need opinions please

Took my cat for his annual checkup today. I was told he will need a teeth cleaning - that he even has an infection. I thought that was weird that she said I could take my time deciding. But that the infection could at some point spread to his organs. I would think she would have jumped on pushing me towards spending the money.

Ive been reading other posts about this and I guess I have no other choice. The cost would be about $300 does that sound correct???


THANKS!!

how old is kitty>??

I personally would get a second opinion as I would not trust a vet who said I could take my time and did not give and antibiotic at least for said infection or some kind of mouth wash

He will be 6 in august.

Yeah i was surprised by that. I did ask about an antibiotic and was told it would only help temporarily and was pointless.

In fact - the vet tech gave me the info - the vet never came back after getting prices for me (id say a good 3 minutes was spent with us) so all my questions went to the tech.

Actually as I was driving off with my cat- my neighbor came over and said she found a great vet (one who did tests for her dog instead of guessing - see what i mean about the vets in my area?).
I just sent them an email to see if i could get a price on cleaning. So maybe Ill just bring my cat to him and get that 2nd opinion. Only thing I dont like about it is he is about 40 minutes away compared to 5 - my cat HATES his carrier and i get stressed hearing him cry. But at this point we'll have to endure it if it means keeping him healthy.

try rescue rememdy or feliway for car trips ....

I had to take my cats to a -GREAT- vet 30 minutes away, and they stressed me out with the crying too, but after all was said and done it was worth it. I just got a dental done on my persian, he had a lot of tartar and had some inflamed areas of gum, .. Every vet is different, I guess, but I would be concerned that they gave you no antibiotics if the cat has an infection. Gum infections are pretty serious in my book. And, my vet gave me antibiotics before the dental to clear up any infections beforehand. I would certainly get a second opinion and go to the other vet, even though it's a bit farther away. It may make the biggest difference ever. Like I said every vet is different, but I paid about 120 for Boo-Boo's dental, and that was with antibiotics and anesthesia. Good luck and I hope this new vet can help you and your cat out.

A dental at our vet is well over $400 and closer to $500.

You should definitely get it done, and determine where by price and references. If it is an uncomfortable ride, determine how much that is worth. If it is 20 dollars cheaper to go an extra 20 minutes, not worth it. If it is 100 or more, oh well. Does your cat have foul breath? When my cat had his teeth cleaned they had to remove 2 that were cracked. Poor baby, he must have been in awful pain before I discovered this, around 6 months.

I would call around and see what the costs are - we did a survey among our own Vet Assn and discovered that what cost $400 in a more urban area was as low as $75 in a small rural place in the SAME state and we have rather good prices compared to others.

I guess I think like a vet now but try to think of the consumer and especially the cat (I treat ONLY cats!). We do have a business to operate and it often depends on whether a vet has many services to provide- many send out their lab work, some employ fewer staff, some have less qualifued vet techs (ie they learn on the job and here I have to say that can create a good vet tech - since some people ae just innate cat people and by watching can be excellent!) Still, a certificate lets you know this person has met some standard but I also would do the same for the vet. I even would ask up front - where did they go to school, etc? You can call the state assn and check out your vet.

Good luck!

And NO cat with an infection should go home untreated. That is ridiculous!