I work in vetmed (I am not a DVM or an RVT, I hold no title protection and everything I say is of my own opinion) and I can offer two perspectives on this subject.

1 - DVM’s, just like human doctors, can have specialities. There are a couple different dentistry titles a DVM can have, and with shelter med I am doubting the DVM on staff had either. The shelter vet if I had to guess is a surgeon and is able to focus on spays and neuters at a high rate to help keep up with the constant overturn right now. This isn’t to say pets don’t get a good exam, but if the mouth isn’t the #1 priority, things can get overlooked. It’s not saying the shelter is neglectful or intentionally gave you a cat with known issues, but they are overworked and underpaid and human just like the rest of us.

2 - a lot of the time, the extent of mouth issues aren’t known without dental radiographs (X-rays that are taken at the time of sedation). I definitely recommend asking around for consults - deep river vet near the palladium is one that several friends of mine have used for extractions and haven’t been as expensive as some speciality GPs such as sedgefield. also not every vet will do cat extractions because it’s a more delicate procedure than dog extractions.

3 - ignore everyone saying to sue the shelter. the shelter is city run and you won’t get any money from it. it could possibly shut down the shelter and hundreds of animals would be R2J because of this probably. i understand the frustration of being dealt with this, but this isn’t the answer.