Regular Vet Vs Banfield

[Zoolady]

Little background first: Faith dislocated a toe and after xrays at our regular vet, we were sent to Palm Beach Veterinary Services which is a 24 hour hospital. The regular vet doesn’t do orthopedics. Dr. Roy, an orthopedic specialist and track vet said she also had a torn ligament. He put a hard splint and wrapped it for six weeks and then a soft wrap for another two and she is fine. Almost $1,600 but having her fine, priceless.

 

Halfway through this we found out she had hookworms. She had panacur and drontal and the other three had drontal “just in case.” $24.51 a pill. This week she will have a fecal to make sure they're gone. $37.50

 

Yesterday, we took Babe in for a heartworm blood test to renew her Iverhart Max. I was told a couple months ago that it was about $38. The bill for the test was $51.50 and $13.75 for a nail trim.

 

Later we were in PetSmart and stopped at the Banfield area. The receptionist was very helpful in telling me who the vets were, where they were trained (one graduated from Ohio State). Their heartworm tests are $38 and fecals are $28. She told me of the surgeries that have been done there. It is not a full-time hospital however.

 

I searched Banfield on GreyTalk and realize it’s a business and the quality of services can vary from place to place.

 

It just bothers me so much to overpay. I know our vet is excellent but I feel robbed at those prices.

 

Does anyone use Banfield or something similar for routine care and have a state-of-the-art vet available for serious things?

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Banfield is very overpriced and obsessed with selling you things you don't need... at least that is how it is here. They cannot cope with me and the fact I am more holistic in my views. They suggest crap food, too many shots, and early S/N. etc. According to them, ivermectin doesn't work? Uh, OK... it is 10 plus times stronger of a dose than Heartguard.

 

I just noticed you live in a very expensive area... so it may actually be better. But man, if I hear one more time how I need to neuter my show dogs, I might implode

[Guest CharlieHorse]

I started Charlie at Banfield about 9 months ago, when we first got him.

 

$2000 later, he's still terribly sick, and no one at Banfield can figure out what's wrong.

 

In fact, when I first took him there, they did a fecal exam, and since I was the last one there, they said they would just call me with the results. After not hearing from them for a few days, I figured everything was fine. A few weeks later, I wanted to take Charlie to a dog park, and called for confirmation of the negative fecal (which the park required). It turns out Charlie had one of the "worst hookworm infections they had seen in a while." We just fell through the cracks.

 

Avoid Banfield like the plague!!

 

oh, and we have the "wellness plan," also a joke...

[Houndless]

Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't you have your show dogs s/n?

[Guest KennelMom]

I nearly choked over the $1600 bill for a dislocated toe! That said, vets at different practices will have varying experiences and expertise with different things. I know we've overpaid for some things that should have been diagnosed faster or ideally treated differently at our vet, but *overall* their philosophy is in line with ours, I trust them, and they provide excellent care. Hindsight is always 20/20...I don't expect them to be perfect, just to do their very best and continue to improve in their practice of veterinary medicine.

 

I guess what I'm advising is not to look at one specific bill...or even two bills. Some vets will charge more for a hw test, but less for an xray. Others will charge more for X prescription but less for Y prescription. I would not leave a practice over the cost of a hw test. You really have to be able to compare more services than just that.

 

One of my primary concerns with Banfield would be that ultimately they are a corporation/chain and may be less flexible than a vet who owns their own practice.

[PatricksMom]

My neighbor took her dog there and was very pleased, although for them cost has to be a very big factor. I haven't used them personally.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Show dogs cannot be spayed or neutered. Altered dogs are not allowed to compete. I also prefer intact males regardless for muscle mass and condition when lure coursing and amateur racing.

[GeorgeofNE]

$1,600 to x-ray then split a toe????

 

That's outrageous, and I have finally heard of a vet who charges more than mine!

[Houndless]

Show dogs cannot be spayed or neutered. Altered dogs are not allowed to compete. I also prefer intact males regardless for muscle mass and condition when lure coursing and amateur racing.

 

Thanks! Learn something new every day!

[Guest KennelMom]

Show dogs cannot be spayed or neutered. Altered dogs are not allowed to compete. I also prefer intact males regardless for muscle mass and condition when lure coursing and amateur racing.

 

Thanks! Learn something new every day!

 

Conformation is supposed to be an evaluation of breeding stock. Once a dog is s/n, they no longer have potential as breeding stock. The AKC does not put the same requirement on performance events and altered dogs can compete. Makes no sense to me why they care more about looks than ability with regard to breeding stock but whatevs

[Burpdog]

Depends on the Banfield, i.e. the vet techs & vets.

 

One Banfield in Houston has a vet who has been a track vet, both for the track & the state, one vet that has owned a greyhound (an A&M grad) and a vet originally from Wisconsin who is very good. The vet techs are superb.

 

Some of the services are way over priced and if you are on the wellness plan, you get 20% off, however, it's sometimes less expensive to go to a regular vet!

 

$2000 later, he's still terribly sick, and no one at Banfield can figure out what's wrong.

 

 

Do you not have another vet close? Vet school?

[dopey459]

I have used a Banfield back when I was in Corpus. I loved the vets (husband and wife) and the techs. I can say I went to a few vets in Corpus and found tBanfield to be the most helpful and caring. Here in San Antonio I use a regular vet practice and not Banfield. I have not found a Banfield here that I like or have the same caring/helpful with. It depends on the vets and techs at each place to me more than the name.

 

Jennifer and the crew

[SAVED2]

Dislocated toe at our vet---37,00 dollars--no wrapping and leash walk for 6 weeks.

[Guest CharlieHorse]

 

Do you not have another vet close? Vet school?

 

 

Yeah, that's our next step if this Panacur doesn't help... too bad we didn't go somewhere sooner.

 

I think the biggest problem with our Banfield are the people other than the vets. Banfield has a vaccination etc. procedure that they go through for every single client... They push unnecessary things down your throat because that's what they've been trained to do...

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Yeah $1600 is ridiculous for that. I wouldn't even go to a vet for that probably. Lay off the exercise and give some pain killers if needed.

 

I agree, performance should be the most important! But, I think the reasoning is that pet owners should be able to enjoy those fun sports with altered dogs... and also that intact bitches are very hard to compete with in performance events.

[Hubcitypam]

Before I found my current vet I used two different vets for years. One vet for vet care and one vet for shots and heartworm tests. The price difference was amazing.

 

At one rabies and DHLPP was over $100 as it included a $60 office call and almost $5 hazardous waste fee. Rabies was $20 or so and DHLPP was $28 I think. HW test was $35.

 

At the other vet if you went during shot clinc hours (3 days a week) it was $8 for rabies, $10 for DHLPP and $1 waste fee. HW was $20 but sometimes they ran $15 specials. If you went outside shot clinic hours there was a $10 tech fee. $148 vs. $39 or $49 was quite a deal.

 

As far as Banfield I'd never use them as I'd have to go head to head with them every time I walked in about refusing to overvaccinate. They push it as a big part of the wellness plan they are always pushing. We had more than one client at the daycare tell us something along the lines of it being more like walking into a car showroom than a vets office with the constant hard sell.

[Guest CharlieHorse]

As far as Banfield I'd never use them as I'd have to go head to head with them every time I walked in about refusing to overvaccinate. They push it as a big part of the wellness plan they are always pushing. We had more than one client at the daycare tell us something along the lines of it being more like walking into a car showroom than a vets office with the constant hard sell.

 

Yeah, I had to refuse the Lyme vaccination on at least 5 different occasions, and the techs just keep pushing it!

[Burpdog]

I think the biggest problem with our Banfield are the people other than the vets. Banfield has a vaccination etc. procedure that they go through for every single client... They push unnecessary things down your throat because that's what they've been trained to do

 

They ask me and I say no and that is the end of the conversation! Quite frankly, the vet I use now -- the people up front are way more pushy about vaccines than the Banfield I have used.

[Zoolady]

Thank you for all your replies and input...it's really a lot to think about. Faith was treated for the dislocated toe and a torn ligament which probably drove the cost up. IF surgery was needed the estimate was $3,000 to $4,000. He also said that greyhounds run and dig their toes in and there was a good possibility that, having been injured once, the dislocation could happen again. If it did, he would recommend amputating the toenail and if it happened a third time, toe removal.

 

I was talking with a woman while she was in the waiting room and her cocker spaniel was being treated for a shattered leg after being hit by a car. She opted for surgery rather than amputation and the dog was able to keep her leg after three surgeries and the bill was around $10,000. Sitting in the waiting room was quite an experience with the emergencies flowing in. Some were horrible.

 

We don't do much more than rabies and do titers every once in a while which always come back perfect. Our boys are totally raw fed and the girls 50% raw so maybe Banfield would have a problem. The one good thing about the regular vet is he is a believer in raw feeding and not over vaccinating.

 

We might try Banfiled once for something minor but not for anything serious.

 

We our GT family.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Oh they always lecture me about why raw feeding is evil! I hate that too.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Conformation is supposed to be an evaluation of breeding stock. Once a dog is s/n, they no longer have potential as breeding stock. The AKC does not put the same requirement on performance events and altered dogs can compete. Makes no sense to me why they care more about looks than ability with regard to breeding stock but whatevs

 

I think the reasoning is along the lines of the show career coinciding with the breeding period of a dog's life (after full maturity for the breed, but ideally before middle age), while dogs can compete in many performance events for much longer, depending on the events and the individual dog. Ideally, if you breed you would want to do both conformation and performance events of some kind, and there are only so many hours in a day.

 

Oh they always lecture me about why raw feeding is evil! I hate that too.

 

No vets lecture me about raw feeding, vaccinating, heartworm medicine du jour, nada. I have a bit of a reputation.

[greysmom]

I suppose there are good and bad with just about anything, but I would avoid Banfields like the plague!!!!

 

They do push you to buy their "wellness" packages which aren't any cheaper than the separate treatments. And other stuff you don't need. If you were just looking for shots or something it might be OK, but I would never trust them to actually treat something.

 

The chain started here in Portland, and the corporate owner has been sued and investigated by the vet board here for operating on animals and treating animals under the influence of alcohol! (He also may have been selling controlled substances under the table but I'm not sure about that!)

 

Anyway, I'd look into other vets in your area. Maybe your group has some suggestions?

[Guest ThunderPaws]

I do not take my own dogs to Banfield. But our small group has an account with them and gets a nice discount for fosters. I take fosters there for fecals and little quick things that I like to have taken care of over the weekend so the foster can move to its new home.

One 10 y/o owner surrender with a Banfield wellness plan had her dental done there for free. I worried like heck but everything went well.

The staff is very nice and helpful, they actually take time to exam the dog and listen to my questions/comments. Oe time I took a dog straight from the farm to Banfield for a check-up, within minutes the whole exam room floor was covered in big fat crawling ticks and blood, the vet tech patiently picked them up and kept petting and hugging the dog, which was very kind of him.

They even fit two fosters into their busy Saturday schedule to do fecal checks. I appreciate that. I agree that they try to sell you more than necessary, you need to know what you need or not and just decline. Wish they had more sighthound surgery experience.

Edited July 1, 2010 by ThunderPaws

[joejoesmom]

Before I found my current vet I used two different vets for years. One vet for vet care and one vet for shots and heartworm tests. The price difference was amazing.

 

At one rabies and DHLPP was over $100 as it included a $60 office call and almost $5 hazardous waste fee. Rabies was $20 or so and DHLPP was $28 I think. HW test was $35.

 

At the other vet if you went during shot clinc hours (3 days a week) it was $8 for rabies, $10 for DHLPP and $1 waste fee. HW was $20 but sometimes they ran $15 specials. If you went outside shot clinic hours there was a $10 tech fee. $148 vs. $39 or $49 was quite a deal.

 

As far as Banfield I'd never use them as I'd have to go head to head with them every time I walked in about refusing to overvaccinate. They push it as a big part of the wellness plan they are always pushing. We had more than one client at the daycare tell us something along the lines of it being more like walking into a car showroom than a vets office with the constant hard sell.

I do almost exactly the same thing, but with three vets. I go to a low cost vet who just does spays, neuters, dentals and other preventive care for my basic vet care (labs, urinalysis, shots, etc.). They also have a radiologist who comes in twice a month to do ultrasounds. Their price is about a fourth of my regular vet. For example, dental with anesthesia and pre-anesthesia bloodwork is $105 versus $400. Complete senior bloodwork, heartworm test, urinalysis is $80 versus $350. Wellness visit is $10 vs $40. DHLPP and rabies is $25 vs $100. Heartworm test is $10 vs $32.

 

The vet I see owns greyhounds and was trained by Dr. Couto. But you have to make your appointment weeks to months ahead and they have no after hours or emergency care.

 

So I also go to my local, full-service vet at least once a year. They handle disease management and minor emergencies.

 

Lastly, for major stuff, or just to get an opinion from the experts, I go to OSU to see Dr. Couto's team. OSU is the most expensive of the three I visit, unless it is for corns or something the greyhound health and wellness program can do in-house (i.e. not send it to the OSU Vet School lab, etc.).

 

I am lucky to have such great choices. However, seeing different vets means I have to update all three with records from all of them -- quite a bit more effort on my part. I also make sure to do this after every major vet visit. After minor visits, I update my copy of the records (I keep all of their records myself) and keep it handy in case of emergency.

 

As to Banfield, I have never been.

 

Jane

Edited July 2, 2010 by joejoesmom

[kickchick2000]

Both of my dogs are patients at Banfield. Milky Way has been with them for 7 years and Sweet Pea(bulldog) for 5 years. Both dogs go to different locations, one is closer to my work the other to DH, so we have a good view of the practice as a whole. Overall I feel like the care my pets have been given is fine. The one issue I do have is the high vet turnover. In fact the turnover rate at the location where Milky Way is at has significantly gone up over the last few months and I am considering pulling him as he is getting older and needs someone who can monitor him better.

 

 

I will agree that some of the vets are just there to sell you crap. Luckily for us the one vet who treats our bulldog Sweat Pea is totally awesome, lets will call him Dr. Bob. Sweat Pea has about a zillion skin issues and Dr. Bob has been monitoring her for years, he knows she just has bad skin, is super wrinkly, and is allergic to everything except air. He has been able to put together a skin management plan for us that works and keeps her comfortable without filling her up on steroids or selling us a cart of crap to use.

 

 

There are pros and cons to Banfield but for $360 a year each dog gets all their shots, unlimited office visits, a dental(not including extractions), an X-ray, a urine test, a full blood panel, and 20% off their products.