I went to the vetrinarian today to get my dog his vaccinations,...well they found a fracture in his tooth. They say it needs to be removed through surgery that will cost $700....yes $700! I don't know what to do...they said he's in pain...he seems just fine to me. But if he's in pain, then I need to help him,...but isn't that an insane amount of money to spend on a dog's tooth!?!....or is it just me? What happens when a wolf out in the forest (or wherever they live!), breaks a tooth? I'm feeling crappy about this! 
Yes, the tooth will have to be removed, but $700 does sound much too expensive. My 14 year old has had a few teeth pulled over the past few years, and the most I paid was maybe $250.
Yes, he is is pain and if the tooth isn't removed it will most likely lead to an infection. He will get an abcess (you'll notice a swelling in his cheek area) and then a full blown infection. If the infection is not treated it can be fatal (infections in the bloodstream going to the heart and all that).
When this happens to a wild animal, they die. Their mouth eventually becomes so painful that they can not eat and they starve to death.
I assume your vet gave you antibiotics for him? That will help with infection, but the tooth still needs to be removed. I'd call and ask why it would be so expensive and then call other vets in your area and get a second opinion on the cost. I don't know where you live, but maybe that's the going rate. Last month my foster puppy ate a sock that cost $1200 to be surgically removed! You can also ask your vet if they will let you pay in installments. Our old vet used to do that, but then they got bought out by a big corporation and their practice changed dramatically (and for the worse). Maybe if you're a regular patient they'll give you a break.
-Lisa
I could have had my dogs Acl surgeries done at the U of M Vet-They were double the price-So I hired a specialist. She tore both her ACL within six months-Cost us over $3,000. I love my pets dearly. She was young still and could have gone on without the surgeries. We could afford it so it was a no brainer. It is what you can afford. And yes most likely the dog is in pain but they show little emotion to things like this!
I don't know if it's just because I'm in Canada that it's so expensive, but I've had two opinions so far, and they both said the same thing. I'll check to see if there are any vet schools around. Wow, that's a huge price difference though , even with the exchnnge rate!! They didn't give me any antibiotics, maybe it's because he has no sign of infection?
I sympathize completely, I just had to take my 16 year old cat to the vet last week. They examined him, did some blood tests and took a couple of xrays, gave him a bottle of antibiotics and that was $329.
Sad part is he is in kidney failure and there isn't much can be done, especially in an older cat like this. He may live for a couple of years, or not!
He doesn't appear to be in pain, but he doesn't look like he feels well, so it is worrying me a lot.
I hope you can find someone to fix your doggie without costing so much. Janice
You are right about the cost of veterinary care being different depending on the area . . . for what Veejaytx paid $329 in Texas, would be over $650 at the vet that I work for here in Ca. $700 sounds reasonable to me . . . this is most likely not just pulling the tooth, but scaling and polishing the teeth (which should be done regularly and this would be a good time to do it) antibiotics by injection and to go home with, pain medication, etc. It most likely includes a pre-op blood panel as well. In my area this would be closer to $1000 . . . and also keep in mind that the cost of an extraction can go up depending on which tooth needs to come out.
As for making payments . . . if you only knew how many people PROMISE they will pay . . . their pets mean EVERYTHING to them . . . they ruin for the very few who will honestly follow through. Veterinary hospitals are very expensive to operate, and unfortunately there just isn't money to spare to pay an employee to deal with all the billing and collections when you allow payment plans. I don't know of any vets who will do this anymore. Maybe back in the day when things were a bit different this was a more reasonable option . . . but anymore, with credit cards and such out there . . . there just isn't any reason to bill when it causes so many problems.
Yes, get this taken care of . . . the sooner the better. And as for vet schools . . . I doubt it would be cheaper. The surgeons at vet schools are generally some of the best . . . they charge appropriately. Also, routine dentals and extractions are not going to be interesting enough to those caliber of surgeons . . . they like to deal with the kind of stuff you can get published for. As for "practice", vets actually do not do the dentistry normally. Their techs do the scaling and polishing, and most of the time even the extractions. (If they are a state licensed tech.) So thinking vets in school need the practice isn't going to work out either . . . good luck!
I can't say about the pain the dog feels, but my dog was bitten by a snake on her nose. Her face swelled so bad that you could barely tell she had a nose. She cried horribly, whimpered, and you could tell she was just hurting horribly. We took her to the vet, and he gave her an anti-venom shot, and some anti-biotics. Within a couple of days, the swelling had gone down, and she was back to normal. Unfortunately, the same dog, got bit again about 2 months later, and we had to go through it all again. She just had this thing about being curious about stuff. I think I paid about 150 for the visit. You can usually tell about an animal, because they will definitely show some sign that will tell you what to do. Just think if you had a bad tooth and how you feel.
I would check other vets and the school idea is a good one. Also, my vet does have 6mth financing through Capital One I think. My friend takes her dogs to a vet like an hour away from her (passing many inbetween) because it is cheaper than the rest.
Will your vet accept Care Credit. It is a form of a vet credit card. They pay your bill at the vet and you can make payments to them. That is what we offer at my hospital. Care credit offers interest free payments on amounts over 300 for 6 months and over 600 for one year. After that their interest rate is a horrible 21% but if not paid off in the interest free time they will let you transfer to a credit card with lower interest.
I have two dogs and two cats that I love deeply. I have two persians a breeding pair and a pekingese and a stafford shire terrier. They have never had any problems but my other dog that we had for years was having a baby and because the father was so big the baby was the full size of her tummy the doctors where in amaze needless to say they said she would never have it and that they needed to do a c section. We said that it wouldnt be possible 1200 and I was trying to pay my own babys medical bills "still pregnant at the time" and so we said no they gave her a shot of patosin (SP) and sure enought she had the puppy. My dog was a real fighter.
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