Are these excessive vet charges?

[debodun]

I took my two 11-year-old cats to the vet last week. He said everything was fine except for some dental problems. He gave me an itemized breakdown of what it would cost - $359 to $408 and that is for EACH cat, so that means I could be spending anywhere from $716 to $816 on cat teeth. I wanted to know if these charges on the list are on the high side and what, if any, are "padding".

Hospitalization - $23
Mini-Chem profile - $59
Anesthesia, Feline Grade 3 - $82
Dental Prophylaxis, Grade 3 - $65
Extractions per tooth/difficulty - $25 to $75
Pen G injection - $22
Metcam injection - $25
Subcutaneous fluid inj. - $27
Other antibiotics and pain meds -$30

[pattymac]

jeez that doesn't seem bad at all..I had 2 of mine in probably 10 years ago for dental work and it cost me close to 600 for one. Somewhere I have the statement.

[sugarcatmom]

Where are you located? There can be some pretty big regional differences in vet care costs (and even within the same city). But to be honest, those prices do look quite reasonable. My cats have had a few dentals over the years, and depending on what needed to be done, the price ranged from about $400 to over $800 per cat. Couple things I'd ask vet about before deciding to go ahead are whether they monitor blood pressure during the procedure, and if IV fluids are administered prior to and during the dental. Also what kind of anesthetic they use is important. If tooth extractions are necessary, what kind of post-op pain medication do they prescribe?

[marko]

I JUST inquired about cleaning a cat's teeth last week and got a quote for 500. all in if that helps any.

[Etown_Chick]

I just had Scruffy's teeth done. Including anaesthetic, it was over $300. I thought that was a good price. If I have to spend that every couple of years to keep his teeth healthy, I think it's a good investment

[Loki Love]

Molly needs her teeth cleaned, plus at least one extraction.. I'm looking at a minimum of $1000. The things we do (and money we spend!) for the animals we love

[Myka]

I'm not sure if there's much price difference between small dogs and cats, but Peewee the 8lb Chihuahua got his teeth done recently including two extractions; one small tooth up front that was loose, and one molar that was minimally abscessed. He didn't require antibiotics for the abscess. He did have a blood panel before the anesthetic, and did have IV fluids during anesthetic. His quote was ~$600, but the bill ended up being $460.

[lindapalm]

One of our cats went in in February for cleaning, ended up having the few teeth he had left pulled, our bill came to $339.40, so your quote wasn't bad.