My beloved dog suffers frequent urinary tract infections. Several years ago she'd formed
crystals in the urine. Rather than have her condition lead to developing stones, I took the vet's advice and feed her a special food I buy from the clinic. It is pricey but my dog's so worth it. I hope it decreases costs in other areas as a result. She does still get UTIs--but no bladder stones (and therefore no surgery)--but her health is undoubtedly aggravated by her allergies.
As a disclaimer, the vet and I are friends. He has heard frequently how expensive I think veterinary care is but he's an associate, not the owner. However, I also listen to his viewpoint that veterinarians have the same underlying medical preparation as human physicians, both at significant expense. He also points out that prices build in the expense of maintaining an office and staff.
If I were to get another dog in the future, I think I'd investigate the cost of pet insurance.
I'll also mention that I attended a vet conference in January where costs/income were topics of several seminars. Some of the vets are willing to work with clients in bill payment and one speaker mentioned how his staff "saw the writing on the wall" and was willing to forgo raises this year. The staff at my friend's office wasn't even offered that option: salaries froze at last year's rates. So they're not totally oblivious to client expenses, not that it's helpful to those of us paying the bill.
I also wanted to add, that for my friend at least, it's not a 9 to 5 job. His office opens at 8 AM and closes at 5 PM. On Mondays, the office is open until 6 PM (at least). When he's finished seeing clients, THEN he has lab reports to evaluate and call-backs to make. Some nights, he's been there until midnight.
For those vets who are "large-animal" vets, the hours are worse; they often work from 6:30 AM until 6:30 PM, and then someone takes "call" for which they're available for the remainder of the night. No extra pay of course.
Starting salaries aren't all that good, around $50K. Not an easy job at all.
miss you Harry)
for understanding the quality of food you are feeding you dog. I also used it when picking food for our Yorkie. I ended up using Merricks (wet) and Innova evo (dry). 
