My vet quoted $273 for cat dental cleaning. Is that a fair price?

The scaling and polishing portion of the dental is the least time consuming, and most inexpensive portion of the $1000 estimate. In addition, tartar left on teeth can further aggravate gum disease. The necessary extractions cannot be done without anesthesia or pre-anesthetic bloodwork to make sure that Baxter’s liver/kidney function appears normal enough to handle anesthesia. With severe gum recession/fractured teeth, cats can develop serious tooth root abscesses and oral pain resulting in weight loss, poor health. If there are in fact diseased teeth in Baxter’s mouth, having a complete dental scaling/polishing with necessary extractions will likely significantly improve his quality of life and decrease the chances of oral bacteria causing heart valve issues in the future. Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would need to know a bit more information to really help: did that price include blood work, X-rays of the teeth and extractions? Extracting teeth is a big deal the requires gingival flaps and drilling. It isn't easy and takes a lot of time and patience. I have worked at 3 hospitals, 2 of the 3 a bill of $787 was average to low. The current place I work at doesn't charge enough in my opinion for how time consuming and hard extracting teeth are. We never go over $500 (without blood work and NO X-ray). Blood work is extra $77-$150 based on the pets age. Above prices are in US. I think that your Vet is charging appropriately. Please feel free to take a picture of the invoice or let me know specifics! Have a great day!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Great question. This really depends on the individual cat, their health, whether they have periodontal disease or other oral diseases, their age, their genetics, and the presence of systemic disease, etc. Each cat is different. So ultimately I would follow the advice of the veterinarian treating Twitchy. If the think their recommendations don't line up with you, then go to another vet to get a second opinion. Typically, in my opinion, I don't think adult cats should have more than one cleaning per year or every few years unless they have some problems. I hope this helps. Good luck with Twitchy.

Baby Bear is adorable! Thanks for including a picture! Many clients are surprised when we tell them that their pet has dental disease. But the reality is that over 50% of animals over 2 years of age have dental disease. Imagine if you didn't brush your teeth for years! So, if Baby Bear has not had her teeth cleaned before, I would imagine that she has some degree of dental disease. If you would like a second opinion, you could always see a veterinary dentist. You can find one near you here. https://www.avdc-dms.org/dms/list/diplomates-map.cfm I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Hi there. I agree having her teeth cleaned it’s a good idea especially if she has tartar buildup.I would start by having your veterinarian run some general bloodwork to make sure her organ function is good and if everything looks good and her heart is healthy and anesthesia is very safe. Having bad dental health can be more detrimental in the long run and getting this taken care of would be a great idea. Also make sure that wherever you have her teeth cleaned has full monitoring devices and that they do intravenous fluids during the procedure. This is a standard safety measure and you want to go somewhere that has that available. Hope that is helpful and have a wonderful day.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I recommend a vet visit to evaluate her teeth and then the practice can give you an accurate estimate. Prices vary in different geographical locations and also by individual clinic so it’s impossible to know how much it may cost for her. I do recommend doing it asap as that tooth is very painful for her. Good luck.

This will vary by location but is similar to what our fee would be here in Phoenix AZ. Definitely call around to get quotes. If you can let the offices you call know exactly which teeth need to come out, that will help them give you an accurate estimate. Best of luck and I hope Stewie is feeling better soon!