The biggest thing that I see people do is they flip the kittens on their backs and hold them like a baby. We really shouldn't be doing that with kittens. They should be on their tummies, similar to how they would be lying if they were nursing from their mother. Usually we'll use a little kind of replacement nipple, made out of silicone, and a small bottle. You can feed the bottle by gently placing the nipple into their mouth. They should start suckling right away. Keep the bottle inverted so they don't start gulping down a lot of air into their bellies because that can upset their stomachs.

Not all kittens. It depends on what age they are at. If you find a kitten that's about four weeks old, they may start eating regular solid foods by themselves or they may take a little bit of time to get used to that. Depending on their age that you find them, you may have to give them some milk replacer for a short period of time before weaning them off. And again, if they're a little bit older, they may just start eating solid foods regularly.

It depends on if the mother is still with the kitten or not. Usually, the age range for weaning is about four to six weeks old. Some kittens who are strongly emotionally bonded to their mothers may take a little more time and may still be nursing when they transition to foods around six weeks old.

Absolutely, we will give pain medication. In addition, we do nerve blocks for numbing just as human dentists do. They're usually given some type of a narcotic for pain relief as well as oftentimes some medications to go home. We even have a newer form of pain medication that's a transdermal, it goes on the skin and provides four days of pain relief so that we don't have to medicate the cat personally.

Dental appointments usually take at least two-thirds of the day. We usually have multiple procedures to do during a day so after they're dropped off we set up the IV catheters, do blood work if necessary, give them fluids and get them prepared for the procedure. The procedure usually lasts somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour and a half. After the procedure, they have to be recovered from anesthesia, they're monitored for a while and then they usually go home in the middle of the afternoon.

Yes, we always protect the airway with an endotracheal tube or intubation. This is the tube that helps protect the airway, make sure that nothing goes down the wrong pipe, and also helps us to provide oxygen and the anesthetic gas that helps to keep the cat asleep during the procedure.

Absolutely, dental radiographs are of paramount importance with dental care. Just like when we go to the dentist to have our annual cleanings or biannual cleanings, the x-rays are mandatory to determine what kind of disease is going on underneath the gum line.

The cat is monitored continuously while under anesthesia with equipment such as EKGs, blood pressure monitoring, pulse oximetry which measures the oxygenation. There's also a hands-on person, either the veterinary technician or the doctor, who is monitoring all the vitals and recording those during the procedure.

Cats have very sharp teeth, and unlike humans when we're in for our dental cleanings and we keep our mouth open, cats don't know to say ah and they are not as willing and able to let us get into their mouth.

Keeping your cat healthy otherwise is probably the most important thing to do in preparation. We will certainly have guidelines and recommendations given specifically in preparation for the day of the dental.