Do you have to do it?  no.  Is it a good idea.. yes.  At those ages, it is
better to know of an underlying medical condition before going under
anesthesia.  The IV will help provide fluids and a direct entry if there are
any issues and they need to administer medications or glucose.

If they were my cats, I wouldn't risk it.  I'd shell out the money.  If it
is a financial burden, do only one cat at a time.

You have to do bloodwork on older cats, generally over 10. I find it's good to
do bloodwork for the heck of it every once in a while and teeth cleaning is
every once in a while. Bloodwork is $35to$80 depending on how many tests they
do, and where.

I pay $55 for a cat dental not including xrays. They generally don't need
xrays. Anesthesia is $80 but I have a vet that does it without anesthesia if
the cat's okay with it. If your cat doesn't pass the blood test, cleaning
without anesthesia will have to be done. He'll also give you antibiotics which
are about another $10.

I don't do everything my vet tells me to do. Vets such as VCA recommend a ton
of tests just to rack up fees. After having many cats over many years, I have a
good idea about what makes sense and what's a waste of money. Sometimes they
also request extra tests just cover their behinds legally.

Wow. That is *awfully* expensive. I know I have a good vet but my cat had
all his molars extracted and had to stay 3 days and it was 250.00.  My
mother has had teeth extractions and cleanings on her older cats (with blood
tests - I don't recall needing IVs) and her vet is much more expensive and
I'm sure it wasn't more than a couple of hundred dollars. Is this the same
vet?? The teeth *need* attention. They can cause very bad health problems
and even lead to early death, but can't you get some prices on some other
vets? At that age, the cats also do need the blood tests to make sure all is
OK for the anesthesia. Still, I think that is very excessive pricing.

13 and 12 years old means your cats are seniors, and they will need to be
treated accordingly.  My brother's 14 year old cat just went in for
dentistry and extractions.  We also went with the IV and pre anesthetic
blood testing (which actually showed she had kidney problems so it was good
that we did it).  Similar to you, it cost almost 600 dollars for her (in
Canadian funds which would probably equate to what it cost you in US funds).

I highly recommend the IV fluids and testing.  Sometimes when I vet
recommends something it might be okay to go without, but when it gets to
"strongly recommend" I would give it some serious thought (which is what
you're doing so that is good).

Go with what the vet says.

Kelly

circa 25 Jun 2004 16:38:45 -0700, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
crash (dcw6363@aol.com) said,

With 12 and 13 year old cats, *absolutely*. Those tests are designed
to ensure that the cats' renal and liver functions are adequate to
clear the anesthesia from their systems, among other things. The last
thing you want is to find out that your cat couldn't handle
anesthesia by the cat dying during the cleaning. Unless you've had
quite recent blood panels done for your cats, I'd go with your vet's
recommendation.

It depends on how much I trust the vet and whether or not what
they're suggesting makes sense. If I don't trust the vet or if they
recommend things that seem excessive, then I find a new vet.

Laura

1) I would get the blood work done.
I had a kitten that went in for the "big snip" and the vet did some
bloodwork before the operation. She found a problem with him that
required some medication. It was not a serious one, though. Just a
little anemia. He was an abandoned kitten when I found him. Probably
was not eating too regular. He showed no signs of being anemic.
Ate good, played, tormented the other two cats, usual kitten stuff.
I am glad they did the bloodwork on him. He probably would not be
littering my house with bird parts now.
2) Short answer YES.
If it real serious I get a second opinion, my vet does not mind.

Yes.  If I was your vet I wouldn't even give you the option to refuse.
Your cats are old enough to have problems with their kidneys or liver
and the dental could make it worse.  I would also suggest that you get
a presurgical EKG because they are well old enough to have heart
issues.

Your vet is suggesting these things for a good reason.  People have
gotten into the habit of thinking that anesthesia is safe.  It isn't.
Anesthesia is ALWAYS a risk.  Even a young, perfectly healthy animal
can die under it.  There is no way to eliminate the risk of
anesthesia.  However, you can help minimize it.  Bloodwork will let
your vet know if there are any problems with the internal organs.  The
best-case scenario if your cat has already developed liver or kidney
issues is that the dental causes them to flair up and progress faster.
Worse case is your pet dies on the table.  The IV is needed is case
something does go wrong...it provides instant access to the
bloodstream for meds.

In fact, you should be very happy you have a vet who cares enough
about the safety of your pet to try and make everything as safe as
possible.  You should be asking other questions as well.  Will your
vet be using a blood pressure monitor during the entire procedure?
Blood pressure is the most important single thing to monitor, even
above heart rate.  Will he be monitoring pulse ox?  EKG during
surgery?  For the price he'd really better be doing those things.
That's what high prices pay for...the monitoring equipment.  He most
likely won't be doing the procedure himself, as it really is a tech
thing, so ask how much experience the staff has.  Will pain meds be
given after the surgery (yes, having a tooth removed hurts)?  What
about protection from infection?  Considering their ages, should the
cats be on IV fluids overnight and will they be on fluids during the
procedure?

You can do a dental for under a hundred dollars.  But is it going to
as safe and as effective?  I highly doubt it.  Think of it this
way...when you go into surgery you don't get any choice about blood
tests or monitoring.  It's simply required.  Why?  Because they know
full well that even if you appear perfectly healthy the risk of dying
is real.  Your cats deserve the same level of care and safety.  I know
it can be a burden but ask about payment options or doing one cat at a
time.  A dental seems like a minor, little thing.  It isn't. It is a
surgical procedure and complications are far from unheard of.  Take
the time, do some research, shop around, and then pick a vet who will
provide the best care possible at a reasonable price.  The price may
be higher than you think but if it increases your chance of coming
home with a live cat...it is worth it in the end.

Sethran (whose clinic requires iv caths but does not yet require
bloodwork...something which will hopefully change soon)

Thanks to all for the replies.  I went with the bloodwork and the IV.
In fact they're both in surgery right now.  I was leaning towards
doing what the vet said, but it was nice to hear that the blood tests
etc. are a good idea for older cats.  Plus it's only money.  I'd just
spend it on scotch anyway.

This morning was an interesting one--lots of stuffing pills down
throats and stuffing cats into cages.  I hope the extractions aren't
too painful for them.

thanks

Dave