Can I ask about your cat’s dental work please?

[SandrenaIsMyBloodType]

Mabel had a check up before we moved house because she is fairly highly strung and we felt she might need some sedative medication to get her through it all.
The vet said she was in good health (13 yrs old, indoor, Burmese) but should have a tooth cleaning soon. We feel that she is sufficiently settled in our new house that we could get this organised now and I would be very grateful for any advice about what to expect.
How long did it take your cat to get over it? Did they need much aftercare from you or from the vet? How much did it cost? (It’s obviously important enough that I will crack on with it and put it on a credit card, but would love to know what I’m up against).

My cat has had 2 dental cleans in his life, one at age 7 then one.( and 1 tooth removed) at 14. He recovered quickly both times, after sleeping of the GA.
Aftercare - my vets provide free 6 monthly check-ups, and I blob a bit of Pet Dent toothpaste on his paw when I remember
I think the cost was around £600.

We've never had any of our many cats teeth cleaned over the years, were we neglectful or are vets creating additional lucrative opportunity for themselves?

Our cat - who’s three -had one last month, and needed two big canine teeth extracted. He had to be kept in for a week after, soft food for two weeks, and there were two post op checks scheduled after the dental. The cost was about £700, including antibiotics and pain killers for afterwards.

Get a second opinion! We have had cats for 60 years, none ever needed dental work. Our vet got taken over and lo and behold suddenly needed dental work. Our old vet set up again independently, and picked the bit of tartare off Arthur's tooth with his fingernail! No charge. Job done.

I’ve had two cats get dental cleaning at about 8 years old because they had a buildup of tartar and I wanted them to get to old age without painful teeth.

We got our cat from a rescue when she was about 8 and she had had two teeth removed whilst she was at the rescue and we were warned more might need to be removed and had to confirm that we would be able to pay for it if it was necessary (as it might not be covered by insurance and we weren’t planning on insuring anyway so it obviously wouldn’t be). About two years later, she had to have three teeth removed which cost £300 I think and would have been more had she had to stay in overnight. She didn’t need to as she had been the first op of the day, it all went smoothly and she came around well. They also knew she hated the vets and so would probably recover better at home.
She didn’t seem that bothered by any of it! Obviously a bit quiet for a couple of days afterwards and we only fed her wet, mushed food for a few days. On about night 5, she brought a mouse in so we decided she was recovered and put her back on her usual food!

First cat had 3/4 cleans in her 17 years. Got over it by the time it was feeding time again. She wouldn't eat kibble so the tartar built up.

Second cat - one clean in 14 years and quite late on - he had a couple of teeth out at the same time. Happy as Larry within a few hours but kept him in for 24 houra.

The girls. Aged 4. One had 6 teeth out about 18 months ago. The other, all but her canines last year. Both bounced back quickly with no problems. Kept them in for 4/5 days. Note: they were rescues and probably had calici virus as tiny kittens and ot affects their teeth and gums badly. £6/700ish because the teeth pretty much came out with little vet effort.

I think cat teeth are like humans'. Some have good, strong teeth and gums, others not. Some are plaque magnets (me), others are not (DH).

It really frustrates me as a vet when people claim that dental work for animals is some kind of money making con. Vets don’t recommend beneficial procedures to animals to make money, we do it because we want to help. How many people manage to live into their 60s/70s/80s, never brush their teeth and never need a filling or extraction or get painful root infections?

Dentistry for animals can in some ways mirror humans, that there are some people who do bog standard brushing, never see the hygienist and only need the dentist every 10 years, others who have to work really hard to look after their teeth and still need lots of work doing. Animals can be the same, it can be down to diet, lifestyle, genetics and sometimes carrier status for viral diseases.

Dental hygiene benefits all patients, but as proper dental cleaning requires an anaesthetic, there is a balance to be made against reasonable frequency/timing to get the maximum benefit, balanced against age and other medical conditions which may make anaesthesia more risky, and cost to the client. This is often where advice about “when to dental” is subjective and can vary from vet to vet.

Some cats will form tartar that can just be chipped off and their gingivitis will improve, others can have infected teeth, exposed roots, inflammatory gingivitis or enamel erosion at the gumline which is extremely painful where the nerve is exposed.

Extracting tiny roots from a relatively fine and flimsy jaw is technically difficult and requires patience and special equipment/xrays to do properly. A lot of vets don’t enjoy dentistry but appreciate that it can be one of the most significant parts of our job for improving quality of life for animals.

in regard to OPs question. Ask for a pre dental check and an estimate for the dentistry they recommend. Are x-rays included as standard? is there a cap on time and could the dental extend into a second stage if a lot of extractions were needed? Costs can easily vary between £500-1000 depending on what is needed. There are dedicated cat clinics and dentistry centres who may be worth looking into for maximum dental expertise.

275 for mine to have a check up, clean, and single tooth extraction (one of his beautiful fangs) - mine hates the vet so we gave permission at the beginning to sedate and remove if any were needed rather than having to sedate to check and then do it again if we had to remove.

just to add this was 3 years ago and on an 8kg cat (not sure if that makes a big cost difference for medicine and anaesthetic etc)

I sympathise, but it is absolutely the case that some of the larger practices do up sell treatments which a few years ago were not seen as necessary. Insurance also plays a big part in this, as it does with private human health. Yes, things improve, and more treatments are available, which is a good thing, but not all are necessary. Literally everyone in our part of town switched from the new vets, back to the old. We did not need a super duper air conditioned, comfy seated, state of the art, animal hospital. It was like being in Harley Street. The upselling was crazy. Our old vet is in a bog standard building with basic amenities, and is the most honest, caring, lovely vet, who only does what is necessary.

We paid 1500 for our two cats to have extractions. They recovered within a day or two. We have switched food to Iams wet and dry formulas. So many foods contain lots of sugar/rubbish. Vet days her profession is only just realising importance of oral health.

Of 6 cats so far only one of mine has needed a dental, one lets the vet flick tartar off with her finger and 4 have been fine.

Vets absolutely don't suggest dentals as a money spinner - cats don't clean their teeth and are great at hiding pain.

I'd be prepared for it not just to be a clean as the vet can't examine your cat's mouth properly until it is under anaesthetic so there may be extractions too.

Mine was back to normal the following day despite having a load of teeth out.

My 16 year old kitty needed a canine out and some dental cleaning under GA. She was just fine, recovered very quickly and it cost £400. She felt much better afterwards.

Just to add to @FoxandDuck’s post, there was no suggestion our boy would stay overnight. We dropped him off at 8.30, he had the surgery about 2, and we collected him at 5. He was quite droolly and dopey for a couple of hours and slept in his bed, but by 8pm was looking for his dinner and furious at not getting any biscuits!

We were initially told to keep him in for a fortnight, until after the second post-op check, but he was climbing the walls and the vet agreed at the first one he was fine to go out as long as he came back for his medication. (He’s not much of a roamer and always comes to his name so we weren’t concerned about that.) The following day he had to be evicted from next door’s kitchen where he was discovered wolfing down their two cats’ biscuits…

Our previous girl had six teeth out around the same age, but they were all back teeth and she was only to be kept in for 48h afterwards.

My 16 year old male cat has had 3. His sister has never needed any. They’re fed the same food! They ranged from £700 to £1040. One time he developed an infection afterwards so he had to be put on ABs and was kept in longer but the advice given to me after each op was that he only needed to be kept in for 24 hours.

One of our lads (who is 14) needed dental treatment last year. They anaesthetised him and did a full clean and then a metric fuckton of extractions. I can’t remember how many they took out but it was something ridiculous- around 15. He was fine afterwards, a bit dribbly for a day but fine. The cost was around £1500 if I remember correctly but we are very lucky that our insurance covers dental so we only had to pay the excess.

The latter. They’ll take any opportunity to rinse more money out of you and no, my cat has never his teeth cleaned either. I’d laugh in their faces.

It's very obvious when the vet shows you that the cat needs a dental - they can show you the bleeding and inflamed gums and caked on tartar.

My last two cats had dentals at 10+ years. Both of them died horribly within six months. Coincidence I'm sure.

We do still use the same lovely vets but I'm actually still quite traumatised seven years later and it will take a lot to persuade me to allow our current pair to have a dental (it's not about the money).

Shhhh!

Our is booked in for the end of September. She had a check up earlier in the year. Had all the bloods to check she can manage it, and are doing the house up so are in chaos and the vet said get things like this sorted to make sure she isnt too stressed when she is recovering and we can focus on her

So we have a date and time but we havent told the cat about it. She'll be furious when she finds out.

The vet always comments on what lovely teeth my cat has got

One of our cat had few teeth removed. Dropped her in the morning, picked her up the evening. Two after care visits, antibiotics all included (took two people to inject the antibiotics in her mouth twice a day!). Total £900 luckily covered by insurance so we only paid small excess

£600 for one chipped tooth
elsewhere £450 for 7 teeth two years later.

shop around. it varies a lot. find out the full cost including drops antibiotics painkillers everything.

i paid £90 for a water drip to keep her hydrated. ridiculous cost. it’s disgusting how much they charge.

Then there isn’t a problem is there?

But if the vet told you the teeth were diseased and the cat was likely in pain, you might be inclined to do something about it. As that doesn’t apply to you, no problem.

You know your average vet isn’t raking it in, right? It’s like GPs, the people making the most are the partners or companies behind the practice. And they have to make a profit, that’s how they function. Vets train for years and work enormously hard, as do all the other people who are involved in an operation, including vet nurses.