Question about cost of anesthesia ...
 

Last week i had to have some dental work done on my little guy, Baci. At 13 months a couple of his baby teeth hadn't erupted, another needed extraction, and some gum tissue needed to be cut away to give his adult molars the best chance of being retained. Anyway, I was was charged $700 by the dental specialist for just the bloodwork and one hour of anesthesia (propofol), NOT including the procedure itself.

Now, i am happy to provide him with everything he needs to be healthy and happy. I so deeply love him and gladly accept my responsibilities as his guardian, so that's not the issue. I'm just wondering if this is a fair price.

I also want to thank you all for this wonderful place to learn and share. I have been incredibly busy between work, school and my son, and have been remiss in posting pics of the sweetest, handsomest yorkie on the planet :-). I fully intend to remedy that soon along with a donation to this fantastic site. In the meantime, I thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart, for selflessly giving me the knowledge to be the best guardian I can be for be for my Baci.

Wowzers!

Not normal.
Propofol is an IV injection and then anesthesia is maintained with gas (Iso or Sevoflurane). None of this is clse to $700.

ive never heard of it costing that much for just bloodwork and anethesia! hope you didnt get rooked.

Just had my little girl spayed, had 4 retained baby teeth removed and several other teeth that were ready to come out extracted - she also was kept over night - total cost $391. Why did you need a dental surgeon? Why didn't the vet do it, and if he/she did - then WOW they have got very high fees.
On the other hand, it is over and you did the very best for your puppy. I would certainly check around for another vet if your pup needs any other work.

Thanks for replying! Also included were things like appointment cost, continuous ekg monitoring and nursing care...

Oh, and xrays...

My regular vet doesn't do it. Going to be looking around for another, it seems..:-(

or at least make some calls around to see what another in your area wouldve charged you for the same things....

As this is already done you probably can't do anything about it now. For future reference and for anyone reading this post, please have those canine teeth removed when they are spayed or neutered. I ask my families to spay or neuter at 8 months of age as those baby canines are ready to come out and it will save you an expensive surgery later. I had a family spay the pup at 5 months old and the vet sent her to a tooth doctor who removed her baby teeth plus 8 adult teeth. I had told them about removing the teeth when they spayed her but I told them 8 months of age not 5 months.

Ya, I asked for it when he was neutered at 9 mos. The vet thought there were issues didn't do it.

The canine teeth are twice as long below the gum as above and not all vets are able to pull them but it sure sounds like you got totally ripped off. Try contacting whatever organization governs vets in your area and put in an inquiry. I encourage people that buy my pups to come back to my vet to be spayed or neutered as I have never had an issue there with teeth. People with yorkies generally pamper them and I think these pros know it.

I have an appointment to get my Maya Spayed at 6.5 months, it looks like she will have to have some baby teeth pulled....unless they fall out sometime between now and then. The lower canines are all the way in and the baby canines remain.

I would like to ask: when do the females usually begin to become fertile? Is it better (or safe in that regard) to wait till 8 months for spaying? Why does my vet recommend 6 months?

Thanks!

The issues were that there were no signs of the adult teeth erupting, so they didn't even know if he had any . They said to wait until he was a year old to see if they erupted. They didn't. However, xrays showed they were there. That's why they extract during neutering -- a practice I also heartily recommend if you can!!

This is what I'd do too.

Did the vet give you an estimate beforehand? Whenever my kiddos need something done, the vets give us a very detailed ballpark estimate so there are no surprises...and they always err on the high side, just in case.

ugh, dumb smartphone! Meant "that's why they DIDN'T extract during neutering "

Ya, they did...and my bad. We only have 2 dental specialists in my area, so i just went with it. Live and learn, I guess. Fool me once...

Oh wow that is expensive! Ella had a dental yesterday and I know the blood work was around $50 and I'm not sure the cost on the anesthesia but our total bill was a lot cheaper than $700!

Next time I check estimates with y'all before proceeding with expensive surgeries!

While that is quite expensive. I do think some of the cost may be because this was a Specialist in the Dental area.

Yes if going to a Specialist be sure and get a quote.

Propofol is very expensive....they drip it in soooooooo very slowly, and it puts them in a twilight sleep...no need for additional anesthesia, as they are totally asleep. Some vets will just put them out and then give the gas anesthesia, but the entire procedure CAN be done with the propofol. They can get in there, get the work done, and get out, stop dripping...litterally dripping, drop by drop, the propofol, and the pup wakes up immediately without the hangover and nausea that usually follows gas anesthesia....I LOVE the stuff, but you HAVE to have a vet that KNOWS how to administer it or....well, just ask Michael Jackson what happens. But, as you can see, it is very expensive, but worth it, I think....alot of the cost is not only the drug, but the expertise needed to give it....very powerful and is watched continously for pups response and level of consciousness, drip by drip...but I ask it be used whenever they can do so....pups throw it off so quickly with minimal side effects. And also, the expense of a specialist! I always err on the side of safety....and that usually costs me BIG $$$$$$!!

I had one female go into her first heat a week before she turned 8 months and their vet was even surprised. The usual time frame for a first heat is 9 to 12 months of age. If they go into heat before they are spayed then you should wait 2 months until everything shrinks back to normal. Progesterone is produced where you breed a female or not and can be hard on the uterus if you continue to skip heats without breeding. As a breeder my vet advices to breed every heat starting at the second heat. I retire my girls at 6 and get them spayed.

Great points, thank you. Didn't even think about the higher cost of propofol since I'm used to grabbung it out of the accudose for my human patients. I love it too; it's a fantastic drug with great properties...rapid induction and rapid half life. Right now there's a national shortage which also may have contributed to the higher cost, along with using a specialist. At least Baci is doing great and this issue was resolved in the best way possible.

First let me say I am glad you were able to get your Yorkie the medical attention she needed. And that the out come was good.
I would ask for a itemized bill, especially if the costs seem to be too much. My Vet bills are line by line costs. I know exactly what cost what.
Taking your Yorkie to a medical specialist or teaching school can be very expensive. I hesitate to say your cost were excessive. I don't know everything that was done. What kind of tests were done and why and so on.
My Gracie has had manyhealth problems and dental/ jaw/ cheek problems. Not too long ago, we took her to the Vet dentist it was over $900.00 for the surgery,anesthesia, monitoring etc. This did include her post surgery pain medication and two follow up phone calls. This $900.00 did not include first exam, pre-testing, x-rays, pre-medications (antibiotics) or the exam by her regular Vet.
I feel blessed that we were able to get her the care she needed without paying for flying out of town and a hotel stay for myself.
I am retired and live on a fixed income, so I understand how unexpected medical costs can cause a major dent in the savings. That is why my first question is can you afford a York when talking to people that want a York. Love is not enough, time and resources are equally important. I wish everyone was as responsible as you.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
That is right!!!! I forgot YOU (RN) would be familiar with this wonderful stuff!!! So you know, they actually count the drips as it infuses! As they slow down the drip, the pup starts to come up....

Sorry for the typos it was to late to proof / edit

My vet used Propofol when we had Kyra spayed and dental done and it was under 300 for everything not including preop blood work. So not sure if it was because you went to a specialist or maybe different part of the country is higher.

My Molly had hers done today. It was 234.22

20 percent discount for it being dental month.
Capstar blue 6 dollars
Nursing care recovery 12 dollars
Monitor pulse OX 22 dollars
Anaesthesia canine dental 85 dollars
Catheter surgery 43 dollars
Sealant application 14 dollars and 75 cents
Dental cleaning and polishing 85 dollars
Then the bacterial pills were 18 dollars and 40 cents

Propofol as a CRI is not generally used. I'd be very surprised if they did not maintain with gas. The $700 is normal for a specialist, but not just for monitoring/blood.

Then again, I know of one BC denist that gets thousands per patient. Your vet was right to send you if they thought they could not do it right. Most general vets don't have dntal xray eithercwhich is not ok.

I think it was too much $$$ for things not directly related to specialized oral surgery, but probably not too much of a choice.