u/Green-Meadow7033

I’m honestly just looking to see what other pet owners think or would do in this situation. My senior cat had a dental cleaning a few years ago, and they told me that they would want him to come back to do a few extractions but I didn’t feel comfortable putting him under anesthesia again so soon, so I waited about eight months to do it. So I bring him back in, in order to do the extractions they also have to do another cleaning (another couple hundred dollars). They put him under anesthesia, they do the cleaning, and before they can do the extractions his heart rate plummets and they have to wake him up because it’s too dangerous to continue. I pay another $600 for this second cleaning but they weren’t able to do the extractions which is the entire reason I was there, so in total I’m out over $1000 for them to not even be able to do the procedure that he needed in the first place. They refer me to a vet that has a cardiologist on staff, and tell me to take him there to have them do the procedure because if anything happens with his heart, they would be better equipped to handle it.
That being said, THAT vet is over an hour drive, and considering that they are a specialty vet I’m assuming the cost is going to be much more than what I already put out. If he doesn’t get the extractions, obviously there is a risk of a dental infection or it leading to kidney disease, etc. but he’s already 10 years old and I’m afraid of putting him (and myself) through all of this — not to mention the cost— when there’s a possibility of him not even making it out of the surgery alive. I don’t know, I’m just curious what other pet owners would do in this situation. I love him very much but I also cannot afford to keep taking off work and dumping thousands of dollars into his medical care when it might not even work.
Would you let him live out the rest of his days and see what happens, or put him through the stress/anesthesia/surgery again?

Male cat, 6 years old, neutered, slightly overweight (but we’re trying)

Backstory: last night my neighbor’s cat came to our window and was basically harassing him from outside— banging at our back door, growling by the windows, etc. Our cat is normally a little skittish so I shut the windows and curtains to get rid of the other cat.

Cut to about an hour and a half later, our cat is lying in our bed, WILL NOT move or respond to food, just staring at us. I open a can of food, nothing. We try to scoot him over, he starts growling and hissing. We left him alone and figured if he didn’t go back to normal we’d call the vet.

Middle of the night he gets up to pee, so that’s a relief because I’m always worried about a urinary blockage, but he still won’t eat. We get up, he’s rubbing up on us so he’s being a little friendlier, but still not eating.

I get home from work fully planning to take him to urgent care but when I get home, he eats a full Churu, walks into the kitchen to eat food, goes to the litter box and pees (he hasn’t pooped because he didn’t eat for a while), and then plops down at the window to watch the birds.

Should I still take him in just in case? Or is it likely that he was just really spooked and upset by the other cat? I don’t know if that’s normal cat behavior.

Thank you in advance