The Dentist and Miss Lily

Ok, maybe I mean the vet and the cat, my cat, Lily. Lily had a broken tooth that had to come out. Where I don't think it was really bothering her, my vet lead me to believe that it was. I'm no cat dentist, so I listened.

"That tooth needs to come out, and soon."
"Really? How much is that going to cost?"

Well, my jaw hit the stainless steel examining table Lily was sitting on, while I did nothing to hide my udder shock at the cost.

"But I just had a crown done, and it only cost me $800, and my dentist gave me a 10% discount, plus I left with a beautiful new porcelain tooth!"

Unbelievable what my vet was asking. Being a good cat Mom, we did the initial blood work up to make sure she was healthy in every other way, and planned for extraction. But first, I was going to shop around. I suspected I was paying a bit of a premium at my vet's, because the office edges a tony neighborhood. The care there has been excellent, but would it be any less, somewhere else, maybe somewhere less tony?

My Mom's vet is a one man shop plus techies, and is a mere 20 minute drive due south, and $400-$500 cheaper. Lily had a wonderful new doctor, for her dental work. He was caring, wondered if her broken tooth was tied in to my initial reason for my taking Lily in to the tony vet in the first place. Hmm. It was a good theory, and time will tell.

Lesson learned. Yes, I want my darling kitties to have good health care, but, I don't want to feel fleeced in the process.

Lily is freshly home from the vet, with a bandage around one leg from her IV drip, with a cross between a cranky and a dopey disposition, and she is nursing her wounds. Oh, and the pheromone spray was used in bulk, again.

Dental surgery patient, Lily, recovering.