Dental - what would you do?

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Woody50

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I have a 13 yr old Sprocker and her breath is horrendous. The vet looked at her teeth a few months ago and said they are not good and she could probably do with having some removed.
Im worried about her having an anaesthetic at her age. Im also worried about afterwards because if she ever feels poorly she goes into the depths of depression and is convinced shes dying !
Has anyone had this done in an old dog and how was the recovery? Do they manage to eat ok without many teeth?
SOrry for all the questions. Im just worried about making the right decision
 
Amymay said:
If she has bad tooth decay, she’ll feel 100 times better for having the offending teeth removed. Presumably your vet is happy to do the procedure having health checked your girl?
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Yes the vet isnt too worried. He said they do extra checks with older dogs before putting them under an anaesthetic. Shes still eating fine
 
I'm sure our collie had a dental when he was 17 as he also had some rotting teeth. He had a heart murmer but the vet took bloods before the op to check liver and kidney function and he came through it all no bother.
 
It will likely effect her more mentally, when I have had an older dog have a GA they have been very depressed afterwards, sometimes for months.
But if her teeth are bad it is constant pain, so really you have no choice.
 
She’ll be in pain now I expect so I don’t think you have much option. I had 7 teeth (mostly back) taken out of a 10 year old dog and she could eat fine. I fed her wet food for a while until I realised she didn’t struggle with dry food at all.
 
Many dogs that age or older undergo anesthetics without problems. A thorough vet check should have been carried out at the appointment. Most vets would advise a pre-anaesthetic blood test, and they will be carefully monitored whilst under.

If the vet is happy to go ahead then I would. Your dog will probably feel so much better once the rotten teeth are removed. Also bacteria from bad teeth can enter the blood stream and cause heart complications .
 
I’ve had many, many, many dogs under general anaesthetic in their teenage years and never had a problem but I trust my vet implicitly and know he does everything possible to keep them safe.

That being said, of course there’s always a risk with any anaesthesia but the pain of bad teeth is awful so I don’t think you have much choice.

Just for info, the oldest dog of mine that had to have an infected cyst removed under GA was 18 at the time of the surgery. She had a speedy recovery and lived another two years!
 
I'm with druid on the steps to take with the anesthesia.
We had a 14 or 15 year old in today for a dental cleaning and lump removal. She had carefully monitored anesthesia and recovery and did just fine.
 
My mum's little dog had dreadful teeth but also a heart murmur so the vet didn't recommend cleaning hers. I do so wish they had though as she just stopped eating, probably because of the teeth and we had to put her down. She was very well otherwise. In your shoes I would go ahead.
 
mine had a GA at 13 and came around disco dancing...........?. I think you have no choice if the the vet is happy to proceed. It's not nice having sore and rotten teeth.
 
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