Guest the36thchamber Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Last Tuesday night my cat Max ate some Easter Basket grass and got really sick. We took him to our vet and four days and $1200 later he was fine. I'm happy he's well but that was $1200 that we didn't have. We've had our cats for eight years and have always gone to the same vet. Ironically when we got Lego, our vet was on my adoption groups preferred list to treat Greyhounds so we were very happy. I called my Greyhound rep and he said that he used to take his dogs to this same vet but said their prices had gone up so he gave me the name of the vet he now goes too so we're going to try her the next time anything comes up. It got me thinking about pet insurance and if it's really worth it or not. Although I just dished out the $1200 for Max, I'm not horribly worried about the cats. All three are strictly indoor cats and up until now, this has been the only major issue that we've had with them. Lego on the other hand is a totally different story. So my question is, what can any of you tell me about your experience with pet insurance. Good, bad, worth it, if so, what companies have you gone through. Oh and when I went to pick Max up at the vet, I took Lego with me and after the vet taold me what was going on with Max, she weighed Lego and checked his teeth out for me at no cost, thankfully and she said his weight is perfect and she said his teeth are fine and not ready for a cleaning yet. On the way out, I asked the girl at the front desk how much a cleaning was and it was something like $500-$700. I was like what? Apparently and most of you probably already know but they consider it a surgery. A friend of mine who is a vet tech and also works at a per store, told me that she knows a non anesthetic vet who will do it for $80. What can you all tell me about getting their teeth cleaned and what do you all think about the prices that I listed? Thanks for any advice that you might be able to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan41 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 If you use the "Search" feature here, and type in "pet insurance" - with the quotation marks, you should receive a substantial amount of information that should answer most of your questions. Hope that helps. Quote Linda, Mom to Fuzz, Barkley, and the felines Miss Kitty, Simon and Joseph.Waiting at The Bridge: Alex, Josh, Harley, Nikki, Beemer, Anna, Frank, Rachel, my heart & soul, Suze and the best boy ever, Dalton.<p> ....for all those hounds that are sick, hurt, lost or waiting for their forever homes. SENIORS ROCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest twhitehouse Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I'd like to find out about the teeth cleaning also. Hopefully someone knows.... and can give some insite. Lexi's teeth are okay...but they are getting pretty dirty (or at least compared to when she came to us with pearly whites) and she HATES to have her teeth brushed so it makes it difficult to keep up with it. $500-$700 is a little outrageous, I agree..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jennifer4719 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Xena's cleaning was around $300 and that was with two extractions. I do have PetFirst insurance which did pay a portion, but I don't rememebr that off the top of my head. I know I did post something about it on here, so do a search and I am sure you will find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tumeria33 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Our rescued cat, Charlie had to have his teeth cleaned. I just pulled up the Vet bill. It totalled $371.70. The vet we had at the time was pricey but they offered good service. I think $500 to $700 is crazy! I would call other vets and shop around. Just make sure they realize about Greyhounds and their problems with anesthesia. When we got Isis our new vet said her teeth were in great shape for a greyhound. I am keeping an eye on them. She also doesn't care for her teeth being brushed. She does like to chew on rawhide chews and her teeth sparkle after she has one. We buy only American rawhide as those made in China may contain toxic chemicals. (don't trust anything coming from China anyway). Also we never leave her unsupervised with the chews. We looked into different pet insurances and got several quotes. They all seemed pretty expensive and didn't cover very much. If you find a good pet insurance I would love to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carronstar Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) I found out here on GT about non-anesthetic teeth cleaning. Aquitaine had it done in February and I am really happy with the results. We will go the next time the woman is in New York City because her teeth were really dirty and I want to vigilant about keeping them clean. I brush and wipe with peroxide as well. I the search I used on here was non-anaestheic teeth cleaning. Here is the link to the service itself: http://houndstoothdental.com. I know she goes to most of the big greyhound meetings like Solvang, etc. Aquitaine just laid in her lap and let her do the cleaning, at one point she even went to sleep. I held her legs lightly and there was no twitching or whining or anything. The whole thing took less than an hour and cost $170. I did tell my vet about what I was doing because he wanted her teeth cleaned, I shared the website info with him and he was interested in the idea. I promised him that if she was uncomfortable, or the cleaning wasn't good that I would go ahead and do a regular cleaning but I really don't see that we will have to do that. Edited April 10, 2009 by carronstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest myjazzy Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Actually, $500-$700 for a dental is about right. I also think its is outrageous, but what can you do? I have Moses' latest dental bill (Momo is about 87 pounds) Safety profile 78.03 Anesthesia 167.11 Additional Propofol 60.42 Scale & Polish 67.51 Pulse oximeter, resp monitor, ekg, temp 40.46 IV cath/lactated ringers 60.68 Total Dental 474.21 Plus he had his wellness exam 40.99 Fecal 52.02 Heartworm test 27.85 Total Wellness 120.86 Total Visit 595.07 The individual items don't seem to be expensive, but once you add it all up, it ends up being a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eaglflyt Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I think some of the prices vary by region, so what may be reasonable in one area may seem extravagant in another. In our area, that is a very pricey dental. There is a vet in our area that has their own routine pet care plan through their clinic. An adult dog coverage for 1 year costs $125 and that includes annual lab work, all annual vaccinations plus 6 mo. parvo booster, teeth cleaning (anesthesia &/or extractions not included), 2 fecal exams, 1 heartworm test, all office calls at no charge during the year, and one free x-ray with any accident. We just got Ady Bea, but we are planning on enrolling her into his program. He does have greyhound experience and did an excellent job when spaying two of our other dogs and one of our cats. I got to go in the back to pick up one of the dachsies (she was not wanting to cooperate for them) and everything was extremely clean and orderly. Their facility is certainly not fancy, but is very clean and up to date with equipment. They all seem to genuinely love animals, too. This vet is almost an hour away, so I would use our closer vet for emergencies ... as well as our local Vet ER. But, at that price savings, I can keep all her routine medical exams and maintenance in the budget and not fret. Of course medications, other procedures, etc. would not be covered but all routine medical procedures for that price is a big plus for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lanielovesgreys Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Actually, $500-$700 for a dental is about right. I also think its is outrageous, but what can you do? I have Moses' latest dental bill (Momo is about 87 pounds) Safety profile 78.03 Anesthesia 167.11 Additional Propofol 60.42 Scale & Polish 67.51 Pulse oximeter, resp monitor, ekg, temp 40.46 IV cath/lactated ringers 60.68 Total Dental 474.21 Plus he had his wellness exam 40.99 Fecal 52.02 Heartworm test 27.85 Total Wellness 120.86 Total Visit 595.07 The individual items don't seem to be expensive, but once you add it all up, it ends up being a lot. Good lord. I'm in Dallas, and I get them for $120. I was so scared when I found out how much I should expect to pay for dentals, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got our bill. No extractions, mind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FenwaysDad Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Holy cow! I guess we are really lucky. Fenway's dental was less that $200, including the full blood panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubcitypam Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 $52.02 for a fecal? Holy cow! Dentals in Lubbock were $100 + $10 an extraction. I think it was $210 with no extractions at the pricey vet in Dallas. What was included in the $120 total wellness? Would seem like it would in clude some of the same blood tests as the safety profile... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest myjazzy Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 It's about the same all around this area. I went to another vet that gave me a quote that was higher. Something close to $600 just for the dental. If I remember correctly they did full mouth x-rays or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Xena's cleaning was around $300 and that was with two extractions. I do have PetFirst insurance which did pay a portion, but I don't rememebr that off the top of my head. I know I did post something about it on here, so do a search and I am sure you will find it. Totally depends where you live I guess, 'cause George's cleaning was a lot more that with no extractions and no complications! Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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