$200 dental cleaning?

So I took my cat for a regular check up today, and the vet showed me
that his gums are kind of red--and suggested a $200 dental cleaning!
That seems to be quite much. Is this a normal price? Should I get a
second opinion?

That seems a little high unless the cat is older and needs pre-anesthesia
testing, or if there are extractions. Our last bill (about a month ago) was
around $240 but she had three teeth extracted. This required a longer than
normal time under anesthesia.

However, I don't think $200 for a cleaning is exorbitant, just a little on the
high side. You may find someone else to do it a little cheaper, but since you
never know what you're going to find while cleaning the teeth--there may be
decay or other problems hidden by the tartar--I think you should be prepared
that it may well end up costing at least $200 anyway.

In ,
Karen Chuplis composed with style:

Seems high for a routine dental. I'd check around. A teeth cleaning
is a good thing and prevents other diseases, but that seems high.

Karen

[referring back to my own quote]
I guess I live in an area where *all* vet care is expensive. sigh
Ironically, Shamrock is the one with VPI insurance and it doesn't
cover dentals.

In ,
Karen Chuplis composed with style:

Seems high for a routine dental. I'd check around. A teeth cleaning
is a good thing and prevents other diseases, but that seems high.

Karen

[referring back to my own quote]
I guess I live in an area where *all* vet care is expensive. sigh
Ironically, Shamrock is the one with VPI insurance and it doesn't
cover dentals.

(John) wrote:
So I took my cat for a regular check up today, and the vet showed me
that his gums are kind of red--and suggested a $200 dental cleaning!
That seems to be quite much. Is this a normal price? Should I get a
second opinion?

Where I'm in San Diego, California it costs closer to $400 including
a blood test.

(John) wrote:
So I took my cat for a regular check up today, and the vet showed me
that his gums are kind of red--and suggested a $200 dental cleaning!
That seems to be quite much. Is this a normal price? Should I get a
second opinion?

Where I'm in San Diego, California it costs closer to $400 including
a blood test.

Cheryl wrote:
In ,
Karen Chuplis composed with style:

Seems high for a routine dental. I'd check around. A teeth cleaning
is a good thing and prevents other diseases, but that seems high.

Karen

[referring back to my own quote]
I guess I live in an area where *all* vet care is expensive. sigh
Ironically, Shamrock is the one with VPI insurance and it doesn't
cover dentals.

I'm not sure how cheap/expensive vet care here is but I know Seattle is
supposed to be a pretty expensive place to live (ok, I don't live in
Seattle, I live near Lynnwood, which is between Everett and Seattle).

Anyways, the vet I work at does dental cleanings all (cat/dogs) under 100
dollars. Of course that does not include anything extra like teeth
extractions. And he's been rated as having very good rates by some poll on
teh vets in the area.

200 seems exhorbant to me.

Alice

--
The root cause of problems is simple overpopulation. People just aren't
worth very much any more, and they know it. Makes 'em testy. ...Bev
|\ _,,,---,,_ Tigress
/,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ http://havoc.gtf.gatech.edu/tigress
|,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-'
'---''(_/--' `-'\_) Cat by Felix Lee.

Cheryl wrote:
In ,
Karen Chuplis composed with style:

Seems high for a routine dental. I'd check around. A teeth cleaning
is a good thing and prevents other diseases, but that seems high.

Karen

[referring back to my own quote]
I guess I live in an area where *all* vet care is expensive. sigh
Ironically, Shamrock is the one with VPI insurance and it doesn't
cover dentals.

I'm not sure how cheap/expensive vet care here is but I know Seattle is
supposed to be a pretty expensive place to live (ok, I don't live in
Seattle, I live near Lynnwood, which is between Everett and Seattle).

Anyways, the vet I work at does dental cleanings all (cat/dogs) under 100
dollars. Of course that does not include anything extra like teeth
extractions. And he's been rated as having very good rates by some poll on
teh vets in the area.

200 seems exhorbant to me.

Alice

--
The root cause of problems is simple overpopulation. People just aren't
worth very much any more, and they know it. Makes 'em testy. ...Bev
|\ _,,,---,,_ Tigress
/,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ http://havoc.gtf.gatech.edu/tigress
|,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-'
'---''(_/--' `-'\_) Cat by Felix Lee.

In ,
composed with style:


200 seems exhorbant to me.

Alice

Thanks for the comparison, Alice. I think I'm going to go ahead with
the quote I was given; I really like this vet and she's already making
differences in both of my guys over the last vet I had. I'll probably
get the bloodwork done, Shamrock is really acting up more than usual
lately and I'd like to make sure it's safe to put him under. He's
being a total **** to both Shadow and Bonnie this last week. And to
me. Somethings up with my lil guy.

In ,
composed with style:


200 seems exhorbant to me.

Alice

Thanks for the comparison, Alice. I think I'm going to go ahead with
the quote I was given; I really like this vet and she's already making
differences in both of my guys over the last vet I had. I'll probably
get the bloodwork done, Shamrock is really acting up more than usual
lately and I'd like to make sure it's safe to put him under. He's
being a total **** to both Shadow and Bonnie this last week. And to
me. Somethings up with my lil guy.

I was holding my tongue on this discussion of cost, because my own costs were
much higher. I thought it was because my cat had 3 extractions. But then I read
the post below, which includes the same number of extractions. My cat's dental
work (including pre-screening blood work and extra anesthesia) ended up costing
about $700. The blood work was about $125, each extraction about $65. I'm
outside Philadelphia. Ai-yi-yi-yi. (It's a new vet for me, specializing only in
cats. I didn't shop around, because they seemed to know what they were doing,
unlike my previous vet, but maybe I should have.)



That seems a little high unless the cat is older and needs pre-anesthesia
testing, or if there are extractions. Our last bill (about a month ago) was
around $240 but she had three teeth extracted. This required a longer than
normal time under anesthesia.

However, I don't think $200 for a cleaning is exorbitant, just a little on
the
high side. You may find someone else to do it a little cheaper, but since you
never know what you're going to find while cleaning the teeth--there may be
decay or other problems hidden by the tartar--I think you should be prepared
that it may well end up costing at least $200 anyway.