cat needs tooth extraction -- vet quote seems high

[Anonymous]

^^^^

you can always say "no" to what they suggest, as we do at times. I was actually more concerned that Arl Animal Hsp (Col Pike) did not even suggest certain tests that I think are worth doing on an older cat --- if I didn't know that they'd never get done.

So I think it's a two-edged sword: you are better off knowing and having the option than you are never being told that there's a panel of blood tests (for ex) that you could consider, and you're an adult-- you can say "yes" or "no."

The cheapest care is not always the best (not that I even advocate spending money just to do tests or for spending's sake).

[Anonymous]

I would just like to say that I took my cat the VCA Tomball Cat Vet in Tomball, Texas today and my bill was $1688.88 for 7 tooth extractions. I'm not kidding you. It was almost $1700 USD for the removal of 7 teeth.

OF COURSE, I would NEVER have paid that price if it weren't for the fact that they gave me an estimate that was around $500-$700 before I made the extraction appointment during my first visit a week ago, (when I noticed my kitty's mouth didn't smell right), and then waited until my cat was actually prepped, under anesthesia and IN surgery before they called me to tell me how much it was really going to be.

What could I do at that point? Tell them to call it off? In for a penny, in for a pound and they knew it. I would have had to have paid for the anesthesia and dental cleaning anyway - to the tune of $500, but I would have also had to put my cat through ANOTHER visit to a different vet for surgery, more anesthesia, another week - two weeks of pain and I would have had to pay a different vet for the extractions, etc....

Basically - I got blackmailed. It was the most unethical experience with a vet I have ever been through in my life.

It gets even better, though. When I told them, "Listen, I don't have that kind of money laying around that can be spent so unexpectedly, can we at least work out a plan?" They had the nerve to act like making any payment arrangement with me was a BIG deal. I was completely blind-sided by this. They apparently, "don't make payment arrangements normally" when hijacking unexpected customers with outrageously high bills. So what do they do if you can't pay? Keep your cat??

I don't know very many people in this world that could come up with $1700 in 7.5 hours and yet they called me at 11:30am and closed at 7:00pm, which is exactly that amount of time. I think people need to know what just happened to me, and if you live in Houston, TX or the surrounding areas, please do not give these people your money or trust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago we had a cat have to have numerous teeth extracted during a teeth cleaning. We ended up paying about $900 I think because they had to remove 3 or 4 teeth. We went to Centreville Animal Hospital.

I paid $600 for a cleaning at Capital Cat in 2002. That place is very expensive.

[Anonymous]

Call Suburban Animal Hospital in Falls Church.

[Anonymous]

just got a quote done at moranbah vets central queensland 1 back tooth out and plaque removal off other teeth $265

[Anonymous]

We used Town and Country Vet in Fairfax. Very reasonable, and did a terrific job.

[Anonymous]

We had several teeth pulled and a cleaning under anesthesia, and the bill was almost $1500. I so wasn't ready for that. And as far as the TX person having to come up with $1,700. A couple of months ago, my dog suffered from bloat and full stomach rotation around 11 pm on a Friday night. They quoted almost $4,500, and when I told them I would have to get some of that to them on Monday, they acted like that would be very difficult to do. I had to put it on two different credit cards which I still have not paid off. I love my dog, but that sucked. It turned out that I overpaid by $300, and it took them 4 days to get me my overpayment back.