is sedation safer than anesthesia for cats

My Moose is 9 now and his vet says he needs a full dental cleaning for tartar buildup. I know he is deaf in one ear, but I am worried about the procedure itself. The vet mentioned sedation or general anesthesia. I want to understand the risks of each so I can make a decision. Is one clearly safer than the other for a cat his age?

I work as a vet tech, so I see this a lot. Honestly, there is no single answer because it depends on the cat's specific health history. For a healthy cat, sedation is often preferred for minor issues, but for tartar that needs scaling under the gum, we usually need general anesthesia to get a good X-ray and clean properly. I would check anesthesia risks for senior cats to see what the protocols are for older cats, and hypothyroidism and anesthesia if your cat has any thyroid issues, like my Olive does. The main risk with sedation is that the cat might move, which can cause injury to the tooth or the vet.

My Pearl is 11 and has hearing loss too, so I understand the worry. I had to do a dental cleaning last year. The vet used general anesthesia because she had a lot of tartar. She recovered fine, but it was scary to see her not moving. I think the age matters more than the hearing. You should look at fasting before dental anesthesia because you have to stop feeding her before the procedure. Also, recovery from sedation explains how long she will be groggy after. I don't think sedation is enough for a full cleaning.

As someone who is very safety conscious, I would look at the monitoring. General anesthesia allows for continuous monitoring of heart rate and oxygen. Sedation is lighter, so the cat is more likely to have a gag reflex or move. I would ask the vet what their sedation for dental work protocol is. If the tartar is bad, sedation might not be safe because you can't get the cat to stay still enough for the scaling. I would also check cost of dental sedation because anesthesia is usually more expensive, but it might be worth it for the safety.