9/18 Pre-Dental Advice needed for Phoebe Squeak, please.

Hi All,
First, thanks for all the support and prayers for my hubby as he recovers from open heart surgery. He's doing well and is getting stronger every day.
I need some advice about what to do with Phoebe Squeak's insulin leading up to her dentistry. She is usually fed every 6 hours, but the doctor said no food after midnight, so she'd miss the overnight meal and her breakfast the morning of the dentistry.
They said to give 1/2 her insulin dose the morning of the dentistry, but I'm concerned because Lantus is a depot insulin. Should I cut the dose in half the night before as well? FYI, she is still unregulated at this point.
What have others done in this situation?
Any and all advice appreciated.
Thanks!

 

I always skipped the AM shot. The anesthesia can lower BG and I never trusted Gabby to not have her numbers tank from the drugs and lack of food. I also knew that it would be easy enough to get back on track later.

I would also stay on top of numbers once Phoebe is home. Make sure your kitty is hungry at shot time. If you shoot and Phoebe doesn't feel like eating, it can be way too exciting of an evening. (Been there. Done that. Don't recommend it.)

If the vet ends up doing extractions, remember to get pain meds. Also, they will likely prescribe an antibiotic if extractions were done. No Convenia!!. Also, be sure that they get post-procedure X-rays if Phoebe ends up needed extractions.

 

Thank you very much for all the advice. I am printing it out so I don't forget anything.
Just to be clear, you'd give the full dose the night before and skip the AM shot?
And I'm curious -- why the X-rays?

 

Ti-Mousse had his dental last March!

He was scheduled beginning of afternoon, vet recommended: regular dose the night before and 1/2 dose in the morning with a light breakfast! I was a bit concerned so asked on the Forum and was told it was the new anaesthesia procedure !
He had extractions so x-rays before and after to make sure nothing left!
No Metacam! I asked for Buprenorphine as a pain med instead!
AB if extractions and a follow-up visit!

Good luck for little Phoebe! When is she sheduled ?

 

Thanks! Thant's interesting! Her appointment is at 9:30 am and they said no food after midnight so that worries me because it's 2 missed meals before 1/2 dose of insulin. Thanks for pain med advice and for explaining need for X-rays. She is scheduled for Oct 17.

 

Ollie got half dose morning of dental. They did tell me she could have small snack at midnight, then nothing except her benazepril in morning. Didn't have to worry Ollie would go low. If she got to high it would only be for few hrs and if needed they could give short acting. This dentist did pre and post xrays. No extractions needed.

 

Thanks very much, Paula. Hope you are hanging in there.

 

We are. Glad your hubby is recovering nicely.

 

Excellent advice! I need to take notes for Luci's next dental...

Glad your DH is recovering from his open heart surgery - it's never an easy road.

 

The latest anesthesia protocol with diabetic cats is that they get 1/2 dose in the morning and that the dental should be scheduled as early as possible.

Some vets will say it's OK to give them a small meal with the 1/2 dose and some want them NPO. If yours does want NPO, I don't know why you couldn't give a small snack at midnight.....even if they scheduled the dental at 8am, that's long enough for the food to be out of the system.

From the AAHA "Tips and Tricks for anesthetizing diabetic dogs and cats"

 

I'm glad your DH is doing so well. When Furball had her dental I gave her normal dose the night before and skipped the morning of. She was supposed to fast after midnight so I gave her some food about 10PM. You may want to get some meat only baby food to have on hand in case she doesn't want to eat her regular food after the dental. I hope it goes well. Sending prayers.

 

Fig just had his dental last week. I was told the same--skip AM shot and no food after midnight. I was a little nervous and gave him slightly higher carb than his normal LC for his late night snack (not a carbo load though, just 6% instead of his regular ~2.5%). He ended up only needing a cleaning... and was ravenous when we got home, with pretty high numbers.
I knew that some anesthetics drop the BG (I read it was as they are wearing off) so kept a very close eye on him. Wasn't an issue for him, though.
It is taking a while to get over the skip, but I did what the vet asked and wouldn't have done otherwise. If he had needed extractions and been under anesthesia longer, his recovery could have looked quite different.

 

Thank you for this info. I really appreciate it.

 

Thank you. Good idea about the baby food!

 

Thank you. I'm glad it went so well for Fig. I think I'd be more comfortable skipping the AM shot, but they told me to give 1/2 dose. Interesting idea about slightly higher carb for late night snack!

 

I didn't do higher carb for the late night snack, but I did load up Whispy's bowl with extra fresh food (nothin' like the cracking open of a fresh can to get the kitties mouths drooling) around 11pm and then took it away right at midnight. I didn't give the morning shot at all, and instead was able to give him a shot that afternoon when he got home (which was at +18 since the previous night's shot), skipped that evening shot, and was back on schedule for the following morning. Basically two 18-hour cycles, which I know from experience gets him back on track much better than skipping a shot entirely and going 24 hours without one.

Just wanted to mention it as another option. Best of luck!

 

Thank you very much. Great suggestions!

 

I'm so sorry, I am a little sleep deprived lately and after reading through the whole thread I forgot what you originally posted! Paws crossed for Phoebe Squeak