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 Boop by Petco! 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 Boop by Petco! 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.

You will have to call local vet clinics in your area to get an estimate as this can vary greatly per location. If a routine dental is needed with no extractions then it can be $200-300. IF xrays and extractions are needed then the price goes up from there and can easily be over $500

Local anesthesia is sometimes used for things like removal of a skin tumor or repair of a wound, but it isn't going to be effective for a dental cleaning in a pet. The purpose of anesthesia in dental cleaning is to immobilize the pet, as pets will not sit with their mouths open for us to clean their teeth. We sometimes use local anesthetics in addition to general anesthesia with dental work if a tooth needs removal (we will put a local block at the site of the tooth), but it acts just as pain relief and numbing of that area, not to keep the patient still. I would discuss with your vet the risks versus benefits of anesthesia based on your cat's teeth. We do dental procedures all the time in older pets, but before we do so recommend a geriatric workup which may include bloodwork and urinalysis, blood pressure and ekg, and x-ray of the chest. These help us ensure the anesthesia is more likely to be tolerated. If your cat is in pain or having trouble eating due to the teeth, sometime

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 Boop by Petco.

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.

Annual dental cleanings under anesthesia are recommended in both dogs and cats to help prevent periodontal disease. I would have a veterinarian perform a thorough dental cleaning under anesthesia. This is the most effective way at cleaning teeth.

Things to look for are intravenous fluids during the procedure, bloodwork done less than 1 week (ideally day of) the procedure, monitoring the heart rate, blood oxygen levels, blood pressure and temperature during the procedure. They should also institute practices to maintain the body temperature during the procedure. You may also ask about what drugs they use in their protocols and if the pets are intubated (which is recommended). You may want to set up an appointment with the veterinarian so they can examine Maisey and discuss your concerns. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

A complete oral exam and dental cleaning needs to be performed under general anesthesia in dogs and cats - this way the ultrasonic scaler used to remove plaque and tartar can get underneath the gum line and dental radiographs can be performed. This link has more information: https://afd.avdc.org/category/for-pet-owners/