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Abbey needs teeth extracted

4K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  Tavish 
#1 ·
I called my vet today to tell her Abbey has double set of teeth to schedule teeth extraction since they obviously didn't extract them 2 months ago when she was spayed. They told me I had to bring her up to make sure they were baby teeth. So I did and it cost me $40.00 just for them to say "Yep, they're baby teeth"
Tell me something I didn't know! Please!!
I was so angry!
So, she tells me they weren't extracted because her adult teeth hadn't erupted yet. Blah, Blah, Blah! So, now she wants me to have Abbey put under again, get blood work again, and IV. Do you all think the blood work is neccessary to have again since it has only been less than 3 months since her spay? Not having the blood work done would save me $55.00, but I would get it if it's vital. $55.00 is not much when you look at the full cost to have the teeth extracted -$235.00 for 4 teeth but if I could save alittle, it'd be better. I think I can forget about 2 malts, 1 is expensive enough!
 
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#2 ·
Don't know anything about the blood work, wouldn't think you would need it again so soon, but when Paris was spayed they pulled 11 teeth even though her adult teeth weren't all in yet. The cost of them pulling 4 teeth is more than what it cost me to have Paris spayed, blood work, and all her teeth pulled, plus her meds. ($176.00).
 
#4 ·
Well I'm not a doc.. but one doc told me that they like the pup to have blood work done within a month before surgery... I forget how long it was inbetween kodie's blood work... I'll have to look.. but I had prob 5 different blood work done on kodie within a 4-5 month period before his surgery...

I'm sure someone here will have a better answer then mine. Knowing how I am.. if it was kodie... I would probably do the blood work. I'm a crazy mother and I would just do it so I had the results of all his levels (like his liver) before he goes in for surgery. Plus I would want the surgen to see it. Then again... my surgen I deal with already knows kodie's issues soo I think he would do the same routine as with his neutering.
 
#5 ·
I sure wouldn't think that Abbey would need bloodwork again so soon if all the bloodwork from 3 months ago was normal. She's just a puppy.

I think the concern is more with an older dog. My vet's office requires bloodwork in dogs over 6 for any type of procedure requiring anesthesia. It's recommended, but optional for younger dogs.

Did you discuss this with your vet? I think sometimes the staff is trained to run the bill up. I can't tell you how often I have taken a very sick pet to my vet and had one of the girls remind me that so and so was due for a rabies shot or whatever next month and did I want to go ahead and do it today!
 
#6 ·
Originally posted by Abbey@Sep 21 2005, 10:55 AM
I called my vet today to tell her Abbey has double set of teeth to schedule teeth extraction since they obviously didn't extract them 2 months ago when she was spayed.  They told me I had to bring her up to make sure they were baby teeth.  So I did and it cost me $40.00 just for them to say "Yep, they're baby teeth" 
Tell me something I didn't know! Please!! 
  I was so angry!
So, she tells me they weren't extracted because her adult teeth hadn't erupted yet.  Blah, Blah, Blah!  So, now she wants me to have Abbey put under again, get blood work again, and IV.  Do you all think the blood work is neccessary to have again since it has only been less than 3 months since her spay?  Not having the blood work done would save me $55.00, but I would get it if it's vital.  $55.00 is not much when you look at the full cost to have the teeth extracted -$235.00 for 4 teeth but if I could save alittle, it'd be better.  I think I can forget about 2 malts, 1 is expensive enough!

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I agree with the others, I do not see the need for additional blood work this soon. In fact, they are not doing major surgery, they will just put her under enough to extract the teeth. Not like they were actually performing surgery. I would talk to the vet directly and ask if the consultation fee to verify the baby teeth would apply toward the surgery. In actuality, most vets do not spay these girls until they are around 6-7 months olds so that their adult teeth are in place. Are there any other vets in your area who are good?
 
#7 ·
If it were me I would call around to see what other Vets have to say. See what they would charge etc. That does seem like a lot of money to pull 4 teeth, I didn't pay that for Indy's neutering , blood work, medsW/ IV and 13 baby teeth pulled. My Vet wouldn't have charged me to bring Indy in to look at his teeth, he would have concidered it a recheck. It wouldn't hurt to see what other Vets in your area charge. I hope it works out for you and little Abbey
I know Indy felt much better after getting his teeth pulled
 
#8 ·
Of course every case is different but Catcher had more than 9 retained baby teeth. They were not so close to the adult teeth that they were harboring pieces of food, etc. So the vet said to wait until Catcher was at least a year old before doing anything. Well, they all ended up falling out! So, I'm glad I didn't have them removed sooner. Also, my vet does not use anesthesia for pulling teeth; rather he just sedates.

I know that sometimes depending on the position of the two rows of teeth, that it is best not to wait but sometimes, as in Catcher's case, it is best to wait and we totally avoided having them pulled.
 
#10 ·
Originally posted by LadysMom@Sep 21 2005, 02:00 PM
This article recommends removing any retained baby teeth no more than 5-7 days after the adult tooth starts to erupt.  According to this article, some vets wait until the adult tooth is fully erupted, but waiting requires removing part of the shared ligament system and weakens the tooth.

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/teeth.htm
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I guess my question about that would be wouldn't you then be running back and forth having teeth removed at different times since the teeth don't all come in at once?

Ty's have come in at different times. He is scheduled to be neutered in a couple of weeks, he will be 7 months old then. On the advice of my vet we intentionally waited the extra month to allow a few more of his retained teeth to come out naturally. And He has lost quite a few in the last month. Had he been neuter at 6 months there would have been a dozen or more teeth to remove. Presently he only has the four canine teeth (which are not even loose) and a couple of upper front teeth which are barely hanging on.

I would have the blood work done again but agree, $40.00 to confirm what you already knew was a bit much!! They should apply that to the cost of the surgery.
 
#11 ·
Originally posted by LadysMom@Sep 21 2005, 03:00 PM
This article recommends removing any retained baby teeth no more than 5-7 days after the adult tooth starts to erupt.  According to this article, some vets wait until the adult tooth is fully erupted, but waiting requires removing part of the shared ligament system and weakens the tooth.

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/teeth.htm
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My vet had mentioned that he doesn't actually pull the teeth. That he loosens them or something....not quite sure but do remember that he said he then waits a few minutes and the teeth fall out on their own. He did say something about damanging the root if they are pulled. I don't recall exactly....
 
#12 ·
They told me they would be putting her under just like with her spay, with IV and meds and everything. This is our first dog other than an outside german shepard that my husband had years ago. I am totally confused right now and questioning this vet but unsure where else to turn. :new_Eyecrazy:

Thanks, Ladysmom, on the great information.
Abbey's teeth have been like this for over a month -I just assumed they would become loose and fall out by the time she was a year old until my groomer told me she needed them extracted. I'll have to move on this and get them out of there before more damage is done.

Thanks, everyone for your great advice. I just hate having Abbey go through all this again. She shakes every time we go to the vets.
 
#13 ·
Originally posted by Abbey@Sep 21 2005, 04:36 PM
They told me they would be putting her under just like with her spay, with IV and meds and everything.  This is our first dog other than an outside german shepard that my husband had years ago.  I am totally confused right now and questioning this vet but unsure where else to turn.  :new_Eyecrazy:

Thanks, Ladysmom, on the great information. 
Abbey's teeth have been like this for over a month -I just assumed they would become loose and fall out by the time she was a year old until my groomer told me she needed them extracted.  I'll have to move on this and get them out of there before more damage is done.

Thanks, everyone for your great advice.  I just hate having Abbey go through all this again.  She shakes every time we go to the vets.

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I just scheduled her appt. to get her teeth extraction for Sept. 30th. They said she would have to be kept overnight again, just like with spay.
I told them that I wanted them to make sure they extracted all that needed done so Abbey didn't have to go through this again. I know they probably think I'm nuts
for being so protective but I hate putting Abbey through this again.
 
#15 ·
Originally posted by MalteseJane@Sep 21 2005, 09:36 PM
I can understand that they want to do blood work again. My vet recommends the blood work if more then a month has passed. But why would they want to keep her overnight ?
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They said each dog reacts differently to the anethesia so they keep them overnight for precaution. I'm going to talk to my vet more about this, however, because I feel Abbey would be too stressed doing this again. She gets stressed very easily.
 
#16 ·
Originally posted by Abbey@Sep 21 2005, 10:55 AM
I called my vet today to tell her Abbey has double set of teeth to schedule teeth extraction since they obviously didn't extract them 2 months ago when she was spayed.  They told me I had to bring her up to make sure they were baby teeth.  So I did and it cost me $40.00 just for them to say "Yep, they're baby teeth" 
Tell me something I didn't know! Please!! 
  I was so angry!
So, she tells me they weren't extracted because her adult teeth hadn't erupted yet.  Blah, Blah, Blah!  So, now she wants me to have Abbey put under again, get blood work again, and IV.  Do you all think the blood work is neccessary to have again since it has only been less than 3 months since her spay?  Not having the blood work done would save me $55.00, but I would get it if it's vital.  $55.00 is not much when you look at the full cost to have the teeth extracted -$235.00 for 4 teeth but if I could save alittle, it'd be better.  I think I can forget about 2 malts, 1 is expensive enough!

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In Dec. 2003 I had 6 of *Tink's* baby teeth extracted. She was a year old. I probably waited a bit too long to have it done but I guess there was no harm done. I thought I would let you know what I paid then. $35. for the blood chemistry, $164. for teeth cleaning, $11.10 per tooth extraction ($66.60) and $19.45 for Amoxicillin injection. I dropped her off at 8:30 am and took her home at 5pm. She was so happy when I picked her up. They said to let her take it easy and not give her much food right away. She drank water like crazy, ate all of her food and started running around like usual. She was a little bit uncoordinated for a few hours snf lost her balance a couple of times. They said it was not necessary to leave her over night and I would never have left her anyway as they don't have an attendent there at night. It would have been too stressful for her to spend the night in a cage as well.
 
#17 ·
Deni also has double sets of canines on both the upper and lower. She'll be 10 months on Oct 10th. Because she was the runt and developed slower than her litter mates, she didn't have ANY adult teeth when she went in for her spay at 6 months. Now she has them all, but I've spoken with my vet (whom I trust explicity) and she recommends not pulling them until Deni actually needs to come in for a cleaning, unless a problem starts to develop. One reason is because she is so small (3.5#) and she doesn't want to unneccesarily put her under unless she actually needs to. The other reason being that they are not causing her any problems as of now. I just check her teeth daily to ensure no buildup and when she is about 1 1/2 - 2 years old she'll have any remaining baby teeth pulled at her first cleaning. Who knows, by then they may fall out on their own!
 
#18 ·
Originally posted by mousern@Sep 21 2005, 11:20 PM
Deni also has double sets of canines on both the upper and lower. She'll be 10 months on Oct 10th. Because she was the runt and developed slower than her litter mates, she didn't have ANY adult teeth when she went in for her spay at 6 months. Now she has them all, but I've spoken with my vet (whom I trust explicity) and she recommends not pulling them until Deni actually needs to come in for a cleaning, unless a problem starts to develop. One reason is because she is so small (3.5#) and she doesn't want to unneccesarily put her under unless she actually needs to. The other reason being that they are not causing her any problems as of now. I just check her teeth daily to ensure no buildup and when she is about 1 1/2 - 2 years old she'll have any remaining baby teeth pulled at her first cleaning. Who knows, by then they may fall out on their own!
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Now that I think about it *Tinkerbell* was 15 mos. old when she had the baby teeth pulled. I was hoping they would fall out on their own, but they didn't and they were starting to get tartar on them (because she had her adult teeth right next to them). So I figured it was a good time. She was only 4 lbs. at 15 mos. and only weighed 1.8 lbs. when I got her at 12 wks. So I wanted to make sure she was "up to surgery". Good luck!
 
#19 ·
My vet recommended that I have Tavish neutered between 4 and 6 months. I said no thanks, I will be waiting until he is at least 8 months, then I will have you extract any retained baby teeth at the same time. This was a recommendation from my breeder, and I was very happy to follow her advice regarding the neutering/teeth extraction. I also do an insane amount of research so that I know what is best for Tavish (in this case it would include the appropriate type of anesthesia, etc.) And luckily for us, Tavish only had to have four teeth removed. You really have to know what to ask for and make sure you get in in full.
 
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