Root canals and tooth extractions in cats

[alternate_universe]

Well, this will be a new adventure for me. Kitty dental surgery is in out very near future as of yesterday afternoon.

One of my family’s cats has been into the vet 3 times since Thursday afternoon when she suddenly refused to eat and was acting rather distressed and lethargic. It was orginally thought to be some random nausea, then it changed to possible throat irritation from the pills she takes every day. She is epileptic and takes phenobarbitol. Yesterday my sister and I both noticed that a tooth that she broke about 2 and half years ago has turned bad. The tooth was broken during one of her early (and luckily final) seizures. It has never been a problem, but now it is quite discolored and she does not want anyone touching her mouth.

She is currently one painkillers and antibiotics until we determine what needs done. The vet said it’s either going to be a root canal or total extraction. We are trying to avoid doing an extraction because of the risk of her suffering a jaw fracture during the procedure. Evidentally this can happen because the tooth – a bottom canine – goes very deep and there is a lot of tooth attached to the jaw bone. If they can do a root canal they will. Or, there is the third possibility, that if the tooth is so far decayed that the root is gone by then they can simply pop it out, not an actual extraction.

My mother got ahold of the the dental specialist we were referrred to this morning. She is booked until next Monday. We really do not want to see this poor cat sit around miserable and doped up for another week. She is really not a happy camper. Our regular vet clinic can do extractions. No root canals. The vet doing the extractions is not a specialist like the one we were reffered to.

This is turning into such a mess. No one wants to risk the cat suffering a broken jaw on top of a pulled tooth. Granted, a fractured jaw is totally fixable, but just another negative thing. We would really prefer that root canal if it’s possible… but not wait until Monday if we can help it. There are no other dentail specialists in the area. We have not done radiographs of the tooth yet because the vet we spoke to yesterday told us they will do them and then immediately take her into surgery, so we wouldn’t know exactly what was going to happen until the very last minute. They do this because they do not like to anesthetise animals any more than they have to.

Anyone go through either of these procedures? What was the outcome? Are extractions the big deal I think they are?

[reefy]

I have a cat that went through extractions - root canal was a possibility (he cracked one of his upper ‘fangs’ and the inside pulp was coming out - OUCH).

My vet referred us to our local specialty animal hospital as he wouldn’t do the extractions and my cat was old (17) when it happened.

I had to have them do the evaluation and surgery all in one day because he is so terribly horrible at the vet and I didn’t want to stress him out twice. It was an all day affair - they did radiographs of his jaw and not only did he have the broken tooth, he had FORLs (tooth lesions) on many of his teeth. They called me before they started the surgery and let me know what they were going to do. Extract the broken tooth and all the ones with the lesions. He came out with a few teeth in the back and the itty bitty ones in the front and that was it.

He made it through the surgery fine, if a bit beat up looking (lots of stitches and dried blood on/in his mouth). They normally would have kept him overnight but he was so aggressive and angry that they let me take him home the same night. He was on some GOOD pain meds for about 10 days. So I had a cat that was out of it and kind of loopy for a good week.

No broken jaw as a result (phew). It did cost me a lot of $$$ but 2 years later (now 19) he’s doing great and still eats his dry food (will starve before he will let wet food in his mouth - he’s weird). The only residual thing is that his tongue sometimes comes out the side of his mouth (no teeth there to hold it in) and the end of his nose is often wet because his tongue comes out a lot more than it used to!

[Swale01]

One of our kitties needed 9 teeth extracted (all in one shot, right after we adopted her.) Her mouth was a mess and she was in a lot of pain…and anemic as a result of her inability to eat enough food before she gave in to the pain in her mouth. She recovered nicely and is now a plump, happy little girl who can eat dry food just fine. I would do the extractions again in a heartbeat.

[alternate_universe]

Well I’m happy I haven’t heard any horror stories yet. We feel terrible that it took 5 days to figure out what the matter was. She’s obviously not happy with us and is reluctant to let us near her because she’s afraid we’re going to give her more medication to try to touch her mouth. She’s hiding a lot, which is not something she normally does. Our regular vet will be calling back some time this afternoon or tonight to discuss the options.

She is currently on antibiotics. Is it possible that this is something that could possibly totally clear up in a couple days just by the meds? I am under the impression that the antibiotics are just to try to spare the tooth if possible so that only a root canal is needed. Some surgery or another seems necessary. I just wish the specialist was available sooner. I don’t want to see her get railroaded into an extraction when she doesn’t actually need one, especially with the risks involved.

[alto]

@alternate_universe;6551344

We have not done radiographs of the tooth yet because the vet we spoke to yesterday told us they will do them and then immediately take her into surgery, so we wouldn’t know exactly what was going to happen until the very last minute. They do this because they do not like to anesthetise animals any more than they have to.

If you feel confident in your regular vet, I’d give them the go ahead to do Xrays & then extract IF there is sufficient decay such that it’s a straight forward procedure.

I don’t see this as an unnecessary anaesthetic - most teeth cleaning procedures which many vets recommend be done annually, obviously also require anaesthetic & I fail to see the difference in this situation: it will be a full week before the feline dentist is able to schedule your cat.

OTOH if your local vet is convinced kitty will feel better after a couple days antibiotics, then wait for the specialist :yes:

[alternate_universe]

Just talked to the vet. She said cat should be fine until Monday with the medication. We’ve known her for 15 years, so we’re trusting her call on this. An appointment with the dental specialist has been set for next Monday.

Any tips for how to convince a very grumpy, somewhat depressed cat that we’re not going to shoot yuckies in her mouth every time we reach towards her? Poor girl is hardly tolerating anyone touching her and has taken to actually growling, which is a total first. We don’t want her to be afraid of us for weeks now.