Help! Is my vet scamming me?

[tabbysia]

I was told last week during a routine checkup that my cat had a badly infected tooth and that it might have to be extracted. The vet put him on antibiotics and pain meds for a week, and then I brought him back today for a recheck. The vet said that his tooth looks much better and that his infection is clearing up, but she still wants to schedule a tooth extraction in a couple of weeks anyway because the infection might “reoccur”. Huh? If the antibiotics are clearing up the infection, why does the tooth need to be pulled? Is this really a necessary procedure, or will I just be putting my cat through a painful $600 (ish) procedure for no reason? How does she know the infection will reoccur? Is she just trying to make money? I am a little suspicious because the patient ahead of my cat (a dog) had just had the same procedure done. This seems to be something she does a lot. I really don’t know what to do. I want what’s best for my cat, but I don’t know if he needs this procedure. Has anyone else had a cat who needed to have a tooth extracted or a cat whose tooth got better with only antibiotics?

 

[kittyprincesss]

Teeth problems are common in cats, I don't think the vet is necessarily a "scammer". Tooth infections have a high chance of reoccuring especially if the tooth is rooted badly. Your cat will most likely have teeth problems at some point, and it might be better to do it while they are in good health if this is already a problem tooth. My son had a bad tooth, and he got better momentarily with antibiotics, but if that tooth needs to come out theres nothing to avoid that. If you have doubts, seek the opinion of a second vet. You can have those xrays and exam findings sent over to limit costs at the second vet.

 

[daftcat75]

An infection means there is a hole in the tooth that won't fill back in with antibiotics. Even if this infection clears up, there is still a hole in his tooth for the next infection to take up residence. The procedure isn't that painful. The cat is anesthetized, given a nerve block, and a pain shot. He will wake up loopy but not in pain. You'll either be sent home with pain medicine which you will need to give on schedule whether he looks like he needs it or not. Or your vet may give him a three day shot which will make him restless and loopy. He probably won't sleep for three days. But you won't have to deliver pain medicine into his mouth for those days. The risk of not doing the extraction is that bacteria can simply take up residence in the hole left behind by the infection and continue where the last infection left off. The larger risk is that infection spreads into a neighboring tooth, the gums, the jaw bone, or gets into his bloodstream, and becomes a systemic infection. The risk of doing the extraction is that you're out $600 and the cat is loopy for a few days. As long as he doesn't have anything else going on that would make him an anesthesia risk, you have much more risk leaving the tooth than having it extracted.

 

[daftcat75]

Pulling cat teeth is not fun for vets. There are probably a lot easier scams to pull on you than trying to yank teeth from your cat's head.

 

[cat nap]

I was told last week during a routine checkup that my cat had a badly infected tooth and that it might have to be extracted. The vet put him on antibiotics and pain meds for a week, and then I brought him back today for a recheck. The vet said that his tooth looks much better and that his infection is clearing up, but she still wants to schedule a tooth extraction in a couple of weeks anyway because the infection might “reoccur”. Huh? If the antibiotics are clearing up the infection, why does the tooth need to be pulled? Is this really a necessary procedure, or will I just be putting my cat through a painful $600 (ish) procedure for no reason? How does she know the infection will reoccur? Is she just trying to make money? I am a little suspicious because the patient ahead of my cat (a dog) had just had the same procedure done. This seems to be something she does a lot. I really don’t know what to do. I want what’s best for my cat, but I don’t know if he needs this procedure. Has anyone else had a cat who needed to have a tooth extracted or a cat whose tooth got better with only antibiotics?

How old is your cat, T tabbysia ? I was just curious. Not that it actually matters with dental problems, since cats of all ages can get them.

I totally agree with the above members.
Dental problems can lead to other problems if not taken care of,...things like heart, kidneys and other organs can be affected if dental problems occur...and are allowed to fester.
It's best to get them done when they first occur, instead of waiting for further decay.
With the antibiotics, they are usually given to prevent a bacterial infection from spreading, and also to reduce any inflammation at the site.

Definitely phone around, if you think that your Vet's costs are too high.
But if she is including the cost of x-rays, cleaning, and extraction...then that cost estimate might be reasonable.

(I not from the States, but had to have my previous rainbow cat, Spotty at age 14, go through six dental extractions...way back in 2014, and the costs, here in ontario, canada were an estimate of $550cad..but ended up $830 CAD..since there were alot more extractions, than first thought. A dental x ray was not done beforehand, so my Vet really didn't know how many he would have to do. Now in hindsight, I maybe should have had the x-rays done beforehand, but I was just going by what my Vet suggested,...and I think he was trying to keep the costs down for me. He was the type of Vet, who didn't do procedures if not needed.)

Take a look at this website,...for some graphics...at the way tooth decay looks.
(I'm not really sure this is what your cat has...(but it is what my cat had.))
Cat Cavities | Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive Lesion | King West Vets

Please, update us, on what you decide.

 

[CatladyJan]

I agree with everyone too. Have you ever had an abscessed tooth and had to take antibiotics and either get a root canal it extraction? It’s the same thing.

 

[fionasmom]

There is a point to this.....several years ago a neighbor had a well loved cat who went on a terrible biting spree. The rest of the story does not apply here, but she actually asked the vet if extracting some teeth would be a possible solution and the vet told her that pulling teeth which do not need to be pulled is a hugely different procedure from extracting diseased ones, is very hard on the animal, and is a very hard and unpleasant experience for the vet and that they would not even consider it.

I don't think that your vet is trying to scam you either, but I am not criticizing you for wanting to be informed and certainly not for possibly looking for another quote.

 

[tabbysia]

Update:
I did end up getting the tooth extracted, and everything is healing up nicely with his mouth. However, when I was bringing him home from the vet a few days ago, I kept looking over at him in the car and noticed that he was squinting his eyes. He was still doing it when I let him out of his carrier when I got home. I didn’t think too much of it at first.They had told me that he might be a little loopy still from the anesthesia, and I figured he probably just wasn’t feeling well after his ordeal. When he was still doing it the next day, I called the vet clinic.The receptionist told me he was probably still in pain and to keep giving him the Tramadol and call back in two days if he wasn’t any better. Well, I didn’t want to wait and called back an hour later and asked to speak to the vet. The vet was very rude, unprofessional, and defensive. She insisted that his eyes were just fine when he left the clinic and that I was overreacting. She eventually agreed to look at him (very begrudgingly), so I brought him in. I wasn’t allowed to go back in the exam room. When she came back out from the exam room, she sheepishly told me that both of his eyes (the corneas, I guess?) were scratched. She again denied that anything happened to his eyes while he was up there and that he was holding them open just fine before he left. I know this is not true, but I have no way of proving otherwise. Now I been having to wrestle with my cat to put drops in his eyes 8 times a day, which is traumatic for both of us, and I had to miss two days of work to take care of him. I think the very least they could have done was not make me pay for the two expensive bottles of drops, but no such luck. My cat has been traumatized, and I think it’s time to look for another vet.

 

[Stressedcatmom]

I was going to say, if you are feeling off about a vets indication, its never just the indication its always their attitude or what u see at the clinic. When in doubt look for a second opinion, a couple of days and ur doubts will be cleared.
Ive dealt with money hungry vets who has only made my cat go worse and the recovery ends up being longer always

 

[Margot Lane]

Obviously something happened…your cat‘s eyes were fine going in. If it were me, I’d look for another vet if I had options. I have noticed more and more too that vets are increasingly stressed. I am sure COVID hasn’t helped, and everyone is buying pets these days so more to do. Not defending the vet persay, but in your hunt you might look for the vet who seems the least harried, if that is possible.

 

[Meowmee]

Sorry that happened. I hope his eyes will heal. Unfortunately there is no way to prove the scratches happened under their care. You can file a report but nothing will come of it most likely. Better to just move on since he is going to be ok and warn others.
As for tooth extractions most of the time it is needed, I have never heard of a scam over it. My Wizard had some done as a preventative and he did very well, he was fiv +. But at the end of his life when he was being treated for lymphoma and kidney disease and anemia- he had an infection and an er dvm was insisting he needed more extractions. She overdosed him on meds and he got worse after that. I told her he was too sick and too old to do that, his reg dvm agreed and said she was off her rocker.

I did have one dvm try to scam me to do unneeded very expensive surgeries on Sybil by threatening she would be maimed without it. I declined and she recovered from dislocating elbows and was fine as she grew.

 

[denice]

Vets are definitely busier because of people getting 'pandemic' pets. That means more inexperienced pet owners. If you don't have faith in your vet, then definitely look for another.