Harmony Hill Animal Hospital is proud to serve Sterling, VA and surrounding areas.
01/20/2025
Sometimes, we get the chance to completely change a life.
Sometimes, it's the life of a cat or a dog.
Sometimes, it's the life of their human.
Sometimes, it's both.
Sometimes, it's our own lives.
Last week, we undertook a major project for a cat that belongs to The Cats at Longstreet. She was taken on several weeks ago by the rescue when another partner rescue asked for help.
Dusty Rose's first rescue had taken her to a local vet. After they were told that she had stomatitis and needed all of her teeth extracted, they paid to have it done. Unfortunately, after the dental treatment, her constant, severe nasty nasal discharge and constant, severe upper respiratory disease never improved. She always had foul, thick, pus-like and bloody discharge from her nose and mouth, and her breath was more than enough to raise the dead. She never seemed to get any better, no matter what was tried, and she was so sick that the local vet wasn't willing to put her under anesthesia to spay her. Her first rescue reached out for help, knowing Dusty needed help they couldn't give her.
She was a hard sell for Longstreet. The Board, ever mindful of the rescue's limited financial resources and the burden that Dusty's care would put on the clinic staff, was understandably reluctant to take her on.
Longstreet agreed to take her on, and when I first met her, I knew instantly what at least part of her problem was. I could literally SEE rotten tooth roots exposed through the gingiva. Of course she wasn't getting better--she wasn't going to get better until all of the tooth remnants left behind by the first vet were found and removed, along with all of the necrotic and infected tissue that was forming in response to the abscess and rot.
Her nose was completely clogged, she couldn't groom, and she had bloody and pus-like drool caked all over her legs from where her head rested when she slept. Her breath was so bad that I could smell it from 10 feet away when I walked through the back door of treatment every single day.
We started her on aggressive antibiotics and pain medications the day she arrived and tried to get her as healthy as we could, before taking her to surgery.
Friday 1/17/25, we tackled her poor face. I have never, ever found so many roots left behind in supposed full mouth extractions. It appears that the local vet drilled or cut the crowns of her teeth off at the gumline, then drilled away or pulverized a large amount of the underlying bone as a 'clean up'.
That's not okay. That's not the standard of care. If this cat hadn't come to me, she would have either been euthanized because she was so sick and not getting better, or would have lived the rest of her life suffering.
So I'm going to say it again. You get what you pay for.
I see posts on Facebook all the time where pet parents are complaining about how expensive veterinary care is and how they don't want to feed this diet or administer that medication or do this test because they just know the veterinary community is only in it for the money.
And I say, Bu****it.
I spent hours on Friday picking out root fragments for this poor cat because someone said they could fix her face and do 'full mouth extractions' for a bargain basement price.
To charge those prices, they have to cut corners. They cannot give all of the same pain medications, they cannot have the same level of anesthetic monitoring, they aren't going to have the same level of expertise, and they aren't going to have the same outcomes.
I should charge a lot more for our dental treatments than we currently charge. We do it right, and we are dedicated to constantly improving our patient care and our standards, keeping up with changes and advancements in veterinary medicine.
Maybe more importantly, if we know this is something that is out of our league, we tell you that. We refer you. We recommend that a pet and their family see someone who is better meet their needs. This isn't a weakness--I feel strongly that being able to ask for help is one of the most important character strengths and life skills one can have.
Dusty (who we lovingly call Crusty) has changed my life. She has reminded me of why I do what I do, and why we care SO MUCH. Why we, as a practice family, are dedicated to constant, continual improvement. This is why we are AAHA certified--as sign of our commitment to Excellent, Loving Care. For Life.
I will say it again. Standard of care is **Full mouth dental x-rays, every time, at the start of a dental treatment and after every extraction.**
Now, we get her over this and healed, and then we take out her baby maker, and then we find her a home.
