Tooth Extraction Costs - Enfield

[Turan_21]

Hi all.
My cat, Rosie, needs to have all of her back teeth removed. Does anyone have any idea of what I can expect to pay? Unfortunately, I have no insurance for my 14 year old. Thanks

[Ruth B]

It's going back 7 or 8 years but one of ours had to have a load of teeth removed on one side, and then a couple of months later the rest of the back teeth had to come out as well, it cost us somewhere in the region of £300 - £350 each time. We also didn't have insurance but had the money set aside for such eventualities, the vets also said that some insurance companies won't pay for dental work as it is classed as cosmetic (if you have ever had tooth ache you know just how uncosmetic it is).

Your vets should be able to give you an estimate and a break down of what each part costs, our cat had an over night stay at the vets before the operation as it is easier than trying to starve one cat while feeding the other, but added extra cost, you might also want to check the price of antibiotics and pain medication for after the operation, your vet might be willing to give a prescription and then you can get it online, but you will have to plan ahead for that. You might also want to consider if you want her to have an antibiotic injection or tablets, the injection is normally more expensive, but i hated having to force tablets into Blue's mouth when I knew it must already be hurting him from the dental work, the second time he had the injection.

I would also suggest having a full blood work done before the surgery just to make sure there isn't anything that needs to be taken into consideration. Blue did have this done and it did come back showing some signs of kidney problem, fortunately in the end it did seem to be linked to the bad teeth and a year of so later and a few extra blood tests showed it had cleared up and he didn't need medication for it.

What I can say is that Rosie will feel a lot better once any bad teeth are gone, i once heard it said that a cat is better is no teeth than one bad tooth, and with Blue it certainly proved true. The only issue we really had was that the vet told us to make sure we added a bit of extra water to his wet food to make sure it was nice and soft for him to eat, however he always liked his dried food and as we hadn't thought to take it up before we got him home, the moment the carrier was open he was head first in a bowl of dried food, and teeth or no teeth, he always preferred his dried food till the day he died, several years after his teeth were removed.

[Mollycat]

I don't remember how much it cost to have all Sarah's back teeth out but Bobby had a scale and polish and one extraction about 4-5 years ago and that was £100-odd for the half price dental in half price dental month plus an amount per extraction which I have in mind at £50-60 but could be wrong. None of my animals has ever been insured. Sarah did the same, straight in the biscuits with not one tooth behind the fangs, crunch crunch crunch.

What surprises me though is my Misha had a scale and polish at around 10 years old then the vet thought she could do with another at about 13 or 14 but wouldn't do it unless she felt she needed it, ie had a problem, because of the increased risks in older animals. She didn't have it and was fine for the rest of her life. Bobby's second dental at age 13 with extremely early stage renal failure - so mild it barely registered - the vet kept him in on a drip the night before and the night after.

[Turan_21]

Thank you Ruth B & Mollycat for your replies. Good to know Rosie should be ok to eat after tooth extraction. Took her to the vet this afternoon and she’s doing much better than she was at her previous appointment. Her teeth will definitely need to be removed but nothing too urgent. We’re looking at a cost of £400-£600. She’s worth it!