Cat needs some dental work (tartar removal) - £234?

blizeH

Hi,

I've just taken our cat to the vets for the first time for a vaccination (we got them a year ago from an animal shelter which did all of the checkups etc previously) and they've told us that his teeth are quite bad in places, with some tartar and it's also starting to slightly effect his gums.

This is the estimate they've given us: http://i.imgur.com/HtIcA.jpg

Now, obviously I don't want to be a cheapskate when it comes to the cats health so if it's worth paying I'll do it asap, but it genuinely does seem very expensive to me. My friends cat was sadly involved in an accident recently (fine now though) and had to have a major operation, involving having her stomach being stitched back up, and it didn't cost even close to that! ^

I'm also wondering, would it be a terrible idea to try brushing his teeth ourselves? Just looking at this and it doesn't seem so bad, we could do it regularly then too if he doesn't mind it too much: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTxuwqyjhz0

Any opinions on this would be much appreciated, thanks!

Tiddlywinks

Has the vet said that your cat needs general anaesthetic? If so, then this will increase the costs involved.

If brushing was an option to treat the current problem then I think the vet would have suggested it.

You could also get a second opinion.

clipclop_2

Firsty how old is the cat? I find it odd that they would run a haematology routinely on an otherwise healthy cat!! Its a good idea to run the chem 10 if the cat is over 8yrs but these should be optional to you!
The metacam oral suspension isnt necessary if the cat has no extractions! Neither is the injection of metacam really...

Its too late to start cleaning the teeth now that there is already tartar build up but if he/she has the scale and polish you can keep on top of it this way hope this helps.. IMHO i would discuss the bloods with the vet as this is certainly not normal practice at any of the vets i have worked at.

Tiddlywinks

Just looked at the quote - I agree with the previous poster, ask why the blood tests are necessary. Some vets will do this before a GA to make sure the organs are up to the strain.

Metacam - why? - if the vet is anticipating pain from the procedure then this would be understandable; perhaps because there appears to already be a problem with the gums?

I don't really think this bill is OTT to be honest but vets around here (SE Eng) are quite pricey so I'm used to being fleeced.

clipclop_2

The routine bloods which check the kidney and liver function is the the chem 10, this ensures the animal has the means to deal with and get rid of the anaesthetic agent.
I find it odd they would want to run a haematology as this is normally ran in sick animals to check all sorts of levels in the blood that may show up cancer/infection/anaemia.
AND I also see they would run bloods the day before..how inconveinient!
Im suprised they dont have a specific price for s+p but instead just dental work which they have but the quantity of 25?

It would be about £90 for this treatment at ours.

tinksy

hi

my boy has recently had gingervitus and nearly all his teeth removed (think he has about 6 left now) and for the full extraction, general anaesthetic, metacam suspension which he had when he was waking up from the op, the oral metacam which he had for a week, two weeks of full whack antibiotics, bloods to check for aids and fiv, follow up etcs was around £150.

this was major surgery for him and obviously included a mammoth amount of extractions but I have to say it was the best thing we ever did for him. He now has a batch of antibiotics every 6 or so months to keep on top of it which is normal.

i could have my cats treated cheaper at PAH vets but I use a local vets who I trust and who really look after my boys. However I do have two boys with people issues and have to receive sedation for a vets trip!

blizeH

Many thanks for the replies all! Here's a pic in case anyone wanted to put a face to a name http://i.imgur.com/3KsX4.jpg

@Tiddlywinks: Yup, local anasthetic. I should've made it clearer in the original post that, just as much as the financial cost, this is massively off-putting to me. He'd need to be put under anesthetic, and spend the entire day in the vets, from 8am until 5pm. Thanks for the idea on prices too, interesting that it doesn't seem too unreasonable, thank you.

@clipclop: He's 10 years old, we got him from an animal shelter around a year ago (he was in there for 6 months, bless him). For all I know he could've already had one of these, but I'm not sure how often they need them. I don't like the idea of him having to go in twice in two days, for nasty injections and blood tests tbh. He's perfectly healthy, and whilst they did say the chem10 was optional, they kinda pushed for it quite a lot. The '25' is 25 minutes worth of work, that they're estimating to clean his teeth. £90 is rather cheaper than we're being quoted huh?

@tinksy: aw, bless him! Glad he's a lot better now though My nan's cat had the same thing, had to have all of her teeth out, but she's incredibly happy now, and can eat things no problem at all. Interesting you got all of that done for far less than we've been quoted too, thank you.

One other thing that's worth pointing out, is despite living in a fairly small town, there are 3 vets here, so I may even consider ringing around and comparing prices - I'd never been to this vets last week, so don't really have any particular loyalty to them.

Also, we saw two different vets, the first helped with our other cats eye, and gave him a vaccination, some meds for his eye and other things for a very reasonable price. She was lovely. The lady we saw last night, whilst still very nice, I couldn't help but feel was just trying to get as much money as possible, even laying on a huge guilt trip about how we shouldn't buy 'cheap' Frontline treatments from the supermarket, because the (much more expensive ones) that the vets sell are better for the environment! I just got a bad vibe I guess, which is a big part of the reason for this thread.

UKTigerlily

The price is similar to what I paid with 1 tooth out but even with a 13.5yr old cat i'm always asked if I want her to have a drip or blood tests first & if so bloods are done on the day. Maybe they can't get blood results same day so need to do it a day earlier? Maybe they are just putting a worst case scenario price in case you opt for bloods?

Tiddlywinks

blizeH wrote: »

Also, we saw two different vets, the first helped with our other cats eye, and gave him a vaccination, some meds for his eye and other things for a very reasonable price. She was lovely. The lady we saw last night, whilst still very nice, I couldn't help but feel was just trying to get as much money as possible, even laying on a huge guilt trip about how we shouldn't buy 'cheap' Frontline treatments from the supermarket, because the (much more expensive ones) that the vets sell are better for the environment! I just got a bad vibe I guess, which is a big part of the reason for this thread.

If you are uncomfortable with the vet then walk away from them and go elsewhere. This should be a relationship that you can trust and, as you will be going to them for a very long time, don't stay if you don't like the service.

When I moved areas I tried to get a recommendation from neighbours and then tried the local surgery... when I saw how she handled my old girl without speaking to her I just knew that I could never really trust her decisions - I don't know why but... So, I tried another two before finding my hero - he was great and I stayed with him for years even after I moved again.

Your cat's health is in their hands and you want to be able to follow their advice without reservations. God forbid something happens in the future - even though it might have been unavoidable, you don't want to always have doubts that you stayed with a vet that gave you "bad vibes".

Best wishes

Tiddly

blizeH

Thanks again all, I've just ordered some cat toothbrushes so may call and ask if that'd be suitable... is that cheeky to ask if I can clean the cat's teeth myself? Or even worse, would it be cheeky to call and ask for a second opinion from the other vet that works there? :S May ring around local vets too. IDK.

I want to get it sorted asap though, and keep dawdling like this isn't going to help. Ah.

Avocado

I would definitely ring the other practices and describe the procedure and ask for a price. I've owned animals almost contiually throughout my life and the differences in vets fees can be as vast as the differences in t-shirt price tags in different shops. We all know at least one reasonably priced but quality place to buy t-shirt and wouldn't dream of not shopping around. Make the phone calls, you have nothing to lose and potentially a 3 figure sum to gain. Definately phone before you look at home treatments because if you can afford to pay for the skill of an experienced practitioner and an anaesthetic it'll probably work out far less upsetting for the cat. If you can't afford it and are on a low income the PDSA might be able to help.