Vet Manners

I love my vet. They're wonderful and take great care of my cat. They're a little expensive, but I can afford it for how good they are with him and how much I like them. However, he has really bad teeth and they suggested another dental. I'd say he needs one every couple of years due to bad tartar and gingivitis. I live in the Chicago area, and they quoted me $650 for a general dental, which would include blood work and anesthesia. It was about $480 a couple of years ago with an extraction as well, so clearly the prices have gone up.

I wasn't thrilled, but felt begrudging acceptance, until my coworker came in today complaining of his $277 bill for his cat's teeth cleaning yesterday. So obviously I want to go somewhere else to get his teeth done for less (and will definitely make sure it's a good place) while continuing to go to this vet for his regular care. I mean, that's an insane price difference.

So my question is, has anyone had this kind of experience? How did you handle it? Not only with your vet, but with calling up another office and saying all you really want is a cleaning (and I assume they'd want a meet and greet, too). Maybe I'm being a little paranoid, but I want to keep my cat safe as well as have a good relationship with the vet still, so it seemed worth a shot to ask if anyone else had done this.

Hi! If I recall my boy's dental last time was $400 but I don't think that price included the bloodwork...
I've emailed and gotten vet price quotes and sometimes they'll put prices on their website, but I don't know if either of these are the norm.

The price difference could be from a variety of things:

-did your coworker go to a low cost vet that helps low income owners?

-did they go out of their way to visit a vet near the edge of the city/farm lands? They tend to be cheaper. Vets have to pay taxes/rent which is more expensive say downtown vs. a 30 min drive to the edge of the city in a different zone.

-was their cat young that did not require bloodwork? Bloodwork at my vets is roughly ~$150-200 CAD.

Calling a vet clinic and asking for just a cleaning is no big deal. It’s just a service they provide.

*By zone I mean different property tax zone.

Or you could view it as the rich part of town vs. the poor part.

Different vet offices can have wildly different prices, even if they are near each other. It is fine to call ahead and ask about prices and what is included in the price.

I paid $900 for the most recent dental cleaning I had done on a cat.

I'd agree that location is a huge impact. My bosses dog needed a minor surgery, his regular vet quoted him $2,000 for everything. He drove 3 hours to a vet practice known for lower prices but good services and paid $180. The main difference being his regular vet is in Orange County California and the other vet was a back road country vet. His main vet also wanted to do pre blood work, recovery mointoring, pain medication and a cone that the other vet didn't do.

Since I have had a bad experience with a clinic vet and surgery, I am personally gun shy of price shopping procedures. I'd rather pay the vet I know and am comfortable with more to be secure in the procedure. For dental work, I have gone with a dental only vet practice over my normal vet but not a different GP type vet. But again, that's me and having had a really bad experience going with a low cost location for the same procedure. I paid $500(ish) for my girls spay over the $60 spay at my local clinic for that reason.

I agree that location is important. When my aunt needed her cat's teeth cleaned her vet in a very expensive city quoted her $2000. My vet at the time was still in an expensive area, but they were significantly cheaper. They were also a fairly large, reputable animal hospital so there was no worry about lesser care. She got the teeth cleaning done at my vet for just a few hundred dollars. The only real difference between the two vets is that the super expensive one had cat trees and calming plug-ins in each room. Services during and after the procedure were the same at both. If anything, the animal hospital was way more generous with pain meds. If long drives weren't so stressful for my cat I would gladly drive 6 hours back to that vet for dental work.

I would (and have) go with the vet I trusted. Any time any cat of mine goes under anesthesia, I worry, and I want to know the vet taking care of him/her is familiar with that particular cat and I want to feel I can trust them to take the best care possible.

I'm not rich by any means, but I have credit cards for things like this, and even if it takes me a while to pay it off, I feel it's worth it for my peace of mind.

Kieka said:

His main vet also wanted to do pre blood work, recovery mointoring, pain medication and a cone that the other vet didn't do.

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The main vet is right, he should be requiring all that and I would run fast from the vet that doesn't.... that's terrible!

I live in Utah. My cat has a cleaning coming up on Tuesday and we are going with our usual vet, even though they're more expensive, because I trust them (and he hasn't been under anesthesia in the 7 years we've had him). When we got a quote for it last May, the low end was $800 (with no extractions).

The price differences could very well be because of the age of the cat or what was done for the procedure. Tests, extractions, monitoring afterwards all add to the expense. It could also be that the clinic is part of a chain, some of which it is known to have higher prices and sales quotas. I had a dental done last year on my Jack and the cost was in that ball park, but he had extractions. I used my regular vet since they know my cat and I trust them.

Reminder, February is dental month and many vets offer discounts on dental work. For example, my vet does 20% off cleanings all month long.

Hey, thanks to everyone for posting on this thread! My email didn't tell me anyone had replied so I didn't check back. Guess I'll have to check in person from now on!

So anyway, my super late response! I've decided to just go with my vet. I called another place near my apartment and their price was even higher! So, while I could drive further out to a vet I don't know, I'd rather just pay the $650 and not price shop, especially when I know my vet is going to take great care of my cat.

Oh, and I did find out that my coworker forgot to mention all of the bloodwork was over $200, on top of the $280 for the tooth cleaning procedure and anesthesia. So it seems like my vet is more expensive (they are in city proper and I'm sure have very pricey rent), it's worth it just to go to someone I know and pay a couple hundred extra. Especially as it's hopefully only once every couple of years.