My beloved English Springer Spaniel, Amy, went in for her annual physical and a few shots and did very well. At the last minute, the vet noticed that Amy had broken the end off her upper left canine tooth and said urgent action was needed. The vet asked me repeatedly how Amy managed to fracture the tooth and I kept saying I did not know because Amy did not tell me.

The vet recommended a root canal for Amy and told me I would have to drive some distance away to find a vet who did dog dentistry. I managed to find a vet dentist in Allentown and got an appointment for Amy. After the exam, we discussed treatment options. You do not want to know what a root canal for a dog costs in U.S. dollars. Not to worry, the vet, Dr. Mengele, recommended an extraction and that is what we did. Amy is fine, I am out $600 and life is back to normal. All the best...
Gil

Gil, the sad part is that if you had paid for a root canal you would probably end up paying for the extraction in the next three years anyway. I'm glad you got it sorted out the right way.

Unfortunate name for a doctor, his first name wasn't Joseph by any chance?
Do you guys have pet insurance over there?

I do not have pet insurance on Amy. I am still paying out of pocket for her vet bills. Dr. Mengele was a fetching young lady. All the best...
Gil

Gil, glad Amy is doing well. Few people that pet medicine is often more advanced than human care because there are fewer restrictions and testing for new procedures. We had to go have a hip replacement for our dog and I choked at what it was to be (probably more expensive than your root canal). Turned out the leg bone was too soft for the replacement so they capped the leg bone and Froto has lived a happy life without a right hip joint. Still expensive. Amy will adapt.

If it's readily available, and if it's not grossly overpriced, pet health insurance is the way to go for our much loved fur kids.

Our 15 year old cat somehow managed to trash the knee joint in one of his back legs. After the necessary tests and x-rays it looked like we were going to be up for $5K for treatment without any promises. He was extremely healthy and had a life expectancy of at least another five years, but that sort of money was out of reach for us so we opted for the heartbreaking option of euthanasia.

Vets have to be amongst some of the most highly paid professionals around...but then again, they need to know the ins and outs of all critters.

I think you will find that Amy will hardly even notice the loss of her tooth in a couple of months Gil.

man I sure hope our dogs don't get a bung tooth..... it will be out with the fencing pliers and tweek...... back in the 80s when live feral goats were worth $1-300 per nanny many a pig dog got its teeth removed so they would catch but not maul them too much...our old bitch was a shocker and learnt if she ran along side and pulled leg up it would snap and stop them running so she could have a good chew!!!!!!! and the buyers still forked out the $$$$ for the poor critters.
hope your dog heals up soon....be a bugger having to put dog roll through the blender.

Amy is doing fine and does not seem to know the upper left canine tooth is gone. She plays catch and fetch with her ball just like the old days. All the best...
Gil