Is This Commom Practice?

[racindog]

The last vet charged nearly $100 and that was ONLY for the procedure- not anything else.

[cello]

A friend of mine was putting her boy down quite unexpectedly, and was already sitting on the floor with him in the exam room. The front desk girl came in and said that she needed to pay before they could proceed. My friend was shocked. She had been a patient there with all four of her Greyhounds for TEN years. She even told them to go and check with the office manager whom she knew personally, but nope they wanted their money then and there. Needless to say, my friend, all of her friends, even our rescue, everyone has now left this practice.

[Guest trevdog]

Both of mine have charged only for the chemicals needed and the cremation expenses. This was done at a later date. One sent flowers and made a donation to their vet school in my grey's name. The other sends sympathy cards.

[fsugrad]

My vet/employer charged for it. Then, you could decide whether you wanted to take the body, or have a private or communal cremation.

 

One thing he did NOT do, was make people pay on their way out. They were billed.

 

I wanted to add that this was true for me and I was thankful that I didn't have to think about that part of things.

Same here. When Comet was put to sleep at the vet's last summer, I was a complete and total basket case. I remember walking like a zombie to the receptionist's desk and fumbling around for my debit card. The receptionist told me that they would send me a bill.

I got the bill in the mail and paid it right away.

A week later I got a hand written sympathy card from the vets, checking in on us and telling us what a wonderful boy Comet was.

 

Oh, one more thing--a month or so later, I received a letter from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine advising that our vets had made a generous donation, in Comet's name, to the College of Vet Med. I still have that letter and I will never use another vet.

[Jackandgrey]

Mine did but not much and it was a housecall. Mind you it was not MY regular vet and I bet she wouldn't have. She often doesn't charge for things. the bigger fee was the cremation cost which, while collected by the vet goes to the company that does that. Oh and definitely it was bill not payment up front.

[Guest mickie37]

My vet charges for the euthanasia. When the diagnosis is bad, and the decision is made, he often pumps meds in them so they are pain free. I can then bring my baby home and spend some quiet quality time at home. My vet then stops by and helps my baby to the bridge and they just drift away lying in their own bed without any stress. He then takes them back to the office for cremation.

one of my boys died at home on a Sat. night and my vet opened his office at 1Am so I did not have to have his body at home until monday morning.

I think I have said it before but I'll say it again I just love my farm vets.

Mickie

[Guest kydie]

My vet does not charge, but I think I have years where I live in that office, and I think I paid for the new building he put up, but my vet and staff are wonderful people, I bury my pups on our land in the spot were angels wait,

[FountainLady]

Our vet does not charge for the final visit, does not charge for the euthanasia drugs, or an office call. You do pay for the cremation service, though, since they have to send the dogs out for that.

 

If your dog is a client, this is a service they are pleased to provide for you with out any charge. Now, if you were not a client and brought a dog into the clinic for euthanasia, then I am sure they would charge for their services.

 

They also send a nice card, and a copy of the rainbow bridge poem a week or so later.

It's really sad that all of us knows our vets euthanasia policies .....

[Guest Energy11]

A friend of mine was putting her boy down quite unexpectedly, and was already sitting on the floor with him in the exam room. The front desk girl came in and said that she needed to pay before they could proceed. My friend was shocked. She had been a patient there with all four of her Greyhounds for TEN years. She even told them to go and check with the office manager whom she knew personally, but nope they wanted their money then and there. Needless to say, my friend, all of her friends, even our rescue, everyone has now left this practice.

Man, that is TOTALLY WRONG! I think I know what practice you are talking about. I am sooo sorry she had to go through this! COMPASSION is part of veterinary or ANY medicine!

[Guest MAXNAV]

My prior vet required a payment up front, and they were processing the paperwork while the vet euthanized my collie. I believe it was $100. I had to pay separate to have him cremated through the place that picked him up. That was a about $300 more I believe.

I'm not sure what my new vet charges, but I'm sure that they do.

 

[Guest Energy11]

When and if I have to do this again ... I want my vet, or whomever is on call in this area, (*(they make housecalls here) to come and send whomever has to "go" from our home!

[Guest greyhound1]

Our vet does. They send a bill later.

[Guest snakes]

My girl ended up taking her last breath just a few minutes before we were going to euthanize. The vet had come out to his practice after we paged him that she wasn't doing well at 8pm. I always expected to get a bill alter, or even when i showed up with my new pup, but he never charged for the call-out/office visit. We ended up not needing the euthaniasia. I chose a public cremation and burial and never got charged for any of that either. Always expected to and never was, it was a welcome surprise after our couple long months.

This and the compassion he showed (he can normally be quite abrupt) in the last couple months, of course along with his competency, are the big reasons i have and will always go back and recommend him to others.

[DofSweetPotatos]

Meryn,

 

If it was Final Gift that is doing the cremation, you'll be surprised at how quickly his ashes come back. We had both Penny and Gus's within 72 hours. Also, if you get an envelope from Final Gift in the mail, open it in private. I made the mistake of opening it in a public place and turned into a mess. It's nothing bad, just very touching.

 

Our vet charges for the final visit. They do it at the time of the visit. I hate it, but they have been burned quite a bit. I'm sure, as a steady client, if I said I can't pay now, they'd bill me.

 

 

[Guest nerak254]

I would love to have your vet. I can't imagine anyone kinder than to give you that gift when you are in the worst possible situation. Not only was I charged, but I was invited chose an urn and to write a check on the spot.

[rschultz]

when one of our dogs passed, the vet sent a donation in care of her name to osu. I thought that was sooo nice. the dog was 18 years old and had been at the same vet all those years so i was really touched by their gesture.

Edited September 25, 2009 by rschultz

[Fudge]

No, it is not a common practice but it would be wonderful if they did. Even if you are not a regular patient providing free euthansia may prevent animals from suffering needlessly.......of course, I'm not talking about the greyhound adopter community.

[Guest Downtownhoundz]

Is it common for vets to not charge for euthanasia? We weren't charged, and since this is our first experience, I wasn't sure if that was common practice. Either way, I thought it was really nice of our vet. I have no idea how she turns a profit - there were so many things they didn't charge us for over the past few months.

 

We're going to bring in cookies and a thank you note for our vet and the staff there when we go pick up Tarmac's ashes. They have been so great to us through this whole ordeal

 

Did your vet say no charge? Mine said nothing , but I still received a bill in the mail.

[Guest skinnydog]

Why wouldn't/shouldn't vets charge for euthanasia? Their time has to be worth something, as well as the assistant's, if there is one. Not to mention the supplies. It's a business, whether we like it, or not. I would hope that vets get into the business of veterinary medicine because of their love of animals, though. I absolutely agree that the time of euthanasia is not the time to ask for payment.

[ahicks51]

Why wouldn't/shouldn't vets charge for euthanasia? Their time has to be worth something, as well as the assistant's, if there is one. Not to mention the supplies. It's a business, whether we like it, or not. I would hope that vets get into the business of veterinary medicine because of their love of animals, though. I absolutely agree that the time of euthanasia is not the time to ask for payment.

 

I agree completely, but not everyone cares for animals quite so much or is anything other than flat broke. One can imagine the sorts of things that happen when people have to weigh cost versus euthanasia. For example, grandma on social security who can't afford to put down Fluffy. Or some shortsighted youth who adopts a dog when in college; cash is tight, and the dog is suffering from some incurable malady. I've never been there, but known people who were.

 

Locally, county animal control doesn't offer euthanasia services. I think the SPCA does, but I'm not sure. Many of the local vets charge $40 just for seeing the animal; that can be too much for some people in some circumstances. I'm not sure many of us would mind paying an extra dollar or two per visit if it assures people won't let animals suffer unduly.

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

When my kitty passed, the vet just charged for an office visit, about $40. I know the e-vet clinic where we lost Iberia charged, I think it was in the $200 range; but that place is one I will never, ever visit again. Not because of the charge, but because of the way my boy was treated and the way they treated us, too.

[Guest lynne893]

Awww, you are so incredibly thoughtful to do something so nice in return for them.

 

The first grey we had to put to sleep, Gracie, the vet didn't charge us for, which I thought was exceptionally kind.

 

I hope you are doing okay. It is not an easy thing!

 

You're in our thoughts.

[Guest RICHandJUDE]

I assume most vets do charge for euthanasia. Our vet doesn't charge for it if you

take the body to bury. If you want your loved-one cremated, then he does charge

for the creamation and oak box for the ashes. He charges by the lb.

He doesn't expect payment that day. He bills you later. The bill doesn't

mention anything about what the services were for.

 

I just lost one lost one of my greyts a couple months ago from the dreaded C.

[Guest nerak254]

A friend of mine was putting her boy down quite unexpectedly, and was already sitting on the floor with him in the exam room. The front desk girl came in and said that she needed to pay before they could proceed. My friend was shocked. She had been a patient there with all four of her Greyhounds for TEN years. She even told them to go and check with the office manager whom she knew personally, but nope they wanted their money then and there. Needless to say, my friend, all of her friends, even our rescue, everyone has now left this practice.

 

This is pretty much exactly what happened with Aruba too. It isn't about paying or not, it is about compassion. I was crushed to be there that day and couldn't believe how cruel they were.

[Guest VirginiaGreys]

Is it common for vets to not charge for euthanasia? We weren't charged, and since this is our first experience, I wasn't sure if that was common practice. Either way, I thought it was really nice of our vet. I have no idea how she turns a profit - there were so many things they didn't charge us for over the past few months.

 

We're going to bring in cookies and a thank you note for our vet and the staff there when we go pick up Tarmac's ashes. They have been so great to us through this whole ordeal

 

when I had Dodge put down after his Osteo battle...the vet did not charge for the euthanisia. We were paying for a private cremation through his practice...and he knew how much we had already spent with other vets and hospitalization.

 

I didn't pay the day that we put him down...he talked to us about how I wanted to pay...and they said I could pay that day before we leave or when I picked him up..whenever it was good for me.

 

It took me almost 2 weeks (after they called to say he was there) to get him...because I was still so emotional about losing him. I knew that I wouldn't be able to utter a word once I went inside. So I wrote it all down what I was there for. Wore my dark sunglasses so that they couldn't see my swollen eyes...and went in...gave them my tear stained note.

 

When I got home that day. In the mail was a bill statement for the euthanasia. That didn't bother me. But if they had of made me pay for him before putting him down...I don't think I could have taken it.