This is going to be long, I apologize.
My family (I live at home with our parents) owns three pets, Neko, Willie (cats), and Tucker. My parents are in a very bad way money wise. Each month they pick and choose what bills can be paid, we're likely losing our house very soon. Their problems started a few months after we got Tucker. As a result the animals don't get to the vet regularly, they basically go if there's a problem. Up until now I've been unable to help but I currently have a full time job, though a low paying one. So I'm in a stable position at the moment, not a great position, but stable. So I want to start getting the animals to the vet.
All of the animals went to the vet shortly before we got Tucker. Neko in 2009, Willie in 2010, and Tucker in 2010. That was the last time Neko went. Willie went in 2013 because he had a lump I wanted looked at. Tucker went in 2013 as well, I think we wanted his rabies vaccine up to date in case he bit someone.
Neko is now 11 years old, his breath is putrid. Willie is 9, breath is also awful. Tucker (5 yrs old) seems fine but I think he really, really needs to be put on prozac, his aggression is not improving, it seemed to get much worse in the last year, though it's reached a plateau in the last couple of months.
I decided to get Neko in to the vet first since it's been so long and because he's entered senior territory, so we went yesterday. My plan was to get him his exam and shots plus senior blood work. Then I'd get him a dental within the next month or two. I figured I was looking at around $600 for the dental. One of the first things the vet notices is a slight heart murmur, grade 1 or 2 which he did not have in 2009. He says this could make anesthesia dangerous so he will not do a dental until Neko has had a cardiac ultrasound to determine if anesthesia is safe. This will cost around $460. If they find a problem (what exactly that means I don't know...I mean we know there's a murmur, there must be a problem) they will then add X-rays, blood work, blood pressure, and urinalysis which could bring the total to about $850. Then the dental could cost anywhere from $400 to $950 (best case and worst case).
This ultrasound sort of ruins everything. Now I'm probably looking at over $1000 to get his teeth done, possibly closer to $2000. I decided not to get blood work during this visit as I wasn't sure when I'd be able to do the dental and the dental must be done within 2 months of the blood work or else they'll have to redo it.
Now, the vet didn't honestly seem that concerned about his teeth but maybe that's just how he is, he didn't really say much ( I didn't really like him overall, but that's for another thread). He said he was missing two teeth (same one on both sides) and that one side of his mouth looked worse than the other. He said there was no obvious infection or broken teeth. He was sort of talking to himself at this point...he said he couldn't find any obvious cause (I'm not sure if he was talking about a cause for the bad breath or for him favoring one side of his mouth). He thought maybe when he lost a tooth the root could have been left behind and is causing an issue. He didn't really urge me to get a dental or comment on his teeth being bad, he just said he'd get me an estimate for the dental, but he knew I was already considering a dental. So I'm not sure if his lack of urgency was because they're not that bad or because he already assumed I was all on board and didn't need convincing.
So here is where I'm in a pickle. I might be able to afford this dental, I think I'll need to talk to the vet some more to try and narrow down a closer estimate. But if I do this I'll need to put off getting Willie and Tucker to the vet for a long time, at least another year. This bugs me, especially for Tucker who I REALLY want to get on meds. So I don't know if I should push back the dental for another year instead and get Willie and Tucker their exams and vaccines right now. In a year I may very well be in a better paying job (that's the plan anyway) making the dental easier to afford. Or I could also have more bills to pay, who knows.
So what would you do? Take care of Neko's teeth now and wait on the other two animals or take care of them and wait on the teeth?
My family (I live at home with our parents) owns three pets, Neko, Willie (cats), and Tucker. My parents are in a very bad way money wise. Each month they pick and choose what bills can be paid, we're likely losing our house very soon. Their problems started a few months after we got Tucker. As a result the animals don't get to the vet regularly, they basically go if there's a problem. Up until now I've been unable to help but I currently have a full time job, though a low paying one. So I'm in a stable position at the moment, not a great position, but stable. So I want to start getting the animals to the vet.
All of the animals went to the vet shortly before we got Tucker. Neko in 2009, Willie in 2010, and Tucker in 2010. That was the last time Neko went. Willie went in 2013 because he had a lump I wanted looked at. Tucker went in 2013 as well, I think we wanted his rabies vaccine up to date in case he bit someone.
Neko is now 11 years old, his breath is putrid. Willie is 9, breath is also awful. Tucker (5 yrs old) seems fine but I think he really, really needs to be put on prozac, his aggression is not improving, it seemed to get much worse in the last year, though it's reached a plateau in the last couple of months.
I decided to get Neko in to the vet first since it's been so long and because he's entered senior territory, so we went yesterday. My plan was to get him his exam and shots plus senior blood work. Then I'd get him a dental within the next month or two. I figured I was looking at around $600 for the dental. One of the first things the vet notices is a slight heart murmur, grade 1 or 2 which he did not have in 2009. He says this could make anesthesia dangerous so he will not do a dental until Neko has had a cardiac ultrasound to determine if anesthesia is safe. This will cost around $460. If they find a problem (what exactly that means I don't know...I mean we know there's a murmur, there must be a problem) they will then add X-rays, blood work, blood pressure, and urinalysis which could bring the total to about $850. Then the dental could cost anywhere from $400 to $950 (best case and worst case).
This ultrasound sort of ruins everything. Now I'm probably looking at over $1000 to get his teeth done, possibly closer to $2000. I decided not to get blood work during this visit as I wasn't sure when I'd be able to do the dental and the dental must be done within 2 months of the blood work or else they'll have to redo it.
Now, the vet didn't honestly seem that concerned about his teeth but maybe that's just how he is, he didn't really say much ( I didn't really like him overall, but that's for another thread). He said he was missing two teeth (same one on both sides) and that one side of his mouth looked worse than the other. He said there was no obvious infection or broken teeth. He was sort of talking to himself at this point...he said he couldn't find any obvious cause (I'm not sure if he was talking about a cause for the bad breath or for him favoring one side of his mouth). He thought maybe when he lost a tooth the root could have been left behind and is causing an issue. He didn't really urge me to get a dental or comment on his teeth being bad, he just said he'd get me an estimate for the dental, but he knew I was already considering a dental. So I'm not sure if his lack of urgency was because they're not that bad or because he already assumed I was all on board and didn't need convincing.
So here is where I'm in a pickle. I might be able to afford this dental, I think I'll need to talk to the vet some more to try and narrow down a closer estimate. But if I do this I'll need to put off getting Willie and Tucker to the vet for a long time, at least another year. This bugs me, especially for Tucker who I REALLY want to get on meds. So I don't know if I should push back the dental for another year instead and get Willie and Tucker their exams and vaccines right now. In a year I may very well be in a better paying job (that's the plan anyway) making the dental easier to afford. Or I could also have more bills to pay, who knows.
So what would you do? Take care of Neko's teeth now and wait on the other two animals or take care of them and wait on the teeth?