$1000 to have dogs teeth cleaned

[roliepolieoliefan]

I used to take my dogs to a vet that I really didnt like.Nothing she did outright, it was just that feeling. I felt maybe it was just me. Alot of my friends took their pooches there and my mom too. They all loved her.

Our one collie always had bad teeth. Thats the reason we ended up with her. She was a show dog who wasnt able to be shown because of her teeth.

Every year we went to the vet, I asked her , what do you think of her teeth? She always answered , yes they are bad but not enough to put her under and have them cleaned.

A new vet opened near my house so i switched. She says Bella's teeth are bad and need cleaned and maybe some extracted. The estimate close to $1100. Holy crap!!!!!

Plus Bella is 9 1/2. My cousins Lab, same age died last year after going under anesthesia to get some simple cysts removed.
The vet says you have to weigh the pros and cons.

Her gums are red in some places and she does have alot of tartar. She eats hard food just fine, chews on rawhides and toys just fine.

I just cant shake the phone call I received from my cousin last year that her dog was dead and I'd be lying if I said the $1100 wasnt a factor too. Plus my 9 yo screaming mom please dont let them kill Bella.

Oh my!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

has she tolerated letting you brush them ?

The do sell doggie paste and brushes at most pet supply stores. Being her owner, she may be akin to letting you do it. Maybe try once a week for a few months and see if that improves anything.

I just wouldn't go too hard the first time. It may have to be something you can work her up to ?

That's a hard choice.

 

[grumpyvet]

I am so sorry to hear about your cousin's dog. Loss like that is heart breaking.
And very rare, very very very rare. I have had one anesthetic death in my history of 25 years in practice, and it was 23 years ago using some really old school anesthetic protocals. Her name was Lacy, and her death is stamped on my heart.

$1000 is a lot of money, but I bet the Vet is anticipating some diseased tooth roots, extractions, root planing and the like. Dogs have multi rooted teeth. Often one root is abscessed while 2 are in great shape, so removing them is really "dental surgery", not simply an 'Extraction".

If there is odor (more than just normal dog breath), there is infection. The gums are red due to infection. So every minute of every day her body is dealing with fighting bacteria. Some of those bacteria end up in the blood stream and can end up in the liver, heart, kidney...where ever.

As for eating and chewing and feeling fine, dogs are stoic and live quite joyously with chronic pain. They just do. I had a tooth root abscess once and I was miserable. Dogs just move on, use the other side of their mouth, whatever.

So, sorry for the lecture, but wanted to hopefully give you some insight.

I am certain you could find a better price, and maybe get as good of a job done, but usually facilities with those kind of quotes take dental care very seriously, do xrays etc. NOt saying that others with lower costs do not take it seriously!!!

Please do not waste your money on a "gentle dental" for your dog. If your vet thinks there will be extractions, no point to paying to have tarter knocked off when the dog needs more done.

Off my soap box now!!!


I hope you find a solution that works for you!!!!!

 

[ilovejack02]

Always a chance when you put a dog , cat , person , horse etc etc etc under that something will go wrong.

The issue with not taking care of dental issues is that it causes problems with internal organs in the long run. You are essentially shorting your pet's life by not taking care of the teeth..


I would however get a second or even third opinion before dropping 1k. Good luck!

 

[StephMK]

Wow, that sounds really high. We're in the midwest and just had our 2 dogs' teeth cleaned - $550 total for both. That included bloodwork panels and IVs. He charged extra for the addtl. scraping and that was included in the total. He warned us if they needed extractions it could be $10-20 per tooth but they were ok. These are rescue dogs we adopted as adults who had never had them cleaned. Our dogs are 12 & 7 and came through just fine.

Adding that our dogs are 60 lbs (lab mix) & 40 lbs (beagle mix). We were recommended to brush them daily and it really did help their breath!

 

[Disneychix]

I have a small Jack Russell, under 15lbs. I just had her teeth cleaned this year to the tune of $450. This included 2 extractions and all meds that she came home with. Her teeth were bad! She crackd one off when she was about 2yrs and it was brown and disgusting. Her breath was gross too.
She did great and her breath is wonderful and her teeth sparkle! The vet said if I didn't want to be vigilant and brush her teeth bi-weekly to not even bother at all because just causal brushing would do nothing.

I was quoted over $500 but it turned out to be a little less. I think they give you worst case scenerio with the quotes.

 

[wiigirl]

$1000 seems a bit excessive for a teeth cleaning...

 

[jedijill]

I agree with PP's. That is on the high end. I have to get my dachshund's teeth cleaned once a year (small dogs just need it more than big dogs) and the small town vet I used to go to charged around $250-300 with all the bloodwork, etc. I moved to Denver and the first vet I went to charged over $1K. I ended up going to a Banfield vet and I get a teeth cleaning/immunizations/and 2 exams a year for about $360 a year.

I would definitely get more opinions.

Jill in CO

 

[lovin'fl]

We did my Cairn 2 years ago. It was about $400 (give or take). It made his breath smell good and his teeth all clean....for a few months...and then back to stinky mouth.

 

[BCV2003]

While the cost of the cleaning does seem high, I recently had to make the decision on whether or not to put my almost 15 year-old lab through surgery to remove a cyst on her foot.

It was to the poing where it was causing her pain because it burst open and I told the vet about my concerns with anesthesia at her age and he said that was true but you have that with any animal or person and that he could do bloodwork first and if it showed anything they would call me.

She came through the surgery completely fine and is walking better than she has in a long time. If she was 8 or 9 I probably wouldn't have given her surgery a second thought.

 

[Fabinva]

While 1,000 seems a lot I've spend $860 on my 13yr old chihuahua that was in need for a cleaning and he had a cyst that needed removal so I got both procedures done at same time, his insurance covered cost of teeth removal and cyst removal (not all) but it helped.
My other dog was next but I waited too long and she ended up with an infection and a hole in her gum, extreme bleeding to the point of vet recommending a blood transfusion and not to mention the extreme stress I went thru, while it was caused by the bad tooth the vet that did the clea ning was not 100% sure it was the tooth, the dog started turning color in mid procedure so vet could not completely finished and send me to internal specialist for a scan....$1300 dollars later she is doing fine but it will take four weeks until she heals and recovers all the blood she lost in less than two days! BTW she is 11yr old, and so happy her breath smells much better and she is fine...was a big scare and lots of tears.
My vet gives me a low and high estimate for the teeth cleaning, for this dog was quoted $621-1210, since she never finished the full cleaning she only charged me $68 for blood work, but she had charged me $525 the day before when she examined the dog for the bleeding and did some blood test, X rays and examination. The bill for the specialist the very next day was $771.00 and this dog does not have insurance.

 

[ceecee]

I put off the cleanings as well for that reason too until my lab got an infection and a swollen face. She had a cleaning and extraction as well as a wart removed from outside on her face. Just the cleaning was $300 so maybe get another recommendation. They did blood work before the cleaning and found elevated liver enymzes she thought may be due to the infection, but it wasn't because we repeated the test 2 mos later and it was still a little high, so in 6 mos we need to do it again! My second lab will be getting her teeth cleaned next year (vet said to wait) to prevent any more lost tooth. I work in the dental field and it's a lot harder to clean a dogs teeth. Mine were both rescues and not used to having their teeth brushed, I wish I would have tried harder (avoid people food too).

 

[LovinPooh]

My 10yr old collie just went under anesthesia. I was terrified to say the least. Same concerns you have. She had a mass on her eyelid. $600 later...ughhh. onr little mass huge bill. the phonecall she made it thru was the best ever phone call. Its nice to see her pretty eye again.
I would however call around on the teeth cleaning. Price it out for sure.
The risks are so scary. Esp an older dog. And mine is overweight... but she did great. Good luck op!!
Collies are the best

 

[clh2]

Personally - I would try brushing their teeth, to see if that helps first!

Both of our dogs have been easy to brush teeth. They are really cooperative, but then the stuff is poultry flavored. I brush maybe 1 time every other week, our vet recommends 1-time per day.

Our vet has never recommended a teeth cleaning. One of our dogs already had a dental issue (a severely cracked tooth that needed to be extracted) and since he was already going under - we allowed his teeth to be cleaned. Otherwise we wouldn't have had that done.

 

[Anne34]

We just had teeth cleaning & 2 extractions this past February for our 12 year old Corgi. It was over $500 plus another $150 for blood work. I was like omg when I saw the quote. Never expected it to be so high. It needed to be done since she had a broken tooth and another infected one.

 

[eliza61]

If she has a lot of tartar that you can see, then that price while high is not out of the realm of possibility. My dog a mixed breed mutt had some early signs of gum disease and tartar build up. $350 for the cleaning.

Hobbes, didn't need an extraction so I'm sure that would have been more.
Can't hurt to get a second opinion but it can be expensive

 

[Jenny3]

I had a similar quote from my regular vet for my 25lb American Eskimo; they said $1100 plus extra for any extractions. I just couldn't afford it.

I asked around and found a vet that did everything for $400 - including 7 extractions, antibiotics and pain meds. Only difference is that they did not do X-rays beforehand. See if you can get a breakdown of the charges and if anything can be eliminated.

I would like to get my collie's teeth done, but he's 13 years old. I'm worried about the anesthesia and his tolerance.

 

[pocomom]

Don't be afraid to shop around. My local vet insisted I needed to get my 14 year old dog's teeth cleaned. Because he was a senior dog he was going to charge extra, close to the amount you are talking about with the bloodworm and all. And that was without any additional problems. My dog was living with a slow growing cancer, had lost his hearing and most of his sight at the time. I was very worried about him surviving the procedure and the stress it would cause him. I went to another vet who told me flat out not to get it done. Not that it would kill him, but just that it wasn't worth it with the time he had left. I'm so glad we went to the second vet. Otherwise we may not have been able to afford his very expensive end of life care a few months later that helped make his last days more comfortable. (Emergency and at home visits) The second vet also offered a payment plan and was several hundreds cheaper if we had decided to do it. Vets are real people, not everyone has your and your animal's best interests at heart. Also you can see if there is a vet school nearby, may offer cheaper services?

 

[TRICKY_TINK]

Why don't you look into pet insurance? I would think it should cover this with a reasonable deductible.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

I have wondered about dental cleaning for dogs too. Do people do this every year? We have had two dogs, no real dental problems, and every time we would go to the vet they would suggest a $400 cleaning.

One dog passed away recently at age 21. The other is 8 and in good health. We have changed vets often because we've moved about every 2 years and every single vet has suggested an expensive cleaning. I know people who can't afford to take their kids to the dentist, so I wondered how many people get their dog a yearly $400 cleaning.