Doggie Dentist

[cdcengineer]

Dog has a cracked tooth and the dentist wants $1500 to extract over $2k ti try and save it. I laughed at that price to pull a tooth. We'll have to shop around.

I would love to try and save the tooth and that might be worth $1500, but it's the big carnassial premolar up top and it's a bad crack. Anyone ever dealt with this before?

She's 9+ and her teeth have never been good since she was 3 despite weekly brushing.

Damn.

 

[snickerd3]

its so expensive because of knocking them out to do the whole procedure...the actual pulling is nothing

 

[cdcengineer]

Yeah but they knock em out to clean the teeth and that's only like $250ish.

 

[goodal]

"that might be worth $1500"

I love dogs, have two, and paid around $300 for my boxer, but if I were told this at the Vet I would promptly pass out, after regaining consciousness laugh my way to the car and go pull it myself with a little string and a car bumper.

 

[engineergurl]

Yeah but they knock em out to clean the teeth and that's only like $250ish.

Yup, that's all we get charged...

 

[ktulu]

^^^ good to know...my dog is getting his teeth cleaned along with all his shots tomorrow.

 

[Chucktown PE]

Dog has a cracked tooth and the dentist wants $1500 to extract over $2k ti try and save it. I laughed at that price to pull a tooth. We'll have to shop around.

I would love to try and save the tooth and that might be worth $1500, but it's the big carnassial premolar up top and it's a bad crack. Anyone ever dealt with this before?

She's 9+ and her teeth have never been good since she was 3 despite weekly brushing.

Damn.

My dad is a veterinarian. I'll ask what he charges. I know it isn't anywhere close to $1500. I think he does extractions with dental work if they're needed and those usually run about $250.

 

[Chucktown PE]

Just talked to my dad. I was way off. He said anywhere from $400 to $1500 for a full dental workup but there was no way to know without anesthetizing the dog. He actually said he wouldn't take the patient if all he was allowed to do was pull the tooth as he considered that to be malpractice, due to the fact that there are likely other dental problems other than just the cracked tooth. He said it would require an X-Ray to determine the extent of the dental disease and then he would develop a treatment plan after diagnosis. He did say "DON"T GO TO BANFIELD." That's a national chain and I think they're affiliated with Petsmart.

 

[cdcengineer]

My wife got a few more quotes. One VET who works on horses and larger animals is $200 plus fees and antibiotics. They used the word restrain and my wife thinks they'll be holding her down to rip out the tooth. I called and they use anesthesia so my worries are limited. They have been know to nickel and dime us in the past though so the bill could be near $500.

Another local vet quoted $742. This was everything out the door. The wife likes this place because she's a nurse and they used all the right terminology. Don't get me wrong, I am not cold-hearted. I have worried about my baby girl since I saw the crack. I have had this dog for 9+ years and she means the world to me. I just have a hard time spending large sums of money. I would love to try and save the tooth, but this dog could have an open fracture on her leg and she would still want to play fetch. So I would never know if the root canal was done right because she would never complain. She's eating and playing even with what looks like a very painful tooth right now.

I appreciate the input from all. Chuck let me know if $750ish seems high. From what I've read, this should be between $300 to $500, but we live in the mtn's in a resort town so everything (except my wages) is inflated.

 

[cdcengineer]

Thanks Chuck - you beat me to it. I was typing while you were responding.

 

[cdcengineer]

Looks like $750ish is the winner.

Damn - that is nealry the exact price of a table I was about to have fabricated from granite.

F*@k!

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I spent $1500 on my dog for an ACL replacement. That much for a tooth sounds insane.

 

[Chucktown PE]

It sounds like the big issue with the dental work is that you can't diagnose and issues until the dog is sedated/anesthetized. It could be relatively minor, but it could also be something major, and a root canal on a dog sounds like it would be difficult.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

The anesthesizing part is always a huge line item on my vet bill when it is required.

 

[cdcengineer]

Our holistic vet is gonna do it tomorrow. The have another method of sedation, but no anesthesia. We'll follow-up after we get the bill.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

^What's the other method? Get the dog blind drunk until he passes out?

 

[ktulu]

Our vet bill was $317, but that included getting his teeth cleaned/polished, his yearly shots, and a bath. So, not a bad deal IMO.

 

[cdcengineer]

They used Ketamine. It's used as an aesthetic, but the dog is not out and able to breath on her own. The tooth came out. The vet says everything else looks good. And the bill was ~ $250 and that was with a cleaning. She seems fine tonight, but we'll have to keep a close eye on her. The only down side was that we had to travel quite a distance and they keep the dog all day so we had to kill time. It's OK since we took mini CDC to the zoo.

Thanks for the feedback posts

 

[goodal]

My 10 year old Boxer had an ear polyp (sp?) and a growth under his front leg. I had my wife take him to the vet to see what it would cost to remove them, but I expected it to be so expensive he would just have to live, or die, with them. Turns out the surgery only cost $150 plus a little for ear drops. I was thrilled and had it done the next week. I made the comment to the wife that he looked happier after the surgery and she looked at me like I was crazy. About a week later our neighbor, who didnt know anything about the surgery told my wife the same thing.

 

[cdcengineer]

Yeah, I believe it. Dogs are tough and will suffer through more than we as humans would. But I would expect them to be "happier" without pain and suffering.

Some book said that pets are not friends or family. I would disagree. If you welcome a pet into your home, they become family and need to be cared for as such. Having said that though, I would question those that put their pets through chemotherapy when they are old and already suffering. I gotta think folks like that are trying to prolong the pets life for their own benefit, not the pets.