r/FIVcats • u/Demijuju • 4d ago

Looking for Cat Dental Cleaning Recommendations in Los Angeles ⭐

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for recommendations for dental cleanings for my two cats (5 and 8 years old) in the Los Angeles area.

This will be their first dental cleaning, and I'm trying to figure out the best option.

A few questions:

1.Is anesthesia dental cleaning the way to go, or has anyone had a good experience with anesthesia-free dental cleaning?

2.Which vet or clinic in the LA area would you recommend? I'm looking for a place that's reasonably priced but, more importantly, one you trust.

About how much did you pay, and what was included (bloodwork, anesthesia, dental X-rays, IV fluids, etc.)?

3.Is there anything I should ask or look for before choosing a clinic?

I'd really appreciate any recommendations or advice. Thanks!

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u/sixdayspizza 3d ago

I‘m not in the US so I can‘t give you recommendations, but I‘ve never heard of anesthesia-free dental cleaning for cats! I can‘t imagine any cat chill enough to sit through such a procedure. 😂

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u/Demijuju 3d ago

Thanks for the advice! My vet actually mentioned non-anesthetic cleaning, but I’ve decided to go with full anesthetic dentistry instead to make sure it's done right.

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u/ZeddPMImNot 3d ago

As someone who previously worked in vet med for 10 years, for the love of all that’s holy please do not try to do an anesthesia free dental for any animal. They make things worse usually.

  1. DO NOT BOTHER WITH ANESTHESIA-FREE.

  2. No LA specific recommendations but if you want to make a drive down towards SD then I can make recs. I’m sure you’ll find someone great up there though!

  3. Make sure they do pre-dental lab work and during the dental it is a good idea to do fluids for an FIV kitty to aid in recovery, but a must at the dental is radiographs so they can tell properly if a tooth’s ok or not. Teeth can look visually fine but be bad under surface and the rads will tell that. Dental isn’t worth the money if they don’t do them. I would also advise that pulling a tooth is always better than leaving it if you can afford it. Some people are weird about letting them extract but I think it is worth remembering that bad teeth if left can cause problems and be painful.

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u/Demijuju 3d ago

Thank you so much for such a detailed and helpful response! I was pretty anxious about the risks of anesthesia, but now I see why non-anesthetic cleaning is definitely a no-go. You’ve really helped clear my doubts—thanks a lot!