Caring for your pet after dental surgery
Today's dental procedure has enabled us to put your pet on the path to optimal dental health. Under a general anaesthetic, the build-up of the calculus was removed using an ultrasonic scaler, allowing a thorough examination of each tooth for abnormalities and dental disease. Extractions may have been performed, in which case your pet may have sutures in their mouth or open wounds where drainage was required.
Post Anaesthetic Care
The dental procedure has been performed under a general anaesthetic. This includes sedatives and pain medications that may leave your pet feeling a little sleepy afterwards. If your pet has had extractions or advanced dental surgery, nerve blocks and additional pain medications will have been administered. At Port Douglas Vets, every animal undergoing general anaesthetic receives intravenous fluid therapy, active warming, advanced monitoring and only the safest anaesthetic protocols to minimise the risk of the anesthetic and procedure, however, some post anaesthetic side effects still need to be considered.
Your pet may be a little wobbly on their feet after their general anaesthetic, so help them with stairs or obstacles and don't let them jump in or out of the car. Provide them with a warm, quiet environment for the night with minimal stimulation.
Your pet may not have eaten for up to 18 hours prior to the surgery. A small meal would have been provided in the clinic after their procedure to ensure they do not vomit, help hasten their recovery and to show us that their pain is well controlled. Feed them about half of their regular nighttime meal, but spread it out by offering it to them in small amounts over 1-2 hours. Do not be concerned if they don’t eat. If your pet vomits after they eat, do not offer any more food until the following day.
Your pet has been on intravenous fluids during their procedure, and potentially before and after. This will leave them well hydrated afterwards, so don’t be surprised if they don’t want to drink until the following day. They may also need to go to the toilet more regularly throughout the night.
Your pet will have a small area of their forearm that has been clipped for the catheter. If this has a bandage over it, remove it the night of the procedure before bedtime. Prevent your pet from licking and traumatising this area, using an Elizabethan collar if necessary.
Medications
If your pet has had any painful dental procedures performed, they will have had pain relief in the hospital and nerve blocks that will last for several hours following the procedure. They will also likely go home on additional pain medications. These will be labelled specifically, and the Veterinary nurse will go through these with you at discharge. Your pet may also receive a course of antibiotics, sometimes initiated prior to the dental procedure being performed.
Food and Water
If no teeth were extracted, feed your pet their normal food following their procedure. Where extractions have been performed, only feed them chunky meat (eg boiled chicken or soft food for 10-12 days post. Do not feed any dry food, bones, rawhide, dental chews or chew toys until given the all-clear at their complimentary dental revisit.
Other Signs to Look For
Generally, there are very few complications following this operation, however, there are some signs to watch out for that may indicate a problem. If you notice any of these signs please contact us immediately
Dull and listless especially (especially after the first 24 hours)
Vomiting (prolonged), diarrhoea, inappetence or blood in the stool
Urinary incontinence (leaking of urine)
No stools for more than 2 days after coming home
Bad breath, blood, excessive saliva or discharge from the mouth after 24 hours
Preventing Dental Disease
The best cure for dental disease is prevention. Once calculus has built up on the tooth, the only effective means of removing it is a full scale and polish, however, there are many home care options to prevent it from building up in the first place. Dogs prevent plaque from building up naturally by the mechanical action of chewing hard foods and bones. You can help with this process by utilising high-quality kibble, bones, and/or dental chews in your pet's diet. Daily tooth brushing is also recommended, particularly for pets that are reluctant or unable to chew hard food. Dental disease prevention is not always a one-size-fits-all approach. Your Veterinarian will make dental disease prevention recommendations specifically tailored for your pet and your situation.
Dental Recheck
Port Douglas Vets provides free follow-up consultations for your pets following their dental procedure within 14 days. We encourage you to take advantage of these rechecks, particularly if your pet has had extractions or you have any concerns related to the dental or the post anaesthetic recovery.
We would like to thank you on
behalf of your pet for choosing
to look after their dental health.
The Wrap-up
Dental disease not only causes pain and discomfort for our pets but can also lead to serious systemic disease affecting the liver, heart, kidneys and other organs. At Port Douglas Vets, we are passionate about maintaining good dental health for your pets and the important role dental disease prevention can play on their quality of life.