Rant: Vet Bills

[jacksonsmom]

I love my vet. Last year we took a big hit to the pocketbook when my cat got sick. My vet worked out a payment plan with me, I was SO thankful because I did not know how I would come up with the money otherwise.

Now the specialist were a different story but really if you look at vet prices & the doctor's prices, I really don't think vet's prices are unfair. We ended up paying over 5K in total surgeries, test, medicines, Xrays, CT scans, etc for my cat last year. No, I really did not have that kind of extra money but like I said I worked out the bill with my regular vet into payment plans & as far as the specialists, I just charged it.
If I look back & think what all my cat had done, I think $5,000 was a pretty good bargain!

Sadly we had to put our cat down on Jan. 13th when his illness became too advance & there was nothing else the vets could do

 

[alliecats]

Sadly we had to put our cat down on Jan. 13th when his illness began too advance & there was nothing else the vets could do

Awww, Jacksonsmom, I'm sorry.

 

[jacksonsmom]

Awww, Jacksonsmom, I'm sorry.

Thank you!

 

[Aimeedyan]

Yeah, having a dog (or cat) can be expensive, but it's worth it... vets are just like my doctors. They go to school the same length of time, owe the same amount of loans, and often work longer hours. Plus I don't usually bite, claw, and pee all over my doc when I am unhappy being there.

And I never pay Harley's doc near what I pay for my doc... I have great insurance that covers a large amount of my care (though many humans don't even have that), but a visit to his doc is 1/3 the cost of a visit to mine. Regular office visit is $27.50 (just went today!)

We are waiting to adopt a 2nd because we want to ensure that we have the financial means to pay for another set of vet visits. I know how those unexpected vet bills can hit like a ton of bricks.

 

[ducklite]

Yeah, having a dog (or cat) can be expensive, but it's worth it... vets are just like my doctors. They go to school the same length of time, owe the same amount of loans, and often work longer hours. Plus I don't usually bite, claw, and pee all over my doc when I am unhappy being there.

Thanks for a good laugh! And thank you VERY VERY VERY much for being a responsible pet owner and considering adoption!!!!!!

Anne

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I have to chime in a little here...when Ranger(my 5 year old golden) got cancer in September at first it was diagnosed as kennel cough. Then when the vet did XRays she noticed an obstruction in his esophagus. She said it needed a specialist and recommended going to Ohio State. We took him there on Labor Day at extra "holiday" rates--where the vet pointed out, on the Xrays I already had from home, that he had a big mass in his chest! The vet here hadn't even seen it.
Now mistakes happen--but this one cost me a huge bill from Ohio State as they had to keep him from Monday afternoon to Wednesday morning when we drove back to get him to bring him back to die . If I had known it was as bad as that I would have probably put him down before all of that misery and pain he went through those last 3 days--as it was he died 10 minutes after we got him home.
When we went to settle the bill we told her what had happened and no kind of "wow, I'm sorry, can't believe I missed that", or anything, just "Well, here is what you owe." You would think she would want to see the xray or apologize for advising us to go to all the extra expense for nothing.
Robin M.

 

[JimB.]

DUCKLITE - thank you!!!!


My DW is a practicing veterinarian. In addition to being a Doctor, she is also an HR manager, Inventory specialist & buyer, practice manager & personnel director for 20 employees.

Her practice, as do most all vet practices, operate on an extremely thin margain, usually less than 1-2% at years end.

Trust me, vets are CHEAP compared to "People" doctors. My DW has been in practice for 20 years, went to school for 4 years, and makes a pissload less than MD's that have been in practice for 1/3 the time she has, while seeing fewer patients. The reason people THINK vet bills are more (trust me, they are not) is because they have to foot the entire bill, rather than having insurance foot the cost.

Vets are expensive?? A spay on a mid-size costs about $50-100, depending on location. A hysterectomy on a person costs about $10000. It's the same procedure.

You woud be SHOCKED at the stories she brings home. Pet owners that provide NO care for their animals, then bring them to her on death's door & expect a miracle cure for nothing. And then don't think they should pay for services when the animal dies or has to be put down. Owner's that do not want to invest in life-saving care for a relatively healthy animal. Surgery without proper workups (which my DW will NOT do). Refusal to properly vaccinate or protect their animal, and then are surpised with parvo, Feleuk, or heartworms raise their ugly head and kill their animals.


Does your family Doctor perform wellness care, treat illness, treat trauma & wounds, perform internal surgery, rebuild orthopedic injuries, perform oncology & obstetrics & do this all to different species of animals all under one roof??? I don't think so.

Trust me, no matter what you pay your vet, by & large they are underpaid for what they do.

P.S. - My DW has clients that love her so much, they will drive 50+ miles to see her, and pass 10 other practices to get to her.

 

[chrissyk]

Our old vet in MA was inexpensive. She's a holistic vet, so the only thing that was expensive were the annual rabies titers (she had to send the bloodwork out). She cleans the cats' teeth while they're wide awake, so that's cheap. The woman has talent and is very brave, LOL! Also, she does not do unnecessary anesthesia...hence the brave teeth cleaning. I don't know how much our vet bills will be down here, nor do I really care. I want my pets to have the best care possible, regardless of cost. We have a new holistic vet here, and thankfully they also believe in titering rather than vaccinating.

We have VPI (pet insurance) for one cat but not for the other. VPI won't cover him because he's considered a senior and has had some medical problems in the past. Also, I covered my sister's puppy as soon as she brought her home, and my sister has kept the policy in force since then. We each pay about $200/year to cover one pet...soooo worth it for the peace of mind.

Lastly, the best way to keep your vet bills down is good animal nutrition!! We feed our pets a preservative-free, hormone-free, additive free diet (Petguard). My sister goes one step further and feeds her dog Bravo Raw. Our pets all only need routine care now, thankfully. Our "senior" cat was quite ill for the first 3 years of his life, thanks to supermarket petfood. Once I educated myself, we changed his food and saved his life. Our vet bills plummented once this happened, too.

 

[ducklite]

DUCKLITE - thank you!!!!

My pleasure. Does your wife know Dr. Cottrell (nee Kemmerer) in G'Ville? That's who we'll be using once we move the animals to FL (they're still in NJ with me). She's a three hour round trip, but worth it for her species knowledge. The vet I use in NJ is a two hour round trip, again, worth it for one of the best!

Anne

 

[dmslush]

I love my vet and his entire staff!!!!!!! He always treated my Annabelle like she was his most important patient. When she went into Renal Failure about a month ago, he worked and did everything he possibly could to help her. Everyday he would call me with updates and he helped keep my hope alive. But, when it was time to stop trying, he let me know. He was kind and compassionate until the very last minute. And when we had to put her down, he actually sent me a sympathy card. The amount of money that we had to pay him over the years is NOTHING compared to the attention and devotion that he showed to my baby.

We just got a new cat, Gwenaviere and she has already been to meet him, I consider him a very important extension of our family.

 

[Jcricket Fan]

I find my vets princing to be higher then most but this vet group has wonderful dr's. ...such kind caring people that I can adjust!
I was just there Fri. for our cat to be checked as she is prone to sinus/dental infections. Yep she's got one again!

The office visit is 48.00. The clavomox for the infection was 12.00 and the she had blood drawn for a test that cost 168.00. The grand total came to $227.00 for our quick run to the vet to get more medicine.

We have 5 cats now (all taken in as strays) and in the future we will limit ourselves to only 2 because when several have issues at the same time the cost can be quite high for us. We have no human children so these are our babies!

Colleen

 

[2BOYMOM]

I love my vet too. She is going to personally keep my ferrets for me in July when my entire family goes to the beach. Normally my niece keeps them but since she'll be with us, she can't!

With 2 dogs, 2 ferrets and 1 cat, we spend big $$$ at the vet, with annual visits, heartworms meds, flea control and any extra illness that may get thrown in. But it's worth it and I would never consider another vet, no matter how much she charges. I think an office visit is $40.




Kim