My Cat Gracie and Dental Work
 

I had to take Gracie to the vet on Thursday because I thought she had ear mites. She's an indoor only cat so I wondered how she would have gotten them. She kept shaking her head and scratching her ears.

Turns out Gracie has "dental issues". Her back teeth are in bad shape and the vet says they need to come out. This is causing her head shaking and ear scratching. There are no mites.

We got her rabies vaccine while we were there and they even gave her a complimentary pedicure (clipped her nails!! :p). She weighs 18 pounds - she's a BIG girl!

I left with an estimate of $459 for the dental work.

I'll have to get the work done because an infected tooth can get into her bloodstream and cause heart problems. I was just not expecting this financial issue but I will figure it out because she's one of our family.

Just wondering if anyone here has had dental issues with their cat. :)

Tippy has a swollen gum on one side...
 

but the teeth themselves are sturdy.

When she was younger she had them cleaned...but I looked this up and it appears that this periodontal thing is not really treatable.

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My vet gave me Clavamox (to use for 10 days)--this is the same as Augmentin for humans... We used it once 4 yrs ago when she had her last cleaning.

Now that she is 15, the vet doesn't want to use anesthetic.
She had no tartar. Just the erosion of the enamel.

We think Tippy's problem is genetic. I have never had a cat with this before.

You could ask if trying the Clavamox would be an option.
Tippy's teeth are not loose, however, but if your cat's are
then pulling might be necessary. Vets charge a FORTUNE these days! And as the cat ages, they can die from the anesthetic! So far our vet has not suggested pulling the teeth.

From now on we have to warm her food. She is too sensitive for things out of the frig. Also she seems to want oily stuff.
So I fooled her and ground the Clavamox into some tuna with canola oil, and she snarfed it right down. I didn't want to touch her mouth and perhaps make her jaw there hurt more, trying to pill her.

She does eat kibble, but refuses hard treats. I've always given her soft ones. All 3 of our cats eat the same stuff, so I don't know why Tippy has this issue?

One sign of pain also is watering eyes.

I'm a vet. tech. I guess it depends on the vet you go to and the work that needs to be done, but $459 for the dental work seems a bit high to me. Did the vet say what exactly needs to be done?

Erin

Hi there! So sorry to here about Gracie and I think that sounds awfully high too! Veterinarian care is really getting up there in prices, more so in some offices.

I have a Gracie too! She's my youngun.

Vet bills...Sheesh...
 

They are getting soooo high.

Today we took Sheba for a checkup---she is 20 yrs old.
I worry about taking her on vacation, now, more than ever.

She seems okay to me, but does limp. So the Vet last Thurs said better to bring her in....

HEART murmur and too fast a beat! Without an Echo..and blood work (which we will do when we get back) the prognosis is still bad.

On a scale from 1-6 in severity of pathology, the vet's estimate is 4. She made me get some prednisolone incase the arthritis flares or Sheba gets a bee sting (those ground hornets etc)... to take with. $97 GAD...

We are to keep her calm... she travels pretty well, sleeps mostly-- I catnip all 3 of them.

But her teeth were okay.

Tippy is mad at me...giving those pills. She figured out the tuna trick, and now I have to pill her. I got scratched today doing it. Tippy is too old for anesthetic, so I hope this medication works. It is difficult pilling a cat with sore gums...how to hold her head, mouth, without bothering her. I bought a injector thingey, but haven't tried it yet. I am coating the pill with butter...she loves butter. But it is not helping much.

Tooth issues seem very complex. And I just have a feeling that this is a money maker for some vets. (as vaccine issues make people less likely to get them, another money making avenue must present itself?).

Here's the breakdown:

Vet Scan Prep Profile/CBC $72.50
Pre-Med for Anesthesia $30.95
Extract Tooth-Premolar $35.50
Suture $30.10
Dental Anesthesia/IV & Gas $87.70
IV Catheter-Single Use $24.61
Ultrasonic Scale/Polish $40.99
Dental X-Ray $51.00
Oravet Application $17.40
Oravet Plaque Prevention Gel $22.40
Suture Materials $12.85
Meds to Go Home $30.00
Sales Tax $ 3.14
Total $459.14

Do any of these items look unnecessary to you? I tend to just take their word for it - but Gracie seems OK to me. They told me that if I ignore her teeth she could get an infection in her heart that could kill her. :eek: I want to do what's best for her but $459 is a lot of money to me. I was just awarded LTD after 3 months of no income.

Thanks!

Kelly

gee whizzz...
 

I don't know what to think anymore.

It used to be if you took your cat or dog in to have the ana[ glands squeezed...it was part of the vet exam bill.

Today...the vet cost was $47.00... for her to listen to the heart and tell me the dire news.

Then to squeeze the ana[ glands it was $27.00 extra.
The rest was the prednisolone tabs and the injector thingey to give the pills =$97.00

My own internist only charges $70.00 for an office visit, with no tests...with no insurance.

This same place did not charge me for the extra monitoring for the vaccine reaction last week. I only had to pay $13.00 for the steroid shot. (it was $110.00 for 2 cats, two rabies vaccines and one Benadryl shot + the vet exam charge.)

I certainly don't understand it at all. I can't say what you should do for your cat's teeth. Perhaps get another opinion?

Wow Kell~ That's a little extreme. I have doxie (dogs) and my older gal had to have two teeth pulled when she had her cleaning and even w/anesthesia ; the bill was around $120. The lil one just had her teeth cleaned, rabies booster and heartworm pills for $134. Sounds like you might be getting the business.

I do agree w/getting bad teeth extracted tho, as just like people, they can get infection. I tried the Oravet gel on my dogs and didn't see a diff at all.

I would think about another opinion if I were you. *estimate from another vet*

PS: the Vet showed me how to do the "behind" glands myself and w/a pair of surgical gloves, it's a piece of cake. Don't laugh, it's easy and worth the $$$$ saved.

Thanks.....I'm thinking that this vet just sees $$$ signs when I walk in!! :rolleyes: That's funny 'cause I don't have $$$...

They are in a more "affluent" part of town but they're good and their offices are clean and I buy my prescription cat food there. Sounds funny but I would do without before I let either one of my cats suffer. That's my problem.....I tend to just believe what I'm told when it comes to Gracie and Tigger. But I think I will investigate different vets and what they charge. Surely they can look at a copy of the estimate and tell me what they'd charge without me having to haul Gracie in to see them....she is one difficult kitty to get into her carrier!!

One of my son's rescues is older. He rescued her from an Ohio group that was having a day in a Petco. She had a hole in her side from a hernia repair. They don't know what happened to her, but I think she was kicked, or hit by a car. She has been very sick ...but now seems stable. One vet bill was $800 and we had to pay that for him.
He has been to at least 5 different vets so far (I have lost count really). He lives in a college town, with affluence too.
(my vet is in an affluent area as well).
Her diagnoses have been confusing. One vet said she had terrible kidneys, had a ultrasound showing only one kidney and that was small and malformed. So they sold her a special food. Which he now believes made her sick. She became very ill over a night/weekend and he took her to an emergency place where they told him her kidneys were fine, but she had a bacterial hepatitis! So she got IV antibiotics and an $800 bill there. A third vet treated her for a cystitis, and gave him Elavil to give her, and she could not walk, or function. You should have seen her reaction to that drug..on Thanksgiving...I was there and told him NO MORE....
He has now found a vet in a small building who seems more with it than any of the other fancy schmancy ones! He took her off the special kidney food and she is much BETTER!

Just within our vets' large practice one new gal told me Tippy was hyperthyroid (we had a cat 20 yrs ago with thyroid cancer) so I did not believe it. This was with blood work.
I went back to our preferred vet there and she said "ridiculous"...even the blood work was normal, and no physical signs! That was 7 yrs ago.

Some vets out and out lie to make $$. I adopted Tippy from a cat only vet, who pushed vaccines. He said they only have 1 yr vaccines for Rabies and those are better! He also had a framed disclaimer on the wall about the "epidemic" of vaccination sarcoma at that practice. So I called around and NO VET would confirm a once a year Rabies. So maybe that vet used inferior vaccines and that is why my Tippy is now reacting? Needless to say I never went back to HIM.

Our current vet we have used for our other cats since 1970. (but they do dogs and everything else, and some days the dogs upset the cats in the waiting room) Hence we tried the "cat only" vet and finally left.
Our current is a really good place...accredited as well. But even within there, with 8 vets, the results are mixed. So I only go to one
woman whom we have had good experiences with.

And I admire DM's spunk for doing the ana[ glands... even I have my limits...I can't do it... :thud:

Hiya Kelly,

That does sound expensive but probably about right.

I had a cat once with bad teeth - he was about 8 at the time - and I took him to the vets for a scale and polish of the teeth. When they got him under GA and had a proper look they decided that a couple at the back needed to come out. It cost be about 200GBP - which I guess is roughly the same.

However, I have all my cats insured and I was able to claim it back from the insurance company.

Do you have pet insurance in the States?

I hope Gracie is feeling better soon. Give her a love from me!! :hug:

I have to say that our Vet is in a smaller town also, so don't know if that makes a diff or not, but we have been taking our pets to the Father/Son Dr's for yrs. I feel comfy there, they know my pets and I even called them from NC when I had a ? about my dog's travel meds for the plane.

When my older doxie was dx'd w/Lymphoma, the Vet said that I could spend alot of $$$$ on chemo or give her oral pred for 3 days when she goes out of remission. So far, the pred does the trick and she snaps out of it. *the pred costs $3* He said if it was him, he would not opt for the chemo. I appreciated his honesty and willingness to save me $$$.

My poochies are my babies, so I know how you pet lovers feel.

(I brush their teeth w/$8.00 a tube toothpaste every day. Mine only costs $2.50 a tube.) People couldn't believe it when I told them I was taking the younget doxie on the plane w/us and PAYING to do so. Hey, I couldn't kennel her...no way. She'd have died of separation issues. The older doxie went to DS's, but since he is gone during the day, the younger one would have pitched a fit. Gotta love those poochies.

Kelly, I really don't know what to say. It is sad how some vets will do this kind of stuff. I agree with some others who suggested getting a 2nd opinion before forking out money that you really don't have.

When we got Tux and were calling around for quotes from vets on a new kitten check, shots, etc. Most were around $100 for the 1st check up and shots were an additional $40. Then we found the vet where we now go to - $42 for the 1st check up and $17.00 for shots. The difference was amazing, however, this vet is in a poorer section of town. I called a friend of mine of who knows a lot of vets throughout the town through her daughter and did some checking on these vets as well. The vet we chose, is just as good as the others.

It does make me kind of mad that in the more affluent areas, the vets charge more. Thus, we will continue to go to our Barrio Vet (as we termed it). He is about 4 miles, if that, from our house.

I hope it all works out for you Kelly. Let us know how Gracie is doing.

Don;t get me started about vets and the different prices they charge, dependant on which side of the tracks you live on....


My FREE dog, found on the roadside....skin and bones full of heartworms cost me 950.00 to treat the heartworms!!!! then my daughters vet said he would have treated her for half that!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Then this same dog (FREE DOG) ruptured 2 discs in her neck.........4500.00 l.....................but I would do it all again, I love this pup.

But, its true ,it depends on where they practice. There is a vet teaching school in Tampa and they do Very cheap spay and neuters. they let the student do them.

By the waym my daughter thinks my doxie( FREE DOG ) should poop gold!@!! Because of how much she has cost me LOL in vets bills!!!

We have a vet college here as well and most of the work is done by the students...of course with supervision from the vets. But....they are MUCH higher than a lot of vets in town, and we have a LOT of vets around here!

My vet is an old guy who's been in business for forever. He is very competitive in the cost department. But still...

Sigh, so much cost involved!

Wonder if anyone here has pet insurance??????

I took Minnie, my Jack Russle mix, to the vet to get her teeth cleaned today. I walked her there at 8:30 & picked her up at 3:30. She was still groggy from the meds & could only make it partway home (just 3 blocks). I carried her the rest of the way. I got the back door open but in the process almost got a hunk of my finger chopped off. Minnie was is a groggy state all day & just sat on the couch. I brought her food to her that eve & she slowly nibbled it down. It came to just $231 with shots, tests, meds for ragweed alergy & also a free pedicure. The main things were...meds~$24, heartworm exam~$35, inhalaion Anesthetic with Monitor~$34 and dental cleaning and polishing~$62.

Aw, poor little Minnie. And poor Lor's pocketbook. :yikes:

I hope Minnie's mouth is feeling better today.

Doody, I forgot to tell you .... The assistant told me not to worry if I saw blood coming from her mouth because durring the process, she bit her tongue :( (I saw no bleeding)

bumping...
 

I am bumping this up because I have some new info.

My son's rescue cat has swollen gums now too. He took her to the vet while I was on vacation.

This is what is helping her:

I suggested 30mg of CoQ-10 in gel cap form, mixed with food twice a day.
His vet also gave him Clindamycin to give her daily. (my vet gave us Clavamox).

Well, his cat is really improving, in a major way.

I'll be starting the CoQ-10 as soon as it arrives. I could not
get it where we were on vacation. I am going to give it to our old cat with cardiomyopathy also. I'll keep everyone informed here as to our progress. Tippy seems better now, and is eating more easily. I give her very small bits now, and she still likes the "gravy" the best.


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update on my son's cat...
 

Well, after one 3 wk course of clindamycin, and continuing
the CoQ-10, his kittie was better, but not better enough for the vet. So he had 4 teeth removed including one canine.

It cost him just over $350. He said she is much better now.
Still using both meds, too. They gave him buprenorphine mouth spray for the pain, post op for her.

Our cat seems to be holding. But she is losing weight, even though she gets plenty of food (and begs for treats).
At 15 yrs old the vet hesitates using anesthetic. So I don't know what will happen for her. sigh.

I am trying to get the CoQ-10 into her, but she is very picky.
I bought some Vita Gravy for cats, but she is rejecting it.
She loves the gravy in cat pouches..I thought she'd go for the vitaGravy..it has taurine and antioxidants in it. I had to get it from the manufacturer, since all the stores are out of it.
They changed the container and UPC code and stores have not picked up on it yet, to replenish stock.