Definetly changing vets!!!

[scattycat]

Quite clearly our vets are just expensive from the quotes you guys have put for full mouth extractions that have cost you - little Jasper seems very happy and is loving his new biscuits - has no problems crunching them, so fingers crossed this is a good start.

[cheekee_munkee]

My maddy had bad gingivitis and needed nearly all her teeth removed.

Cost nearly £170

Included follow up appointment

[Sabrina (Auferstehen)]

Glad you went for a second opinion, when Penguin went to have 9 teeth removed and the rest cleaned it cost about £150. Now he just looks a little lop sided with one fang showing but hasn't had any problems since.

[Desley (booktigger)]

Glad you have got a positive second opinion - I would also try using Plaque Off and Logic Gel to help with the tartar, but both can be found cheaper online than through the vet.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I am pleased you have found a vet you feel comfortable with and I think that when you feel like you are being ripped off, you usually are. As you know noe when you are not happy get a second opinion and go with your bests instict.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

That's good if you're happy with the new vets    It seems, from posts on here, that gingivitis is a difficult condition to treat as it can be hard to know whether it's an auto immune thing or a teeth thing.  The most important thing with a vet is that you have confidence in them and it sounds like you have more confidence in your new vets than in the previous one.  The cheapest isn't necessarily the best though so try not to be too swayed by the money aspect (as long as you don't feel you're being ripped off).  Things like blood tests are a good idea before an op with older cats but it can be difficult to know whether they're necessary with a 5 yr old.  I turned down the chance to have pre op bloods done before Mosi's op yesterday as he's not yet 2 so I thought them unnecessary, but did have them done when Jaffa had a dental last yer (age 9).  I also paid about £400 for Jaffa's dental as he had the blood tests, iv drip etc.

I hope you get to the bottom of your lad's gingivitis and fingers crossed the t/d biscuits will help.  Jaffa swallows even them whole!

[scattycat]

Some of you may remember I posted previously about our vets quoting us £513 for 3 to 4 teeth removed due to gingivitus - we couldnt make a claim on the pet insurance as it was a pre-existing condition.

We both felt that it was a high quote, but also that it was a bit extreme as he is only 5 years old (male). Once our claim was rejected (as we did a pre-claim form thankfully!) they lowered the quote to £350 purely for the dental treatment ... but then said it'd be nice if they could do the pre-op blood tests, the fiv test etc etc ... which basically would push it back up to the £500 mark.

So we felt that a 2nd opinion was needed, we took him to a vets which we took our latest cat we've rehomed in July (as it was the re-homing centres vets, and she needed some work done).

We went there today and the vet was very nice, and said that he felt that it wasnt necessarily a teeth issue, but more of a gum issue and that even if the teeth were to come out, that the problem would still be there - which is what we felt from the start.

He said that he didnt want to dive in with surgery and taking the teeth out, he recommended the T/D biscuit and wanted to see him in 3 months time to re-examine his teeth / gums as he said if the T/D biscuits help take the tartar off of his teeth, then that's a good start, and that then maybe a steriod injection may prove to be a solution.

He agreed with us that as he's so young, we basically took him on with gingivitus in the first place it appears, that our little chap may not know he 'should' be in pain as that is what he may think is normal - and the vet agreed. He said as he's clearly not in pain, and eating food - mainly biscuits anyway - and crunching down on them without 'grimacing' that it doesnt appear to be that bad (certainly not as bad a situation as our vets may think it is -the last bit is our view not the vets btw!).

He did say that eventually our chap will have to have his teeth out (and leave the 4 front canines) and we know that, but he said it shouldnt be yet, in a few years time - which is acceptable.

So we've got the 3kg bag of T/D which he loves and I can see how it helps get the tartar off the teeth with how big they are forcing them to crunch, not just swallow! Our other 2 cats also love it which is good as our other chap does have tartar problems so this will hopefully help him, and keep our little girls teeth better too.

So, as the title suggests we're definetly changing vets, as the 'new' vets is happy for things to try to be resolved by non-evasive surgery - however our 'current' vets say that the teeth need to come out within the month (we certainly didnt win the lottery tonight and they wont accept installments - even though they've accepted that method of payment in the past).

So we'll be writing them a nice letter, saying that its absolutely nothing to do with the staff, its purely the fact that we have to think with a more financial head on our shoulders, not just because the vet is nice.