hiya

just booked kayla for a dental polish as recommended by vet a month ago as she has inflammed gums + smelly breath . Vet did say i should feed her dry food to help but i only feed her wet pate + jelly such as bozitz and some raw beef chunks + chicken

does anybody knows what happens during the dental procedure + is she allowed food + water b4.
I'm quite nervous about the whole thing to be honest but i'm always anxious when she isn't around

thanks
k

My mums cat had to have his teeth cleaned and was asleep for it - so I imagine the vet will tell you not to feed her from about 8pm the night before if she is going to be asleep

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Did your vet not give you any info about the procedure? Your cat will be put under a GA, so shouldn't be given any food the night before or the morning of the procedure.

It took a whole day for the effects of the GA to wear off my cat - he was groggy, dopey and generally drugged for what seemed like ages. The first thing he did when he came back home was stumble to his food bowl and try to eat some food; instead, after a few mouthfuls he fell asleep face first in his bowl (required rescuing at this point). When he woke up again, he stumbled back over to the food bowl, demolished a whole bowlful...and then promptly vomitted it back up into the litter tray.

My advice - don't allow her to eat too much after the GA!

Edited to add: Don't bother with the "dry only" theory, unless you really believe that eating biscuits somehow cleans the tartar off teeth! Anything that is eaten by any creature produces plaque - it's a byproduct of bacteria. The best thing is to feed a low sugar diet (which you are doing), and if you can regularly use a finger brush to brush her teeth. Some people also advocate raw feeding in keeping teeth clean - mine won't touch raw so I can't say.

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My Nina had a dental a few months ago, so I can understand your worries . The vet or someone from the office should have given you information about the procedure, and the risks of general anaesthesia, etc. I was told to fast Nina (no food or water) for 8 hours before the procedure, but your vet may give different instructions. If you're not sure, call your vet's office.

It took quite a few hours for her to recover after the procedure. She was basically groggy and shivering for hours, which worried me to no end. She didn't go near her food bowl even though I opened one of her favorite canned food. The next morning, she finally got over the anaesthesia, and chowed down on her food, and has been a much happier and playful kitty since the dental (she had a bad tooth removed, which I imagine had been causing her pain ).

I agree with Shamykebab that the theory that dry food cleans teeth is bogus. Since you feed part raw, have you considered letting Kayla have a raw chicken wing once in a while to clean her teeth? Of course, actually brushing her teeth would help too. If you do a search on the forum, you'll find lots of posts on how to maintain good dental health for our babies. Mine don't take to raw (shame), so I've been slowly getting them used to having me brush their teeth, and also adding PlaqueOff to their food.

Good luck, and do let us know how Kayla's dental goes!

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Please don't listen to the vet regarding feeding dry food = good for their teeth. It's dreadful that this is still common advice and vets should know better than to keep dishing it out. It doesn't help that they are flogging the stuff in their waiting rooms.

You are already doing the right thing by feeding good quality wet food and some raw beef and chicken chunks. See if you can get her to eat a raw chicken wing, they are great for keeping the teeth clean. And she will enjoy it a lot more than having you poke around in her mouth trying to brush her teeth!

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Rescue cats for many years, currently one moggie and 3 young Maine Coons.

I agree with everyone else here--dry food doesn't do doodly-squat to clean teeth. It cleans about as well as eating a hard pretzel will clean yours! Raw bones are the best for that.

Good luck with the dental cleaning--both you and kitty, as I know you'll be an emotional wreck . I always am for anything they have to do to the babies.

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My babies
Aber, Ragnar, Kelso (the corgi trio), Daisy (our rescue mystery-mix puppy), Ellie, Henry, Gwennie, Jezebel (the kitty quartet), Blake, Chaucer, Molly and Milton (the kittens), and Bingo the African Grey parrot

Over the Bridge:
Pippin: 1/6/08-17/5/11
Freja: 11/8/10-30/10/10
Kirby: 11/8/10-1/11/10

"Praise liberty/The freedom to obey/It's a song that strangles me/Well, don't cross the line" Billie Joe Armstrong

Thanks guys...I was told by Vet last month she needed the treatment sooner than later and only made the call yesterday. Unfortunately only spoke to the young receptionist so maybe she wasn't aware of the procedure of fasting but I will make sure Kayla has no access to food the night before (going to be hard as she normally wakes me up around 4am poking my head with her claws for fod

she goes in on 28th as i have booked the day off. I do give her the odd chicken wing but she sniffs it and turns her back...have had better luck with chunks of meat although not everyday she gets bored

Will keep u posted and thanks again for the support

xx

ps i too get annoyed with vet recommendation of dry food. The only time i have come across a vet who discouraged it was the vet who works at lily's kitchen who told me last year it was terrible that we have been led to believe dry is best as it causes problems further down the line