15 year old cat, dental problems, heart murmur

Question
Hello,

I have 5 14+yr old cats~ all have had or have dental problems (teeth extractions, etc.).  Currently, my small male is showing signs of dental problems again (he's had most of his back teeth removed in the past 2 years) he's still eating, but I can tell it isn't pleasant for him as he keeps shaking his head during and after he eats.

My concern now, is that on his last exam, they found him to have FLV, hyperthyroid, and a heart murmur.

I've heard that in humans, if you have a heart murmur you need to be careful when having dental work done~ so, I'd like to know if that's true in cats, and what steps would have to be taken before he might have the work done?

Will the other health issues he has be of concern in regards to any pending surgeries?

Thank you,
Dianne  

Answer
While I am not a vet, I would also ve concerned about putting my cats through this. I would certainly have the vet LOOK at his teeth and determine if that is actually the problem or not.

Having said all of that, the anethestics are very safe now days and if the vet has a competent technician doing his dentals that will watch the cat carefully, if they deem the teeth need work then they should be done.

Murmurs are not as bad as having leukemia. I am confused how a cat at this age would suddenly get that? Surely your cats are all vaccinated and it sounds as if they are indoors. Are they sure the cat is FELV positive? Hyperthryroidism is another concern since it increases the heartrate as high as 200 bpm.

So those issues would be my concern with any type of surgery.