up/down/balance, couldn't eat or drink as a result.

20 years ago, the thumbnail method was standard. It's only now that I discover the new approach of cleaning under GA.

And yes I know I can't leave it. Yet another neighbour said their cat died from an infected tooth.

OP I am intrigued with your faith in academics!
I too live near Oxford, and have several friends and acquaintances who are academics. They are just like the rest of the population and have the same likelihood of being alarmist and lacking in critical thinking on subjects that are not their specialist area. I would hazard a guess that many are also a tad out of touch with the normal world the rest of us inhabit.

Teeth cleaning under anaesthetic has been the norm for a long time now. My cats had it done as standard 15 years ago.

Like PP, I'm also confused about the neighbour being an academic and why that has any relevance to the situation? Anyone from any background can "scaremonger".

I thought this too! Would have no reason to trust any of my friends who are academics over pretty much anyone else as far as veterinary matters are concerned.

Cleaning teeth under general anaesthetic in cats has been standard in all my 26 years in practice and I am just down the road from you.
There are risks with every anaesthetic anyone whose says different. In routine procedures in Uk veterinary practice the risk of an adverse event is 1 in 14000 this is any adverse event. For contrast my husband is about to have procedure that has a mortality risk of 2 in 100.

I'm intrigued how any vet managed to clean a cats teeth with a thumb nail! Even Cheddar, who is the most placid cat in the world, would not be happy with it!

@SomethingUniqueThisTime OP I am intrigued with your faith in academics!

Good at critical thinking, not alarmist, in my experience.

It's how it was done in the 1980s/90s.