Originally Posted by Heathpack

Sorry Ive been trying to stay off screens, had a crash last week and a concussion. Also: no alcohol which really blows.

Isn’t Jackie a young cat?

I’m not the best person to ask about GP stuff like dentals. But here’s my two cents. Yes cats need dental care. They get periodontal disease which can lead to chronic immune stimulation which has wide-ranging ramifications in the body over time. And they can get tooth root infections, which can cause pain, tooth loss and other complications like oro-nasal fistulas.

If you’re going to do a dental in a cat, you should do it right. Do the blood work and anesthesia monitoring and so on.

So yes, frequent dentals are “best practice” as far as the cats health goes. It’s not a question of ethics any more than your recommendation of a colonoscopy is ethically suspect. You recommend it because it’s best for your patient. The only reason you’re balking in the cats case is money. That’s a value judgement on your end as to what the cat is monetarily worth to you. Which is fine. But the implication that’s there’s something fishy about the recommendation is about as crazy as someone implying you have ulterior motives for recommending the colonoscopy.

My 25 hour hospital bill for my bike crash last week was $42000. This is just the hospital bill, not doctors, not ER, and does not include the radiographic studies. Lol, I love it when people complain about their veterinary bills.

You can try feeding your cat crunchy cat food if you’re not doing that already. In some cats, this can slow down the development of tartar build up.