Cat teeth cleaning cost: 2026 survey of 75 published prices

The median published price to clean a cat’s teeth is $432. That is the middle of 75 prices collected in October 2026 from 75 clinics, nonprofits and animal hospitals in 34 states. Half of the sample sits between $400 and $492, and the full spread runs from $125 to $850.

Thirty of the 75 prices come from one chain, Banfield Pet Hospital, whose hospitals have a median of $433. The other 45 prices have almost the same median, $432, but a much wider middle half: $300 to $500. Who cleans your cat’s teeth matters more to the cat dental cleaning cost than the headline suggests.

For dog figures, our dog teeth cleaning cost survey covers 56 prices. Prices vary by clinic, by region and by what the fee covers. Nothing here is a quote. Ask your own vet for a written estimate before you book.

How much does it cost to get a cat’s teeth cleaned?

A routine cat teeth cleaning has a median published price of $432 across 75 US providers, and the middle half runs $400 to $492. A quote inside that band is ordinary for a routine cleaning. One above $492 is in the top quarter of what providers publish, and it is worth asking what the higher fee covers.

The cheapest price is $125 at Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic in Brownsburg, Indiana, a nonprofit, for scaling and polishing. The dearest is $850 at Doylestown Animal Medical Clinic in Pennsylvania, a private clinic whose Grade 1 package includes full-mouth digital x-rays, analgesic blocks and any necessary extractions.

Every figure here is the routine price. Where a provider prices each grade or level separately, we recorded the lowest level; where it gives one range across grades, we recorded the midpoint. Fourteen rows are flagged: 6 providers publish a range, recorded at its midpoint, and 8 publish a “starting at” price, recorded at that low bound.

Does a cat cost more than a dog to have its teeth cleaned?

No. Not one provider in both of our surveys charges more for a cat. All 30 Banfield hospitals in the survey list the same dental cleaning price for cats as for dogs, hospital by hospital.

Seven other providers appear in both our cat and dog surveys. Five charge a cat the same as their smallest dog. Two charge a cat less: Pet Dental Clinic in Colorado lists $450 for cats against $500 for dogs, and the Humane Society of Manatee County in Florida lists $500 against $575.

The overall cat median, $432, is higher than the $409 in our dog survey, but that compares two different sets of providers. Like for like, at the same clinic, a cat costs the same or less.

Does it matter who does the cleaning?

Yes. The 14 nonprofit prices have a median of $350, the 31 private clinic prices $450, and the 30 Banfield prices $433. Private clinics also spread the widest, from $280 to $850, with a middle half of $387 to $655.

Nonprofits are not uniformly cheap. Their middle half runs $231 to $408, but Anicira in Manassas, Virginia, lists $823 for a cat dental, and its page says the procedure includes oral x-rays, simple extractions, pain medication and an IV catheter. A higher fee often buys a fuller package, which is the next question. Our cat spay and cat neuter surveys show the same nonprofit and private clinic split.

Does the same cleaning cost more in some states?

Twelve states have at least three published prices. The table shows them, but read it with care: three to six prices is a small sample, and in several states Banfield supplies one or more of them.

The cleanest comparison is Banfield, because it is the same cleaning everywhere. Its cat price runs from $380.95 in Bossier City, Louisiana, to $491.95 in Massachusetts, New York and Bellevue, Washington, a 29% spread for one company’s identical line.

What does the published price include?

Bloodwork is in the price at 42 of the 75 providers, and full-mouth or dental x-rays at 23. Those two counts mean different things. The 30 Banfield hospitals say all their anesthetic procedures include routine bloodwork, an IV catheter and fluids, but their pricing pages do not mention x-rays.

Outside Banfield, 23 of the 45 other providers include x-rays and 12 include bloodwork. Where bloodwork is extra, it is usually priced between $65 and $165: $65 at Focus Veterinary Care in Kentucky, $75 at Quick Fix Veterinary Clinic in Michigan and $165 at All Paws Animal Wellness Clinic in Maryland.

X-rays, where they are extra, vary even more. Humane Society of the Treasure Coast in Florida adds dental radiographs for $50. Holly Vet Clinic in Kenmore, Washington, recommends them at $310 on top of its $750 cleaning. A low headline price with x-rays extra can end up above a higher price that includes them.

The line-by-line method is in what a dental quote should include; it is written for dogs, but the lines are the same for cats.

What happens to the price if teeth need to come out?

Extractions are usually extra, and they are priced in very different ways. Only 8 of the 75 providers say their base price includes any extractions, and half of those limit it to simple or minor ones.

If your cat’s mouth has not been examined yet, the extraction line is the one you cannot know in advance. Ask how it is priced before the day, and whether the clinic will call you before going beyond the estimate. For judging a quote against the market, see how to judge a $500 dental quote.

How many providers publish a price?

We opened 159 provider websites for this survey. Seventy-seven published a cat dental cleaning price; 75 are counted here, leaving out one anesthesia-free price and a second branch of a clinic already in the sample at the same price. Another 29 published a dental price that did not say whether it applied to cats, and the rest showed no price we could use.

That ratio flatters the industry, because we searched for pages that publish prices. A peer-reviewed study of 177 US small animal clinics found that only 3 of the 157 with a website, 1.91%, listed any pricing at all (Adams and colleagues, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 4 May 2026).

Read the median here as the price at a provider that chooses to publish. Most private practices do not, and they are where most owners take their cats.

Which prices we left out

K-9 Smiles in Colorado publishes a flat $295 for dogs and cats, but its cleaning is done without anesthesia, a different procedure, so it is in our sheet and in no figure on this page. Anesthesia-free cleaning is not comparable with the anesthetic cleaning priced here. Whether that suits your cat is a question for your own vet.

The 29 dental prices without a species are in our checked sheet, not in the median. They include Lehigh Valley Humane Society at $500 and the Animal Humane Society in Minnesota at $556.50, both of which appear in our dog survey. We counted a price only where the page named cats or said it applied to dogs and cats.

How to get a comparable written estimate

The headline price is rarely the invoice. Ask for the total in writing before you book, and ask these five questions so the quotes you compare cover the same things.

1. Are full-mouth dental x-rays included, or billed separately?
2. Is pre-anesthetic bloodwork included, optional, or required at my cat’s age?
3. Which level or grade is this quote for, and what does each higher level cost?
4. How are extractions priced: per tooth, by time, by tier, or included?
5. Is there an exam, consultation or office visit fee on top, and are take-home medications included?

Prices on this page were collected on 8 October 2026 and change without notice. This is cost research, not veterinary advice. Your own vet is the only person who can tell you what your cat needs.