. . . to be cheesed off at vet prices?

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I had a premolar extracted last week in preparation for having braces fitted. Total cost of the x-ray and extraction was £145.

Had our cat at the vet today and she needs a tooth removed. They've quoted £950 for the x-ray and tooth extraction.

AIBU to feel a bit ripped-off? The vet said we can phone around but we're unlikely to find a vet who will do it for less than £800! Is this really a reasonable cost? Absolutely prepared to listen and learn why it's so expensive, but it just seems excessive!

presumably your procedure wasn't under general anesthesia? nor were you cared for by staff for at least half a day afterwards? maybe doesn't account for full difference but the procedures aren't really comparable.

That seems high - we had x-rays and extractions (of teeth that had not developed/emerged properly) done recently and it cost about £500

The main difference in cost, compared to a human single extraction, is the need for general anaesthetic. Humans can be done with local, animals can't

We were told it was a half-hour procedure and she'd be ready to come home within a couple of hours.

I realise they're not exactly comparable, but how is the difference so huge?

Unless there are complications that is very high. A single tooth extraction should be more like £300.

I think at that price your dentistry was possibly still partially funded by the nhs, I expect private treatment would cost more (although happy to be corrected if I’m wrong).

I have heard the argument that we think vet bills are expensive only because we are not used to paying for (human) healthcare. Everything feels expensive in comparison to free.

Ask for an itemised bill after the op. Then ask your dentist for one and compare them.

I expected between £300-£500. Wondering if I should actually "shop around", in view of responses!

If you had needed a GA, it would have cost a hell of a lot more.

Entirely private, @CareBears48 - £110 for the extraction and £35 for the x-ray.

I would definitely shop around. I accepted my vet's really high prices until a friend alerted me she was paying much less for the same treatment!

But yes, in general I don't understand their prices. For context I recently paid less than £500 recently to repair my horse's fractured jaw, so I'm not sure why it would be double to extract a cat's tooth!

What would the price have been if you had required a general anaesthetic?

I paid £50 just to talk to the vet about my dogs teeth. She just looked at them and told us to brush them more. £50!

I paid less than 500 at our local vets for pets, so I would definitely check with a couple of other practices

It depends where in the country you are. Where I am you’d be looking at around 300-500. £900 seems expensive unless you’re going to a specialist dentistry referral centre

Going through a nightmare of expensive vet bills currently and we've wondered the same as you. It's so difficult because they're specialists, they're a business, they have so many overheads to cover but it does feel excessive. Don't start me on the 3k we've just paid in emergency vet bills either.

I generally don't mind paying more, it is what it is and we're not insured anymore because our old dog had so many excluded conditions it was pointless. What does drive me mad is the inflated prices on consumables. The vet told us we could only buy one particular type of needle from them, at a cost of £96 for 50 needles. Shopped around online and got the exact same needles for £15 for 100. I can justify a lot, but that's nothing more than blatant profiteering.

Jeeeeeez! My Mum's dog had a tooth out under general anaesthetic and it cost £290!
Are you in central London or something?!

I’d shop around. I paid around £200 for two teeth out for a small dog last year.

I want to know which dentist you go to, because mine is almost this price for a check up….

I think that’s insane. We paid £350 to have our dog spayed - GA and half a day’s aftercare.

Conversely however, a different vet charged my brother £350 for one single injection of something that made the dog vomit something he'd eaten! £350! It was an urgent appointment but he just came out and popped the injection in, in the bloody car park then said "£350 please"

I’d say you’re being ripped off OP. Mind you, we all are by vets. The cost of procedures has increased so much in the last ten years that the only reason can be profiteering from the UK’s ever growing obsession with animals.

Surely anyone can see that £900 for an extraction is ridiculous, even if it is under GA.

They’ve absolutely got us over a barrel though.

Well, if you'd needed a general anaesthetic, it could have cost anything up to £2,500 so your cat is pretty cheap.

Have they said why the cat needs the tooth removed? What would happen if you just left it?

Is the cat in pain or struggling to eat? If not I would ignore.

My dogs have teeth extracted regularly (greyhounds, which have terrible teeth). It's about £700/800 each time. Has been for years. I usually try and at least get some toe nails clipped and some other stuff done whilst they're out cold.

Human anaesthesia doubles your cost as you are paying for a specialist anaesthetic consultant, at baseline circa £200/ hr.

As best I’m aware your cat won’t have a specialist consultant purely for his anaesthetic (surgeon bungs in some propofol or whatever they use for cats), vet nurse monitors and bobs your uncle.

So attributing the additional cost to the GA, as compared to a GA cost for human, isn’t really comparable.

GA drugs are cheap as chips as generic. Private consultation rate of £300/hr is fair (as costs to provide service are large). But £950 for a 20 min standard procedure (and a few hours tucked up in a cage with a nurse in proximity) is crazy!

Im with you OP. Vet costs are incredible. Yes the vets are as highly trained as human counterparts they add a lot of inflated drugs costs, venflon costs, triple charge the hardware. I’ve paid £500 for a specialist private canine ophthalmologist and didn’t grudge it.

My last itemised vet bill charged £25 for a cannula. They cost a pound or two. They will argue ‘there is skill in siting it’, and yes, there is- but I’m also invoiced for the vets skills and expertise per 10 min and I would expect the skill and time in during the cannula to be included in that time, not surcharged on top as well.

Current vet charges are, in my opinion, putting people in a position to defer or not have treatment. I know 2 people recently to have had pets PTS because the inflated costs of standard treatments are just too too much.

Rant done.