Cat dentals

[Lucyloo223]

Took cat to vet for conjunctivitis and they looked at his teeth and said he has some signs of decay and needs dental work. He is a really timid skittish rescue cat, just taking him in a car is an ordeal for both of us starting with struggling to get him in the carrier, he cries all the way to the vet and pooes in the carrier because he hates the car so much. I've tried everything to get him more used to travelling and the carrier, nothing has worked. His teeth don't seem to bother him at all, eats and drinks completely normally. AIBU not to take him for dental work?

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I would still have it done. My cat needed six teeth out. She showed no signs of pain. And was eating and drinking well. But she must have been in a lot of pain.

Dental disease can lead to other problems down the line, I would definitely get it done.

The vet should be able to prescribe a sedative.

Your cat in the carrier sounds like ours. We make her nil by mouth before her appointment and always try for 1st thing in the morning. Vet actually suggested it. Definitely reduced the mess created.

She also had to have dental work. No side effects and it was done in preventative circumstances in lieu of her age. She'll be 11 this month.

My boy was a bad tempered fellow until he had his teeth removed and now he is so much better. He must have had awful toothache for some time. Please don’t let your cat 🐈‍⬛ be suffering in silence.

My cat came to me because her previous owners thought she was miserable in a multicat household and needed to be an only cat. It turns out she just had dreadful toothache - and seven extractions later she was a completely different cat! Cats hide pain well. I'm sure you will notice how different he seems after the dental! (You could also ask the vet for a sedative to give him to help make the journeys less stressful 🙂)

Can anyone recommend any dental treats? Out cat is mega fussy, so open to suggestions!

Cats hide pain.

When mine needed a dental pulling their cheeks back revealed v sore looking gums.

I wouldn't have liked having teeth like that.

My vet prescribes Gabapentin, a mild anti-anxiety tablet which I give to my cat about an hour before any vet visits. She's still scared but is kinda zoned-out.

Please have it done. Harry had bad breath so we queried it with his vet at the time. She said his teeth were fine but they weren't. He ended up with osteomyelitis in his jaw, a fractured jaw and he lost 12 teeth. We had no clue there was anything wrong as he was still eating biscuits the morning he broke his jaw. I know his is an extreme case but I feel so guilty that it happened to him when it could have been prevented.

I'm in exactly the same situation, unfortunately our cat has had a lot of vet treatment in the past 4 years and us utterly terrified of the carrier and the vet. But it's going to have to be done as he has a couple of sore areas now. I'm dreading it, and the stress of an op will no doubt cause his other issues to flare up too.

You really need to get it done, if there are bigger problems developing you need to know and if it's just a clean then at least his mouth will have been examined properly.