One way to know to know when your cat needs a dental- take a photo as the cat is yawning. Of course, your veterinarian can do a mouth exam and determine if a dental is needed. Most old cats need to have their teeth cleaned. Dentals are important for the longevity of both cats and dogs. Infected gums and rotten teeth cause heart and kidney disease which greatly hasten an animal’s demise. The tartar and gingivitis are both evident in this photo of my old cat Addie. My vet did lab work to make sure she could withstand the anesthesia. Her kidneys and liver were just fine. I think Addie was 14 years old at the time of her last dental. She lived to be 18 years old.
Pets, People and, Life 
Dixie Rose only had to have dental work once. It was a bit of an amusing experience, since her vet said when it was over, “I think we need to find a way to put this one under for every appointment.” She could be a real toot when it came to the vet!
It’s good to see you. I hope all’s well. I really like the background of your blog. Those flowers are great — they look like a kind of Asian (?) “skeleton flower” whose petals turn transparent when they get wet.
Hi Linda. It is good to hear from you. I pretty much gave up on blogging after so many changes going on in my life but last evening for some strange reason I decided to have a look at my blog. I was not happy to see all the odd changes that were made by WP. I have not the slightest idea of what I am doing here and by some small miracle I was able to find a photo and actually make a post. I feel awful for no longer commenting on my favorite blogs which includes yours so maybe one day I will get back to being a reluctant blogger. I have been looking at your posts but just not commenting. Dixie Rose was a once in a lifetime cat and I think you were both lucky to have found each other. Bless her heart she was a diva but then I think a great many cats are set in their ways, as are some of us. Now about the background of my blog- I can’t even bring that up and I have not the slightest idea of what it looks like. I am indeed pitiful so in order to see it I will need to go Google and type in my blog to bring it up. I must have changed it maybe a few years ago when I was “playing around” in my blog but not actually making a post. Thank you for visiting and commenting. I will try to get an email off to you one of these days.
I just paid more than $1,200 recently, to have dentals for Oscar and Lollipop who are both five years old. I’d been finding a few rotton-looking teeth while mopping floors. That cost included blood work to assure their health to go through with the surgery. Oscar lost 21 teeth and Lollipop 17. I was aghast at the numbers, especially since I’m particular about feeding them “clean” kibbles – as healthy as I could find, but I was told this is quite common with short-snouted, small breeds, like our Japanese Chin. I paid the bill (ouch) but marveled at how much better Oscar and Lollipop felt and acted. Within a week they’d healed enough to get back to their hard kibbles.
Hi there lady. It is so good to hear from you and to know your little pack is doing well. As you have written, dogs and cats benefit greatly after the removal of decayed teeth and removal of tartar from around the teeth which heals the gums and promotes overall better health. Those dentals, as you say are not cheap but sometimes a few folks are lucky to have a veterinarian that is quite reasonable. My rescue cat of a little more than a year ago had a severe case of stomatitis. My vet is young, and he only pulled a few teeth saying that he did not like to pull all of them at one time. I spent needless money by not insisting that my vet go back in a few months and pull all of his teeth. I used up energy and money with two different antibiotics, Vitamin C, and some other things that are supposed to boost the immune system. After six months I finally got a grasp of the situation and had my vet pull the remaining teeth. I must say that after all the teeth were gone, my cat made an amazing recovery and gained about 7-8 pounds. He hardly looks like the same cat. So, dentals do make a huge difference in the health of our animals. Thank you for commenting. I have yet to comment on your last post having lost it somehow (must have deleted it by accident and then forgot about until your comment reminded me). Best regards, Yvonne