Last week, I took Ike for his routine canine wellness exam and with the urging of his vet, we decided to schedule him to get his teeth cleaned. I had never had any of my pet's teeth professionally cleaned. Ever. My dogs have always been fine, their teeth have always been ok, and I do my best at brushing Ike's teeth. But he had a little plaque build up, and while it wasn't even that bad I thought it might be ok to get it done. He's almost 7 now and it's time for taking those extra precautions.
My biggest concern was the cost of having it done. I was quoted anywhere between $230 - 350. It's frustrating, I know, when having your own human teeth cleaned is only about $100. But they have to put the little guys under anesthesia to get anything done. They also have to do blood work before hand to make sure that they can handle anesthesia. There are the xrays, the charges for monitoring them while they're under, etc. etc. Thank goodness that February is Pet Dental Month, and we were promised a bit of a discount to do it in February.
So, we scheduled it. The poor guy had to be in before 7am to start everything. I was hoping for it all to be relatively routine. Then I got a call. They had done his xrays and found a few problems with 3 of his teeth. A couple were cracked, not attached to a root anymore, and were loose. These were issues, though, we're not sure could have been prevented 100% (as Ike has separation anxiety, he has, at times, bit his crate while he is in it -- they say these are common in some dogs). But the important part is that we're catching these problems before the go further and he possibly has issues with infections. Even so, hearing them tell me how much more it was going to cost, made me wince.
Finally, we were able to go and pick him up. He was excited to see us, but cried and whimpered the entire way home. His mouth was in a lot of pain and he was so miserable. Made ME want to cry. We got him settled down on the couch, gave him his medications, and offered him a little food (which he ate! yay!).
The whole thing ended up costing us around $420. Which is a lot. Which is what I could have spent on something for our dining room. Or new flooring in the kitchen. Or or or...The list could go on. But all of those things? While they're nice...They certainly aren't Ike. And I wouldn't want a simple problem in his mouth to multiple and get worse....into something that could cost him his life. He's my baby.
I'd do anything for that face....Wouldn't you?
Consider having your doxie's teeth cleaned today! Remember that February is Pet Dental Month -- ask your vet if they are running any discounts for teeth cleaning procedures!
Friends
Posts
15 comments:
When we adopted Gus a few months ago, he came with a mouthful of infected teeth and gums. He has advanced periodontal disease, and has had multiple teeth extracted. He's about 7 years old, and getting along just fine without the teeth (still eats hard food) but it sure puts a dent in the wallet to say the least! Riley is going in for his first dental next week. I've been saving up for it, and also waited for February to get the 20% discount. I'm nervous about the general anesthesia, and can't wait for it to be over!
When I adopted Miss Molly Jane, I was told she had a few teeth that needed to be extracted (she was only 1 and this is usually done when they go under to be 'fixed' but apparently her old vet didn't do it). I was hesitant to get them extracted since the vet even said they weren't bothering her. Two months later, the teeth fell out on her own! YAY! I got a toothbrush and paste for her...hopefully we'll be able to avoid the bills and anesthesia.
I have two mini dachshunds: Moka, who is 6, and Tigger who is almost 2. I brush their teeth regularly, but lately I had noticed that Moka's front lower teeth had a lot of plaque that I could not remove. I brought her to our vet who is also a friend. She had a general anesthetic and he cleaned her teeth thoroughly; fortunately, no tooth extractions were necessary. When I got the bill, I almost passed out: $735 (Canadian dollars, but still!). Yes, you read it right. I don't know if it's him or if this is a normal vet bill for cleaning teeth for Toronto, but I did find it outrageous. Next time, I am going to shop around -- I am convinced, especially after finding out it cost you $420, and that included extractions, that we are being way over-charged. And it's even more awkward because he is a long-time friend and we get... a 10% discount.
One thing you can do to help with better tooth health is if you don't feed raw all the way, give them a chicken neck or chicken wing once a week or so to eat. Raw bones are actually good for dogs and do wonders with the teeth.
I also have greyhounds who are notorious for bad teeth and none of mine need dentals - we are sparkling clean all the time - including the doxies!
Phew, I'm not a doxie and in the end you said that our parents should consider their doxies teeth cleaned. TGI'm a chi
Twink!
yep, totally agree. it may seem like a high price to pay but the alternatives are much much worse!
hugs,
b
Amy,
Do the chicken necks/wings have any digestive effects on dachsies who don't eat raw on a regular basis, for instance, diarrhea or constipation?
They may cause some D, but they’ll eventually get used to them. You can give them probiotics to help counter it. Probiotics are good to give anyway, all of our greyhounds at the adoption kennel get it with each of their meals.
I feed raw, so not an issue, but considering the cost and the health risk of dentals under anesthesia, I guess I’d be willing to put up with a little D once in a while for cleaner teeth. Many people say you shouldn’t do both raw and kibble, but I know people who do both and the dogs are fine. Sometimes, if I have an underweight dog I just can’t get weight on, I’ll feed them kibble too. My doxies took to raw like champs. I go ahead and give all my fosters raw, it’s just easier in the long run at my house and they can switch back to kibble easily. Whenever they get adopted, I don’t worry what the preference is in their new home, everyone is different and I have no judgment about kibble what other people feed. Do what works best for your household.
Amy,
Thanks for the advice. Mine are on traditional Chinese food therapy - and due to their age most of their food is cooked. So kibble won't be an issue. They eat a lot of organ meat mixed with herbs and spices (as dictated by their particular health conditions) and carbs (brown rice sweet potatos). It's really made a difference for them and is worth the extra effort. We'll be having some chicken necks this week end.
I have to chime in and give three cheers for the doxie dental exam. I have had some rotten teeth around the house- Stuff that a toothbrush hasn't been able to keep at bay. The cost is high, but would you let your doxie wince in pain when you try to kiss him on the snout?
We have a vet savings account. $50 goes in every month in sickness and in health. It has been a life saver...literally!
When I read posts about vet costs, I thank God that we stumbled upon the best vet I have ever been to. We stumbled across this vet when we had pet rats. (Yes, pet rats. They are so awesome! I am highly allergic though!)
They have a gigantic amount of customers that have gone there for years. Its a smallish building and is in an older strip mall area. So they keep costs down as much as possible because they have such a large customer base that they don't need to charge customers large amounts for things.
Vet visits are so cheap for us. We have to do cleanings on our Doxie because he has teeth problems that developed in the two years that he was neglected before we adopted him.
Its 150 for a dental were we go. That never goes up. Its 3 bucks to take a tooth out.
What made me fall for them is that they don't charge multiple vet visits no matter how many animals you are taking in at once.
We had a vet before this one that charged us 40 bucks for every animal we brought in on one visit. Even though the visit wasn't even that long not matter how many animals we have. We had 5 pet rats and they wanted to charge 40 bucks for EACH RAT! 5 rats isn't even the weight of a very small dog. Plus it never takes long with them.
So yeah, I wish everyone could find a cheap vet with goo service! It makes me sad that not everyone can get that.
We have problems brushing our dogs teeth. Its such a struggle that we often forget to do it.
Thanks for mentioning this, dental health is very important for Doxies.
I adopted my Brownie in June, he is 9 years old. I sent him in for a teeth cleaning in November, they said they'd probably have to remove 3 or 4 teeth. Ended up being 17. And when he went in he only had 20 to begin with.
Having a doxie with no teeth is actually sort of a relief--I never have to worry about them again really.
And when he gums my finger its the best feeling in the world :)
Fantastic post and great reminder.
i just paid more than $1200 for riley to get his teeth cleaned (every couple years) and dash to get his last 3 pulled. he'd lost most of them after being rescued from a puppy mill and came to me with just the three. i'm glad all are gone now, and i think he is too - no more pain, and they were so big in his empty mouth, i think they got in the way more than anything.
I just adopted a 4 year old miniature Dachshund (longhair), who had very foul breath - above and beyond your typical-bad-doggie-breath. Turns out he needed his teeth cleaned, and while he was having this procedure done, his vet called to tell me 11(!) teeth need to come out. The teeth were so bad, puss was extruding from the gums... Poor guy.
It's only been 3 days since the surgery, but my little Oliver is finally gaining weight and is becoming a lot more playful :)
I had no idea that this breed was so susceptible to teeth problems. I'm sure glad I adopted him and relieved him of the pain.
Post a Comment