Cat's Tooth Was Just Hanging Out!
Simon, Before Surgery with his Left Lower Canine Tooth Hanging Out
Sometimes cats need emergency tooth extraction. In Simon’s case, his left lower canine tooth avulsed so it stuck out of his lower lip at almost a ninety degree angle. Talk about painful!
To top it off, Simon was 18 years old. Anesthesia carried inherent risk for him, but there was no way he could go on with that tooth like that!
I put him under light anesthesia and painkillers and delicately removed the offending tooth.
Simon’s recovery after anesthesia was uneventful. An elderly cat feels sleepy for several hours. He wobbled on his feet and jerked his head to and fro a bit, trying to focus on my face. We did not offer any food for the first two hours. Then Simon started to look more “with it.” He drank some water when it was offered. (Just a little bit. Cats normally do not drink very much; cats are thought to be originally desert animals.)
After two hours, we let him walk around his own bedroom in the hospital, without fear he would trip or try to jump up and hurt himself. He ate a little dinner, and went to sleep. Simon recovered quickly. Some cats are groggy until the morning or afternoon after surgery and anesthesia. Sleepiness for more than 24 hours warrants a call to the veterinarian.
See the little white thing hanging out of the corner of Simon's mouth? That's the tooth!
Simon ate soft canned cat food for about 5 days. I checked his gums and they were 100% healed! Some dental specialists wait up to 2 weeks after dental surgery before allowing a cat unrestricted access to dry food.
6 months after his surgery, Simon had gained a pound, and looks younger than ever!
P.S. Tooth avulsion occurs after accidents, or in Simon’s case, from years of periodontal neglect. The jawbone holding the tooth becomes fragile, the tooth is no longer strong and firmly rooted, and an insignificant bump to the mouth dislodged the tooth. Whammo! An avulsion is born.
Are you a vet? I have an almost-13-year-old cat who needs dental surgery, and I’m terrified to have him put under anesthetic! I was googling information on just how dangerous it is when I found your blog.
Thank you! Your information was helpful. I was able to ask enough questions to determine that my veterinary hospital knows what they’re doing, and they are pretty up-to-date in their equipment (no heated surgical tables, though, just microwavable oat bags). My kitty survived the dental surgery and is home now. They told me to keep him away from stairs, but he was having none of it and spent the first hour after getting home running up and down the stairs (he was okay; I guess he needed to burn off some energy). Now he’s sleeping peacefully on our bed. I’ll be glad when he’s all healed up, but then I’ve gotta figure out this fluoride treatment thing!
Anyway, thank you very much for your response and all your helpful articles. I think I’ll bookmark your site for future reference. 🙂
They gave me a bottle of vanilla-flavoured fluoride and told me that after about 3 weeks, when he’s healed, I should rub that on his teeth and then wipe it off. I’m not sure he’s going to let me do either of those things…