Maggie’s Dental Procedure

Hi, my name is Georgiana, friends call me Gigi. I’m reaching out for help to raise funds for my Maggie’s dental procedure.

Maggie is an 11 year old 11 lb healthy porki. A pug/yorki mix. I adopted her and brought her home from the shelter at 7 weeks old.

As you know senior dogs tend to get periodontal disease and because of the high cost our state veterinarians charge to just clean the teeth range from $800 & up. Maggie sees the veterinarian yearly and has always had a good bill of health besides the dental issues she started having at age 6. That’s when she had her first cleaning that was $1,300 back then! Then I figured, I would start saving for yearly cleanings. However, life had other plans. 6 years ago, my husband was diagnosed with ALS on top with my mother already living with Dementia. So with the added cost of my husband’s medical needs and helping my father with my mom ate into those savings. Since then, long story short, in 2016 my father passes, two years later my mom and three years ago my husband passes. My bills and mortgage never changed, however my income did since I no longer had my husband’s income. So, for the past three years, it’s been a struggle to say the least.

Maggie has an abscess tooth which is currently being treated with antibiotics. But, if her tooth doesn’t get extracted, she’s going to keep getting these infections from abscesses. Because of her age, the vet believes she’s going to need more than just the one tooth removed to avoid future infections. To do this or even a simple cleaning, they need to book a surgical appointment that involves anesthesia. As you know for senior dogs, it can be a higher risk for them to go under anesthesia. I was quoted $1,960-$2,460. My vet believes she might need a minimum of 3-5 teeth removed. But, she can’t be positive on how many until she gets in there to see as it’s impossible to check with an uncooperative dog who won’t keep their mouth open for them to see. After all, they’re not humans.

It’s frustrating that you pay for emergency pet insurance to cover such emergencies and never once having any issues until your baby develops an abscess tooth! I woke up one morning and Maggie’s face was swollen on one side and bloody. I call the insurance company and explain what was happening. I did a video call with their vet technician and she confirmed that she has an abscess tooth. However to this insurance company, an abscessed tooth isn’t considered an emergency! I’m at my wits end! I don’t have the $1,968-$2,461 that was quoted to me to extract the infected tooth. I currently got antibiotics for now but my vet says it’s a temporary fix, it’ll keep getting infected until I remove the tooth! VCA does not do payment plans. I tried Care Credit. The max they would give me was $500 at which $200 of that was used up to cover the emergency vet visit and meds. Ironic, isn’t it? My personal vet thought it was considered an emergency, but the insurance company’s veterinarian didn’t. I’m maxed out on my credit cards, but never missed any payments on any of them. I maxed them out during the pandemic and I’m slowly paying them down. But it takes time. I get paid monthly and my whole paycheck goes to paying the mortgage, bills and living expenses with not much left over for personal use. So now, I’m considered over extended for any type of loan! If worse case scenario, I will pawn my wedding ring and my parents wedding rings. My ring is my only connection I still have with my husband. And when my parents passed, I only wanted their rings. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to this, but for Maggie I’ll have no choice.

So, I’m swallowing my pride and asking for help. I have looked into every type of resource that my State has here in Massachusetts. I’ve called around and the quotes I received from other local veterinarians are comparable. So, I decided to stay with my veterinarian that has been treating Maggie for years. I’ve exhausted all options.

To confirm my story, I’m attaching the treatment plan my Veterinarian gave me for Maggie as well as photos of Maggie currently on antibiotics and the rest are of her with the infection that the abscess tooth has caused. In one she’s forced to wear the cone of shame to keep her from scratching at her face.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and possibly helping my Sweet little Maggie.