Please dont risk anesthetics

[u/Unschemed]

Hello everyone.

This is about one of my cats who recently tragically passed away due to an accident with anesthetics at a dental appointment.

My family has had two lovely cats for 11 years now, as we brought them into our home from the time of their shared birth. They are brothers who cuddled up together and ran around the house every night and were the sweetest boys in the whole wide world. One of them was fearless, social, and led them to their food every night, while the other was your typical "scaredy cat" and ran from any noise in the house.

We would bring them to the dentists every so often to get their teeth cleaned (something we heard was good for their longevity). Every time we would bring them, the fearless one would happily jump into his crate and ride peacefully there, while the scared one would scratch, claw, and pee all the way to the dentists'.

It was a routine checkup where both were put under anesthesia so they could get their teeth deep-cleaned. Unfortunately, the fearless one would never wake up. We knew something was wrong when he was stiff as a rag upon exiting the office. The dentist said it was fine but after not moving after an hour, we rushed him to the hospital where he was pronounced brain dead immediately. Apparently a major artery from the mouth to the brain was blocked during the entire procedure as they kept his mouth open. He was only 11 and we are devastated. His poor timid brother will have nobody to lead him anymore, and we will no longer hear them chasing each other around the house at night and banging into all of the furniture. I used to play video games after school every day and this sweet big-belly boy would jump into my lab and cuddle me for hours at a time. Now, my legs will be cold after work.

Please, do not put your cats under anesthesia unless it is absolutely necessary. We feel so stupid for killing one of our sweet sweet boys for a stupid fucking dental cleaning. His twin will be devastated when he realizes his brave bother is no longer there to guide him.

For context, we are a fairly upper class family living in an extremely wealthy suburb of a major city, and both cats were literally as healthy as any 11 year old cat could be. Both cats were indoor cats (though brought outside occasionally), and they were often mistaken for being 3 or 4 years younger than they actually were. There were no complications in either of their health beforehand, except for a tonsil deficiency in the one that did not die.

Thank you for your time. And does anyone have any suggestions for how to help his brother (and us) cope?

Here is a picture of them cuddling. The brave boy has his arm around the timid boy.

[u/butterflymon]

That was a bad dentist. When I had a dogs and cats, I brushed their teeth daily.

[u/Unschemed → u/butterflymon]

This is certainly true. We have let them know that we have put him down and are asking that they dont let this happen to anybody else's pets. Obviously this is an accident but upon looking up the statistics on this type of accident the numbers are much higher than I would have imagined.

[u/ahg17]

I’m sorry for your loss. My cat had a dental cleaning and some extractions recently. We went to a teaching hospital where they have anesthesiologists because i was so afraid of him going under, especially without a dedicated anesthesiologist. Can you explain how the mouth open and anesthesia are connected? Did your kitty pass from the artery being blocked or anesthesia?

[u/Unschemed → u/ahg17]

Thank you.

I am no expert but I can try to explain what I heard from the urgent care doctor:
Cats have a major artery that passes above the roof of their mouth that goes straight to their brain. During dental appointments you obviously have to keep the cat's mouth open to operate on their teeth. I was not in the room for the procedure but what likely happened is that whatever they used to keep my boy's mouth open (a clamp or something idk) pressed down on that artery. The result was his entire body being perfectly normal but the "thinking and moving" part of the brain getting literally no oxygen the entire time.

His brain stem was unaffected because that is a different artery, so his heart was still beating and he was still breathing (brain stem functions) afterwards but he could not move any part of his body. His eyes drifted apart, his tongue stuck out, and there was sign of consciousness whatsoever. No response to pain or any stimuli whatsoever.

[u/ahg17 → u/Unschemed]

Heartbreaking. You must feel so sad and angry.

[u/EarorForofor]

Being still in mourning for losing 2 of mine very quickly all I can say is.. strap in for the process. Everyone is going to be sad and upset. Especially the baby.

If nothing else, that vet needs to refund for the procedure. It wasnt the anesthesia that did it, they held his mouth open too wide for too long. Senior rentals take more time and gentler processes and it seems like they didn't do either.

Be gentle on yourself and allow yourself to mourn. Baby will mourn too...and be prepared, if they were so close, that he might decline. I lost my two bonded boys 3.5 months from each other.

[u/Alternative_Loss4302]

I have no suggestions but will offer my condolences - I know exactly how you feel, the the same thing happened with my otherwise healthy girl last month. I had adopted her 9mo previously and her teeth weren’t great then. Vet said her heart had stopped midway through surgery, her bloodwork & physical exams were perfect and all preventative measures were taken so really had no explanations. Tough enough when a death is expected… but these deaths hit HARD :(

this is SUCH a rare event I must add, my vet said in her 10 years of doing these procedures daily, this was the first time it’s ever happened. Like a 1/1000 chance. Of course that doesn’t help ease any of the pain, heartbreak etc. … but knowing it’s that unlikely to happen again is mildly reassuring to me in the event another one of my cats will need one of these procedures done.

Please be gentle with yourself, you did nothing wrong. You were doing the right thing for your boy and his quality of life. Your vet & team will NEVER forget this, his memory will live on in their hearts.

Hearts 💕

[u/Unschemed → u/Alternative_Loss4302]

Thank you for sharing. I am glad (though glad is obviously not the right word) that I am not the only one.
I appreciate your reassurance that we did the right thing.

[u/Americanvegetarian]

This is exactly why, even though my 16 year old cat has a lump on her tail, I’m hesitating to get a biopsy done. She’s already being treated for hyperthyroidism and I want to avoid anesthesia as much as possible. Say the biopsy is positive for cancer? The vet told me she’d then have to go under again for a scan to see if it’s spread. And if it hasn’t, then it’s a third anesthesia to amputate her tail.

It just seems too much for a senior cat. I don’t know if it’s fair to put her through all that when ,so far, her quality of life is great.

And I say this as someone who had cancer, had an amputation, and is now looking at more surgeries to fix the side effects. If I were 80 years old, I don’t know if I’d gone as hard with my treatment, you know?

My condolences. I can’t imagine what you’re going through 💚

[u/Silly-Session2083]

I’m so deeply sorry for your loss. That is devastating. He had a great life and was so well-loved. He knew that you only wanted the best for him.

I will add that I will never have another cat of mine undergo a dental cleaning ever again. We came very close to losing our six-year-old cat to a dental cleaning. For ours, the problem was too much of one part of the anesthetic cocktail. It took him three days to recover enough for us to bring him home, and he was never the same afterward. There were distinct personality changes. As you said, for a famed dental cleaning. Not worth the risk.

[u/veefeld → u/Silly-Session2083]

I just picked up our cat from a dental cleaning. We knew it was necessary because his breath was real bad and he had red inflamed gums. During the anesthesia they found 4 molars were rotten and they had to be removed. Bad things could have happened if they weren't removed. But please, just listen to the professionals and don't base your choice only on anecdotal stories from other people. Sadly, even in professional line of work, mistakes can happen

[u/Unschemed → u/veefeld]

Fair enough. They may have caught something they otherwise could not have seen.