Advice for dental work

Hi everybody. I'm taking Billy (my 11-year-old diabetic) to the vet tomorrow for some major dental work in the form of teeth extractions. It's a tender spot for me. My other cat, a 14-year-old named Nancy, just died two weeks ago from cardiomyopathy and I'm still feeling it. I took Billy to the vet out of paranoia to check his heart and they said aside from being diabetic, he's doing well. But he has teeth issues. I've known this for two years. Some of his teeth have pus around them. He has breath that can make flowers wilt. It's time.

His blood work to make sure he was fit for the surgery was fine. He needs multiple extractions, and they'll keep him overnight. This makes me happy because that means they'll monitor the eating-versus-insulin thing. I am wondering if any of you have had your diabetic cats go through multiple teeth extractions though, and if you have any words of wisdom for me.

 

Mia had a few teeth extracted and did fine. I have never had a cat have to stay overnight for teeth extractions though. Is that because the mouth is in such bad shape at this point? Willow (not diabetic) has had MANY extractions in her life and has also done fine. Even when they found that one had abscessed and resulted in bone infection and going into her nasal passage, she was still able to come home that day.

 

I too have never had a cat stay overnight because of multiple extractions. Some cats each normally the evening after the dental while some cats will only eat a little.
Most of us caretaker here test our cat's BG at home using either a pet meter or a human meter. That makes it easier to adjust insulin dose after procedures like dentals and other things.

 

When my extra sweet had a canine removed, she was a kibble addict I was still trying desperately to transition to wet food. The first day or so after the extraction were a bit dicey on the food front. Although she was not reluctant to eat, she was having some difficulty picking up the kibble and I had to find a higher sided elongated bowl that didn't keep hitting her whiskers but allowed her to scoop up the kibble with her tongue rather than grabbing it with her teeth. She came home the same day as her surgery. Just something to consider if Billy happens to be eating kibble at this point in time.

 

Hopefully his numbers come down after fixing his teeth issues. I'm sure you'll see a difference after a few weeks. Both my cats did fine, Dusty had 6 removed and Beni 1. They were home that afternoon and eating (wet food) like normal.

 

I don't want to put the fear of God into you but we had six cats with cardiomyopathy. It's important to remember there are variations in both the type and severity of cardiomyopathy. In our case Nigel's dental work and more specifically the anesthesia was a huge deal but he pulled through with no complications and no overnight stay. If Billy is related to Nancy this is something important the vet has to know. Cat's with our particular form of cardiomyopathy live a good life, then one day start wheezing and it's all over.
I'm honestly not trying to sound this negative but we had three cats who died within hours of showing these symptoms. It's something hard to detect so your vet may not be aware.
The good news is that vets have done this work hundreds of times and we've gone through it for 40 years. Watch for pain, not wanting to eat and bad breath.
Again, sorry for the dramatics. Multiply what you felt after Nancy by six and you'll understand where I'm coming from. Best of luck but Billy won't need luck, he has you.

 

My sugar baby had all his teeth extracted when he was 20. He also had a heart murmur. They did the surgery in the morning and he came home in the evening, and was fine! I’m sure your baby will do well!