Epulis (Small Tumor/calcification On Gum) - Experience? Cost Of Vet Ca

[Guest SealDogMermaid]

Hello all -

 

So our little Seal has an Epulis on her gums and our vet had said to keep an eye on it. In the last few months it has gotten bigger so we are getting it removed. Just curious if anyone out there has any experience with the procedure and if so what was the recovery like? Were pain meds prescribed (im assuming...) and roughly how much did the vet bill run?

 

Our vet quoted us at $800-900 (located in northern MA) which includes the tumor removal, biopsy, a dental cleaning, and the anesthesia etc. (our vet is experienced with greys and their needs so no worries about the anesthesia being administered properly!) Does that sound like a reasonable price? I thought so but my fiance nearly fell over haha - he thinks we should get a quote from a diff vet but I trust this vet with our furbabies and in my opinion he is reasonable. Any input would be greytly appreciated!

 

[DesiRayMom]

Probably $500-600 at my clinic, including bloodwork, but we also "cut-rate" dentals some to convince clients to have them done.

Trusting your vet = priceless.

 

Depends on how large the epulis is........we usually don't do pain meds unless it was a large one, or the dental was major

(lots of scraping yuck from under the gumline) then only for 2-3 days.

[jaym1]

well, around boston most dentals are about $700, so i'd say thats a pretty fair price, including the surgery and biopsy. plus, trusting your vet is extremely important, and it sounds like you trust yours. any time a dog is being anesthetized, especially a greyhound, the procedure could have potentially life-threatening side effects. so i'd favor trust over saving $100 or so with an unfamiliar vet.

Edited October 31, 2012 by jaym1

[Hubcitypam]

Poodle had an epulis (sp) for at least 4-5 years. The vet told me as long as it was pink (evidently pink is good and blackish is bad) and wasn't growing much we could just keep an eye on it and we did. He had a dental last month and I had them laser off the epulis. They gave me a frequent customer discount and charged $50 instead of $100 for the epulis. No charge for the biopsy. The bulk of our $495 total bill was senior blood work and IV fluids.

 

Poodle was on pain meds from having 4 teeth removed. I don't think he would have been with just lasering off the epiulis.

 

I'd say $500 in suburban Texas (my vet is not in Dallas) would be in line with $800 in Boston.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Hubcitypam

[Guest Fasave]

Sounds about right for Boston. My boy had an epulis on the roof of his mouth which kept bleeding so they had to remove it. I used a dentist at Angell in Boston.. I don't know the cost because they did a biopsy first and discovered he had a torn salivary gland when they tried to put in the airway so he ended up with a bigger surgery. This is a rare event. However my current boy just had a dental at Angell. They charge by the amount of time the procedure takes and not by what is done (ex. Extractions). He had some extra work that needed to be done so it cost a little more than anticipated. Consult, bloodworm, dental ran about $1,100. Without the extra work it would have been $800 so I would say for Boston, the price is in line.

[Guest BrianRke]

My vet took Daytona's off for free. Took him about 3 minutes, no bleeding, no pain, nothing.

[Rickiesmom]

Jaynie had one removed recently. Because of the need to get margins they also had to remove a tooth. She is an anaesthetic risk due to compromised kidneys so the surgery was done by a board certified dental surgeon and anaesthesiologist. I am very happy we went that route - turns out the roots were bonded to the bone and it was a difficult extraction. Based on what we paid I'd say your quote was fine.

[Guest SealDogMermaid]

Thanks everyone for the input - i feel more confident about the pricing now and i even have a few examples to back it up so hopefully my fiance will feel better about it too hehe! The epulis doesn't have any black spots or anything but it is growing - albeit slowly, but still unnerving. Good to know about the pain med situation as well - i hope she wont be needing them. I know the mouth heals pretty quickly and the wound is cauterized (as opposed to stitches) so hopefully it doesnt cause too much discomfort.