Cat teeth cleaned £418?

littleg_2

Hi, posting on behalf of a friend, who took her 13 year old cat to the vets for a jab. Whilst she was there, the vet said her cat had a lot of plaque on it's teeth and needed them cleaning. She has been given a quote for £418:eek::eek:

Now, I'm not a cat person, but this seems outrageous and I know money is an issue for her at the moment. As far as I understand, there are no associated health implications such as absesses/rotton teeth etc.

Can I get the catty people's views on this?

Fire_Fox

Cats need to be put under anaesthetic to have their teeth cleaned so it is basically a minor operation: tartar and plaque is a major risk factor for gum disease and cavities. Also there is a link between plaque bacteria and heart problems, you should not be waiting until there is a painful or life threatening condition. Has she rung around different vets for quotes?

She might try switching to pet foods that contain no sugars, cereals or other high carbohydrate ingredients all of which feed plaque bacteria - many supermarket foods are loaded with these. Also buy some Value raw chicken wings and poultry shears, then feed half a raw wing chopped into two or three per day. Raw turkey necks or meaty chicken carcasses do a similar job of helping keep teeth clean but it depends how bad the build up is which only the vet can see.

chocdonuty

I know a lot of the cost will be for anesthetic, maybe if he has a lot of plague then it make take some time to do.
It does seem a lot though so may be worth trying a different vets just in case they can do it for cheaper or possibly doing a payment plan to spread the cost?
I think bad teeth can lead to other health complaints but not entirely sure what.

moggymutt

Thats one hell of a rip off, these are the charges for my vets

£94 for descale and polish, no extractions
£174 for same with extractions
£201 for extensive extractions

I know more well off areas charge higher, but 4 TIMES as much!

muckybutt

My god that is an outrageous quote :eek:

Our vets dont charge anything like that, one of my old cats had one a few years back and that was just over the £100 quid mark.

spike7451

moggymutt wrote: »

Thats one hell of a rip off, these are the charges for my vets

£94 for descale and polish, no extractions
£174 for same with extractions
£201 for extensive extractions

I know more well off areas charge higher, but 4 TIMES as much!

I agree with Moggymutt...Ol Orbit had his teeth cleaned & it cost me around £100...I found this table on Tesco's website & the cost of dental fees is nearly HALF what the OP was quoted at £233!

http://www.tescobank.com/personal/finance/insurance/petins/elh/vet-fees.html

Also a couple more that show the prices are about the same;

http://www.whatprice.co.uk/pets/prices.html

http://www.alistairpoole.co.uk/prices.php

But have a look at this one below!

http://www.whatprice.co.uk/prices/vet-prices/dental-surgery-cat.html

cheepskate_2

I can remember when we had to get the dogs leg stitched. One vet wanted 3 times more than another all within 10minuites of each other.
Shop around, We seem to have this loyalty to our vet, no matter what the amount is.

UKTigerlily

Getit itemised, somethimes with elderly cats Vets may do it as a worst case scenario & add blood tests & drips also

moggymutt

Even with a quick bt for kidneys, and a drip no way should it even reach £200.

Problem is that some vets in particular areas all seem to decide on high prices and so people have little choice but to pay.

Dont know if PDSA do scaling, but if your friend qualifies, I'd use them, ask them how much it cost them, and give them that as a donation.

sammyjammy

My 14yr old cat had a tooth removed and his teeth cleaned last year for £120. Shocking!

What makes me most cross is some people will just pay it becasue they don't know any different!

UKTigerlily

Mine has had 3 dentals all at different vets in different parts of the country, one was £150 I think the other two £200ish