Can you just bring a cat over the border?

Come here, NW Arkansas, it'll be less than your low bid, our vet bills are always lower than other places. :)

Are you by SE Michigan? This is what the place I go to charges and the care they give is great:

Dental Cleaning

Dental Prophylaxis are performed by appointment.

• $99 and $15.00 per tooth extraction (maximum cost of $60.00 for all extractions) Please note: some extractions require a full service veterinary clinic.
• $20.00 discount if your pet is spayed/neutered on the same day. We do not perform dental cleanings on unaltered pets
• Pre-surgical bloodwork is offered for $40
• Antibiotics if needed are an additional charge
• Dental cleanings are performed under anesthesia

Cookie, I paid close to that amount for our dog to have two teeth removed. That included blood work ($90), cleaning, teeth removal (one major tooth and one minor tooth), anaesthesia set-up and monitoring, an extra 1/2 hour under anaesthesia, take-home antibiotics and pain meds, over 4 hours hospitalization, and follow-up visit.

He still has the dissolvable stitches in his mouth, and we'll go in Friday for a check-up. He has been on soft foods and continuing the antibiotics.

I'm happy with the vet and how we are treated there and wouldn't look for a bargain, but it is a painful amount of money. (I'm in CA.)

I have been putting off having my little dog's teeth cleaned because I am terrified of them putting her under and not being able to wake her. I have heard so many horror stories about this exact thing happening to tiny dogs. It even happened to a girl on a TV show, she is a real estate agent in Florida and took her little dog in for cleaning and they called and told her something went wrong and the dog is dead. I swear I would go balastic! I wonder if it's possible to do it just drowsy not totally under? I have always had Great Danes this is my first little dog.

It happens to large pets also. Be very vocal with the doctor about your concerns. Make sure they know you know the risks. Ask who will be doing the treatment..

Carmelita goes in next Thursday for a cleaning. I am also worried. She doesn't even weigh 10lbs. I love my vet, but I am worried about Carmelita being traumatized. I did talk to her about that and she assured me she will be giving her a shot that will completely calm her before they put her under. I'm still going to worry about it.

Most pet teeth cleanings and "dental work" is done by vets in general practice with no substantive added training to do so, rather than by vets with special training in animal dentistry who have become Board-certified veterinary dentists. Does it matter? Often no. But it can.

Just as in the old days in small towns, the local doctor delivered babies, set broken bones, treated patients with heart disease, and performed surgeries of various kinds. Did that mean that seeing him/her for the wide variety of problems was better than seeing a specialist? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but overall probably not. The tough part for a patient is to know when seeing someone with better skills matters.

Veterinary dentists are more experienced with anesthesia and dental procedures because of their training and that's all they do. They also usually charge more for a given procedure than a GP vet would, but you should expect they're also more skilled and knowledgeable. If I had anxiety over how a pet might fare with anesthesia with a vet in general practice, I'd probably feel better going to a veterinary dentist.

I am looking at it pretty lightly as he does have very good teeth otherwise and has been put under before when he was fixed with no problems. I did read that cat cavities are rare and has to do with a vitamin D deficiency. He eats a higher protein, grain free diet and a natural diet so I will inquire about that.

I am really nervous that it is a different route than what I would normally take though. I'm thinking it is cheaper there as it is a pretty small town with not even so much as another small town around so they probably have to keep the prices low due to low population. The town doesn't offer a lot in businesses so employment seems to be a lot of retail and such. Not sure why the price is so different.

There is non-anaesthetic dental cleaning which my dog has had for years in addition to daily tooth brushing. Nevertheless, he still had two teeth which needed to come out.

I would encourage those like Raven not to worry. The dog will be "sleeping" before it has much time to be traumatized. And when she wakes up she'll just be too groggy to care. I assume you like your vet, so trust him/her, but share your worries too. She should have current blood work so they know everything is good with her. Remember thousands maybe millions of dogs get anaesthetic dental work every year, but we only hear the very few horror stories.

The only problem we had with Oski is that after 5 days on Meloxidyl for pain, he was about to jump out of his skin, so itchy. I could not imagine what was going on with him until I read that "scratching" was a side effect of the drug.

Most clinics will print out a quote this is a good way for your clinic
to explain how they do dentistry's and may indicate why one clinic is so
much cheaper. Are? they offering all the same things. There are different types of anesthesia and monitoring which could make a difference in cost. Clinics who have staff who are registered techs and highly qualified personal in dentistry's and anesthesia may be more costly then those who do not. Anesthesia, and monitoring equipment have improved over time. Not all clinics upgrade this could be a reason one clinic can be cheaper. On the other hand they just charge more because they can, if people are willing to pay it they will charge it.

There are shorter acting anesthetics combined with better equipment when used by someone who understands how to use them makes for safer and better anesthetics. Pain management has become a big concern which helps pets recover better, you wouldn't have major dental surgery without at least a OTC pain med. Animals should have meds too (from your vet not an OTC!) Antibiotics will help prevent infection, the mouth is full of bacteria and extractions or bleeding when teeth are cleaned create a way for bacteria to get into the pets system. If the teeth are really bad you may need to start antibiotics before your pet has its dentistry. It never hurts to ask what they use to monitor your pet and what type of anesthetic they use and why. What are the medications they send you home with. If its pills what do you do if your pet wont take them. What should you do if your pet wont eat. What to look out for when they go home what is normal and what should you be concerned with. As said this is a very common procedure, that normally goes without issues. Also ask what is their after hours care, can you call and speak to a vet after hours or can you go to the clinic for emergency care or do you go to the Veterinary emergency clinic. Make sure you feel comfortable with the vet and the staff. Good luck .

Doing the Canadian dollar conversion to US the comparison is about $600 versus $250. Vet is in a small town - is he board certified in dentistry or just a small town vet? Personally I wouldn't want my Family Practitioner to pull my tooth. Things to think about - what kind of anesthetic does he use, does the estimate include a blood workup to determine if all organs are functionally properly and there are no concerns regarding the anesthetic? Any good vet will want bloodwork done before any anesthesia is given and that alone can cost $100 + for the lab. Does it include IV fluids to keep the cat hydrated? Are X-rays included to clarify the root structure and determine if there are any surprises under the gum line? Does the quote it include prophylactic antibiotics? Teeth cleaning is preventative - failure to take care of it can lead to really serious consequences. Futhermore pulling an infected tooth is tricky - you don't want to spread the infection if it's done sloppily.

This doesn't sound to me as if it's a straight dollar for dollar comparison. Ask for an itemized list on both quotes so you can make a fair comparison. The $600 amount is more in line with what we pay for our pets dental work. We are religious about having their teeth cleaned once a year, and sometimes more often if they are older. Sometimes it's done without anesthetic. Many of our cats had underlying health issues like diabetes, hyperthyroid, inflammatory bowel disease, Feline Herpes, cardiomyopathy, kidney disease, stomatitis, cancer - all of these cats had regular teeth cleaning done and all of them came through it, and more healthy because of it. If your vet knows their medical condition he can prepare for any potential unforeseen issues.

Routine teeth cleaning in any dog or cat is an absolute must for maintaining good health. If the plaque builds up to the point that the gums become compromised, the animal's system is open to bacterial infiltration via the blood stream. This can lead to kidney, liver and heart problems. As for anesthetic, they use minimal amounts and the pet is barely under before the procedure is done.
Research the potential damages that can be caused by leaving dental work undone in your pet. The risk of anesthesia is far less than the risk of potential organ damage from systemic bacterial infections.

Why Dental cleaning for pets is important.

That's the thing. He has perfect teeth with no plaque whatsoever and no underlying health conditions. He is 10 with no extra weight lots of energy.

Thanks for all the input. It is a great starting point to put together my list of questions for the procedure and follow up care. Our previous cat got an abscessed tooth and that was a pain to deal with. He also had many underlying conditions though - overweight, plaque, diabetic - at the same age as our current cat. I attribute this to a much worse diet and not letting him have any natural food.

I don't know where you are crossing the boarder but in my town small animal Vets woudl get all of $800 for an extraction. It is INSANE. My Father in law was a large animal Vet. He saw to the needs of animals that were the farmers LIVELY HOOD. He made a very modest income. These Vets taking care of people's pets are tugging on emotional strings and it is high way robbery. They are living the high life due to people's attachment issues!!! If you need work done you are smartest to drive to the country knock on the door of the local Veterinarian and he will do the job for 1/4 price!!!

arcy, large animal vets, especially those dealing with a farm animal practice, have the lowest average earnings of all vets. This is not a recent phenomenon and there's a shortage of them as a result. Many states and vet schools offer scholarships and other incentives for vet students who go into this practice field, and with that there are still few interested. Vets working with race horses do much better in the large animal field.

On the other hand, the small animal vet in my family spent TEN years after a BA, getting no income for many years and less than working at McDonalds would have provided for the others, to obtain qualification as a specialist vet. She was in her thirties before getting her first decent paycheck.

A dog bite or a cat scratch tomorrow could end her career. Are some vets greedy? Sure. Charge too much? Sure, just like with anything else, but it's not the case for all of them. While training and education requirements are the same as for physicians, the average vet in general practice earns considerably less. It's a calling, but they're still entitled to fair fees. Remember that when paying your next vet bill.

Thank you, Snidely. I shudder to think of all the expenses to run a vet office, to say nothing of the long hours. I cannot imagine my vet "living the high life."

Everyone's experience and expectations are different but I have to agree with Arcy, especially where there is a lot of competition, tugging at heart strings is a sure bet for unnecessary services and all too common. We've been screwed enough now to know that and no one will ever convince me otherwise. We've only been to probably 1/2 dz vets for our dog in the past 4 years and I think we finally found someone who is priced fair and takes his time to really hear what's going on. I was sold when he took her out back behind his clinic and was running with her so he could see her gait instead of ordering x-rays because I questioned something about her leg.

This topic reminded me of a Vet we were referred to years ago when our elderly cat was sick. He specializes in felines only and more specifically the feline thyroid which is what we were referred to him for. When he felt the symptoms didn't fit the diagnosis, he spent an 1.5 hours with me going over our poor cat's entire health history. It was quite obvious how much we adored her and I pretty much told him that we were prepared to do anything to save her. To his credit, he didn't play on that and gouge us. He did blood work and then an ultrasound to get a visual of her intestines. He gave me the time to explain the ultrasound to me and confirmed that she had intestinal cancer. I thought the bill for 175.00 would be 2-3 times that amount especially because he was a specialist on top of all the time he spent with me, but it wasn't. Plus he saved us about $2300 in the thyroid care he didn't need to do. Even though the news was heartbreaking, I'll always appreciate what he did for us. I've never seen a Vet so passionate about his little patients. If he wasn't a referral only Vet, he'd be our cats' vet in a heartbeat.

I am so lucky to have found a vet that does not overcharge. The first vet I went to after I moved to Iowa was very kind and skilled. She did all her own lab work because she was trained before she went to vet school. But the prices kept going up. I would mention it to her and she still kept raising the prices. Finally, a friend told me about a vet who charged less than anyone else and was highly regarded in our community. So I switched. This vet is so caring and obviously is not out to make a lot of money. She will have a vet tech call and tell me "Dr Tammy wants to do an x-ray but she isn't going to charge you". A few weeks ago one of my cats was there and they called and asked permission to do more lab work (it all has to be sent over to the vet school here). My vet bill ended up being over $200. A few days later Dr. Tammy called and asked me to bring the cat back for more blood work. She said she wanted to do one more test that was very expensive and was only done at Texas A&M but I wouldn't be charged anything for it because she just wanted to do it. I have never had a vet like this who doesn't charge for things that she wants checked. Love her.