Vets

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Vets deserve to be paid as much as human doctors, but unfortunately, humans have a much easier time of getting health insurance, and they almost never get turned away for lack of funds. If vets cost as much as human doctors, I'd be in a lot of trouble! I really appreciate what vets do and that they are willing to do it as so much less than what human doctors charge.

[Guest spider9174]

I'm really offended at the "it's not like they are real doctors options." Disappointed and offended that it is even an option. Do you all realize how hard some vets work? I have met some vets that are by far smarter than any doctor out there. Did you know it takes more training to be a vet than a "real doctor"? Did you know, it is harder to get into Vet school than medical school? Shocking but true! In fact, I've taught some of the future doctors and vets and quite honestly, I'd rather be treated by some of those future vets than the future doctors in my classes.

 

I spent a number of years showing horses. The large animal vets I knew were on call 24 hours a day. They went to the animals and worked round the clock and never saw their families. I've been in the presence of some great vets and they are by far better at what they do than many of the mediocre doctors out there.

 

I agree...there are practices that way over price. the price of a vaccine many times is at least as much as or more than the full bottle it came from. But, if you want top quality care, you pay for it. Simple as that.

 

I'm not a DVM. I have a PhD in Chemistry. NO, I'm not a real doctor...but you can call me Dr, cause that's my title, I spent 5 years getting it, and I probably know more about cardiac metabolism than some cardiologists. HMF. Vets aren't real doctors. That's absurd.

[GeorgeofNE]

I have no idea what any of the vets that I've been to make. NONE. I know what it costs to go to vet school though...and at the U of M, that is a lot.

 

My vet is VERY reasonable. (For instance, today's neuter was $46 for the neuter, and another $70 for all the testing and shots (including Fel. Luk.) I think that's pretty darn decent. I don't think he could be making a killing.

 

He's a great vet and a good guy, and I REALLY appreciate his reasonable prices. I don't know what he makes, but I think he deserves it and more.

 

Are you serious? My vet charges $56 for an office visit!!! How can you possibly pay $46 for neutering????

 

I want to live where you live!

 

 

 

[Guest spider9174]

Just curious to hear peoples opinions. I often read about high prices and overpriced pharmacy items on various posts and I am curious as to how people feel that translates into salary. Because if you feel a dental is too expensive at $130 and Heartgard is too much at $50 but you dont feel your vet is overpaid... then those 2 thoughts cannot add up.

 

Anyway just curious to see what peoples thoughts are.

 

 

HELLO... Who's paying 130 for a dental? I'm about to pay 250 and that's because it's spring dental month and 1/2 off! Maybe i"m paying chicago prices, but it's more like 500 around here and the heart worm meds are usually around 100 for a year here.

 

And I'm surprised Dr. Bill that you'd even put "vets aren't real doctors" in the options lists. that has to be tongue and cheek.

 

IMHO, you get for what you pay for...I paid 1000 for a prepurchase exam for a horse--mostly it covered about 20 xrays. It saved me 18K because the horse may not have been sound long. I could have done no xrays, but then I might have had a lame horse in a year too. Do I think the vet that did the exam was over paid? Heck no!

[Guest MomofCash]

I have no idea what any of the vets that I've been to make. NONE. I know what it costs to go to vet school though...and at the U of M, that is a lot.

 

My vet is VERY reasonable. (For instance, today's neuter was $46 for the neuter, and another $70 for all the testing and shots (including Fel. Luk.) I think that's pretty darn decent. I don't think he could be making a killing.

 

He's a great vet and a good guy, and I REALLY appreciate his reasonable prices. I don't know what he makes, but I think he deserves it and more.

 

Are you serious? My vet charges $56 for an office visit!!! How can you possibly pay $46 for neutering????

 

I want to live where you live!

 

I just had Roxy's shots done 2 weeks ago ... all her shots, heartworm check, drew blood, checked for worms, office visit, etc. and my walkin' out the door bill was $46 ...

[patricia]

I have no idea what any of the vets that I've been to make. NONE. I know what it costs to go to vet school though...and at the U of M, that is a lot.

 

My vet is VERY reasonable. (For instance, today's neuter was $46 for the neuter, and another $70 for all the testing and shots (including Fel. Luk.) I think that's pretty darn decent. I don't think he could be making a killing.

 

He's a great vet and a good guy, and I REALLY appreciate his reasonable prices. I don't know what he makes, but I think he deserves it and more.

 

Are you serious? My vet charges $56 for an office visit!!! How can you possibly pay $46 for neutering????

 

I want to live where you live!

 

I just had Roxy's shots done 2 weeks ago ... all her shots, heartworm check, drew blood, checked for worms, office visit, etc. and my walkin' out the door bill was $46 ...

Wow! BrookLynne was in last month for her check up and shots and heartgard chews...$355.00

[Guest LindsaySF]

I think the prices at my vet are kind of high, but I attribute it to the high cost of living in Connecticut. I have friends in other states that would die if they saw my vet bills, compared to what they currently pay for their animals.

[4greyhounds]

We have had very high vet bills recently, But the services were excellent. I am very happy with our vet.

[Guest CindyMessmore]

I just re-read this question. Actually, there are 2 different issues. I don't have any idea how much my Vet's "salary" is, I do know what the Vet Clinic's charges are. The Clinic we go to for our dogs has been more than fair with us. I've had fees waived or reduced for minor things. And most importantly, the Vet actually listens to me and considers what I say. To me this is important. He makes me feel as though we're partners in my packs health. Would I like to pay less.....heck yes! BUT would I want less service or expertise? Heck NO!

[Guest IrskasMom]

Just recently ..... we had Heartworm -Check , Lyme Shut , overall Check Pre-Op Blood and 6 Month Heartguard done

>>> $ 298 . Today Morty goes in Now for a Dental ...... thats another $ 400. I really dont know,how People with Multiple

Dogs do it ??? I really would like to have another Grey....... but cant afford it.My Dog comes first , before I eat ... period.

Edited March 28, 2008 by IrskasMom

[Guest paulamariez]

I used to live at the IL/WI border and was very happy with my vets there and the prices they charged. I've sinced moved to just north of Milwaukee and I am appalled by how much more the vets charge up here! We actually feel that all the vets have gotten together in the area and have set their prices virtually the same, because no matter where you go in the area, it still costs an arm and a leg. We went from being charged about $100 a dog for a wellnes exam, heartworm/tick test and vaccinations to now it costs $225 per dog for the same exam, without a tick panel or blood tests! We have three greyhounds and we literally have to save for months in advance for the spring visits! And if one of them gets sick and needs a trip to the vet, well, we're not getting groceries that week! Our old vet would charge a flat rate for the office visit, which included him examining the dog and taking blood or giving shots, whatever and then add on the charge for the vaccine etc. What we have up here is this itemization on our bill: Office visit charge $50, Charge for the vet to examine the dog $ 25, charge for the blood draw $15, charge for blood test $whatever, charge for antibiotics $whatever, etc etc. My gosh, our vets charges almost $100 just for walking in the door! And that's before they do anything!!! And our old vet used to charge us one office visit price if we brought all three in at the same time for their vaccines. Not here. We get charged the $50 office charge times three for three dogs, even though they're in the same room for the same appointment time. Utterly ridiculous. If I didn't live two hours away, I'd still be going to my old vet!

[Guest nerak254]

At this point they seem really high to me, but that would be because my income sucks right now and they both need stuff and I can't figure out how to pay for it.

[Guest armanntoo]

Recently my vet gave me a trade publication to read a certain article. Nosey me, read through the complete publication. I was shocked as to what it cost to set up an office, with exam room, op room and x-ray equipment. She has three offices, but only does surgery at one.

 

I added that up, and then added the fact that to run three offices, she employs about 12-14 people, three of whom are also vets. It added up to quite a bit.

 

I know her family, and have visited her at home. She doesn't live the high life, and cares about her patients. She call me on a regular basis, just to make sure that I have no problems with the pups, and to make sure everything is going OK for me since my marriage split. I would pay her more for her service...but don't tell her that.

[SAVED2]

Our vet wants to retire so he only works 2 days a week , we now have a new vet that works the other 4 , all prices have gone up one third , I guess becuase now two have to be paid but everything has remained the same , not fair for us but you can see why it happened , there still the best around and for us he has never been wrong.

[Guest KRKWMU]

I just want to add that some things really bother me about our vet's practice. I've been happy with his care and the office staff overall. However, I've noticed some things since we started chemotherapy treatments for our girl, Bonnie. We have spent more than $5,000 I'm sure, just in the past several months. I HATE when I receive an itemized bill and they charge me $2 for a can of wet food and $15 for a nail trim. GIVE ME A BREAK. Please just comp these silly fees and do the little things as a courtesy. Maybe they do it to help keep track of things, but I know they can zero out the charge. Stuff like that really bothers me.

 

I've felt like the charges for all of the chemo treatments have been a little high, but it is a specialized procedure. I think some vets are fair and some are overpriced. Just like anything else in life.

[Guest crazy4greys]

They way my vet treats my dogs, I would pay more!

 

Winnie recently went in for a dental. I sent in her muzzle knowing that she would not be happy being touched and would freak out and try to bite them. She did it before.

 

So, when she was ready to go home, my vet said, " knowing how scared she was, we started putting her under while she was still on the floor. When she started to get groggy, we lifted her on to the table so would be more calm."

 

That is the best and nicest thing I ever heard! I was so grateful that they tried to make her dental a less scary situation for her.

[Guest brit1]

Having just forked out over $5,000 to get a dx for my little dog I would say the fees are outrageous . The local ER is a rip off Now that she has been dx (IMPA) it has been costing me $145 to see the specialist and $150 for a specific blood test to check the level of one of the drugs she is on, every 2-3 weeks. No way can I keep this up My regular (holistic) vet tries to be very fair and I am ok with her charges anne

[Guest lillysmum]

Wow, interesting to see this thread dragged up to the top again...

 

I have mixed feelings on this topic. Many vets I've consulted over the years fall into the "overpaid" category but in many cases, that's fine by me because they *love* my dogs and do the job because they are animal-lovers first and foremost. Some are just in it for the $$$ and could care less about the patients or their owners. My current vet in Darwin Australia is wonderful. The practice is finally starting to turn a profit and so what are they doing? They've opened a shelter (not for profit) that takes in unwanted animals and does the vet work and re-homes responsibly. This is all breeds and mixes...

 

All the vets believe in a minimal medicalised approach - in other words, they use western medicines when required but also encourage holistic and natural alternatives to drugs, drugs and more drugs. My little dog Molly is epileptic so has to have phenobarbitone for that, but she's just developed a skin allergy...using steroidal based drugs can do enormous damage in a dog with barbituate therapy so my lovely vet did some research on fish oil supplements in the epileptic dog (while we waited!) and concluded it would be safe for me to use fish oil in combination with a mild anti-histamine. I was there for an hour...and including the medications we needed, the cost was around $80.

 

I *love* my vets!

 

Oh, BTW - I'm going to volunteer with the shelter - interviewing potential adopters, taking dogs out on day trips, playing with puppies, etc. It's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it!

 

Oh, they also rescue retired "unwanted" greyhounds...but they find it takes a long time to re-home them.

[Guest ejw]

Wow, interesting to see this thread dragged up to the top again...

 

And I would change my vote, a year later and many kilometers further west!

 

The vet I took Jamaica to for her dental charged almost $500 to clean her teeth. I had to point out the bump on her wrist. I wasn't happy with the way she brushed it off when it was no better a week later. I'd have thought she would be more "investigative". Nice people in the clinic, but nice doesn't make up for missing a serious diagnosis. I do feel location has something to do with her fees, however: she is in a strip mall.

 

I felt there was something going on and took Jamaica to another vet. He knew immediately what he was likely dealing with. He did the surgery on her tumor for less than half the cost of the dental, and it was not an easy surgery. Follow up care has been a reasonable price. He and his staff are just as nice as the other clinic, but more interested in following up. I felt far more secure asking him to work with Dr. Couto's group than I ever would have with the first clinic. The interest just wasn't there. His clinic is in what used to be a private home so that might factor in to his fees.

 

I would pay the higher fees of the 1st vet if I felt the vet was competent and interested, but I feel I, and more importantly Jamaica, got ripped off -- in more ways than one.

 

My vote now would be "It really depends, some are and some are not."

[Guest MZH]

Regardless of what vets charge, the one charge that bothers me is when a dog gets an injury while in their care and *we* have to pay for the stitches, bandage changes, etc. It's usually a toenail or pad injury from getting hooked on a cage bar.

 

Maybe the lower parts of cage sides should have plexiglass on the inside to prevent such injuries. Last year's vet bills were about $14,000 and we still lost the dog whose share of the vet bill was about $10K. Paying for something that happened while at the vet's seems inappropriate and just adds insult to injury. They usually say "We don't know what happened." That's even scarier.

 

Marcia in SC

 

 

[feemandvm]

Having just forked out over $5,000 to get a dx for my little dog I would say the fees are outrageous . The local ER is a rip off Now that she has been dx (IMPA) it has been costing me $145 to see the specialist and $150 for a specific blood test to check the level of one of the drugs she is on, every 2-3 weeks. No way can I keep this up My regular (holistic) vet tries to be very fair and I am ok with her charges anne

 

Have you ever had to go to a human ER? Owners complain about a $100+ ER exam fee and I can understand why as that is a lot of money but if a human ER charged me only $100+ I would do a jig I would be so happy. Bloodwork on the human side costs 2-3x or more what most vets charge even though the cost to the human hospitals is no more. Results are also very rarely returned immediately. Some labs will run both human and animal samples and return both within 24 hours for most routine tests. I've never gotten results back on my own personal bloodwork from my doctor within 24 hours. I've also never been called by my doctor with results.

 

When I was in veterinary school... I broke a small chip off of the last bone in a finger playing flag football. Because I was concerned about loss of mobility in the joint and if that would affect my ability to do surgery, I had it repaired. The final cost for OUTPATIENT surgery on my finger? It was a little over $10,000 by the time we paid for the anesthesiologist, surgeon, hospital bed, etc. THANK GOODNESS my student health insurance was good or I never could have gotten it repaired. In my 6 years of private practice... I have never had a bill of $10,000 for a procedure or even for an extended hospitalization.

 

Another point... our hospital has an ultrasound that is honestly nicer than some of the units used at the Cleveland clinic. A routine ultrasound costs around $200 at our clinic... a full abominal ultrasound on the human side would likely be significantly more than that.

 

Finally, I really cannot believe that anyone would really get into veterinary medicine "for the money". Anyone smart enough to get into veterinary school is also smart enough to know that there is much more money to be made in any of the other professional schools (human medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, etc.) and generally they are less competitive to get into. I have a friend that is a podiatrist that made more in his first year of practice than I made my first 4 combined. I don't begrudge him what he makes... but when I hear that vets are "overpaid" it makes me smile. Of course I've also heard the comments that physicians/podiatrists/etc. deserve more money because they are "real" doctors because they work on humans.

 

 

[Guest VelvetEars]

I do think the ER is too steep. But I have no idea what their vets are paid, vs what it costs to keep the clinic running. I won't go there because to even walk in the door is something like $300, and after they experimented on Jane, I won't go back there unless the pet is dead and stiff.

 

My regular vet -- a bargain. They don't have a waiting room disguised as a pet store. It has looked the same since I was a child (I'm 34 - my parents and grandparents have used this same office for more than 40 years). There are 3 exam rooms. They just went to computerized invoices w/in the past year. I had an appt to have the cat checked out for a possible bladder infection or plugged urethra. Including antibiotics and urine acidifyer - $52. I will put up with their bizarre hours (9-12, 1-3, and 6-7:45 M-F, with no eves on Fri, and 9-12 on Sat) because they are so reasonable. The 3 vets know me and my pets. The staff is wonderful, too.

 

There is a more "modern", larger practice further from home that is significantly more expensive. I use them as my eVet, because they are open from 6a-2a, 7 days/week, and are equipped to keep pets overnight for monitoring (my vet isn't). Their waiting room has TVs, a "shopping" section, and an adoptables area. It's 2 floors. It has 8+ vets. They offer classes. There are at least 10 exam rooms. I know I won't leave there w/o dropping at least $200 on a basic no-frills visit. But if it's an emergency, or the dog needs to be watched overnight, it's better than the eVet. I just wonder how much things are padded, knowing that my regular vet does the same stuff for 1/2 to 1/4 of the price in many cases. ....case in point - FLUTD surgery at my regular vet will be less than $200 including antibiotics and follow up visits. At the more modern hospital, they quoted me a price of close to $400 just for the surgery, not including antibiotics or follow ups.

 

When it comes to the "big ticket items" --- MRI, Ultrasound, etc. --- I know what these things cost for people, and I've paid them for Jane when I had her at Mizzou for a week. The cost was about the same as it is for me w/o insurance (I have a high deductible plan now). Fortunately, I have only had to do this once, and at the time, I felt it was worth it because I needed to know what was wrong. I know that kind of equipment is expensive, and the care she received there was outstanding.

 

So for me --- it depends on the vet.

Edited June 24, 2008 by VelvetEars

[feemandvm]

Keep this in mind when you consider ER vet charges. How much more would you have to be paid to do the job you are currently doing from 10pm-6am instead of standard hours? It is hard to have much of a social life when your schedule is the exact opposite of normal hours. Also consider that the ER hospital is fully staffed and there is no way to know how many ERs may or may not walk through the door. Most ERs have fully trained and registered veterinary technicians and not veterinary assistants handling cases which adds to expense. They also will generally have access to state of the art in house bloodwork machines, ultrasounds, blood gas machines, oxygen cages, etc. The ERs in our area have more diagnostic equipment than any general practice in the area. While every case may not need them, they need to have them for those that do.

 

 

One other thing since someone had emailed me this question earlier:

 

Why do a lot of regular vets refer emergencies and not see them themselves? The answer to that one is simple... ER clinics simply provide better care after hours. If you have a dog with bloat at 2am... do you really want that dog to be seen by a vet that is tired after a full days work and managed 2 hours of sleep before you called. Some vets will have 1 tech on call and others may have none. That means that in a major surgery, if there is a tech on call, an owner may be forced to "run anesthesia" on a pet as both the vet and tech will need to be scrubbed in for surgery. I've known cases where owners have actually had to scrub in for surgery on ER cases... not exactly a "best case scenario". Furthermore, imagine that you have your pup in for a spay on Friday. The vet was up most of the night Thursday night with an emergency and got about 1.5 hours of sleep. He comes in to work exhausted but knowing that he has a full day ahead. Do you think that the vet is likely to reschedule his surgeries and appointments? Not likely. While there may not be any problems there is no question that the chance of a mistake is going to be much greater for that vet with little sleep than had he referred the emergency in the first place, gotten better care for the pet and then not been exhausted for all his patients the following day. Again... not really the topic of the thread but simply answering a question I was emailed.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest MZH]

To the point of vets not being real doctors -- well, there are times I wish my vets could work on me. I think most of them are more thorough and much better diagnosticians than some MDs I've been to. How many MDs can can quickly fix medical problems on patients who can't talk? I have the greatest respect for most vets.

 

Marcia in SC

 

Edited to fix bad spelling as usual.

Edited June 24, 2008 by MZH

[Guest Nahoa]

Individual vets and groups of vets have been good in my experience. Larger places somehow seem to get more like human health care. Not sure how that works, though.

 

At the end of the day, my dogs matter to me more than a lot of people. I'm happy to pay vets well so good folks will take the time to study, learn, and keep learning so they can give my pets the best care possible without having to work every hour of their lives to earn a living and without having to take a poverty pledge to be a vet.

 

Don't see a lot of my neighbors with pets (who do drive fancy cars and such -- the people, not the pets) living on macaroni and cheese to make sure they can keep their contracting prices low, the legal fees low, give folks a rock bottom price at the framing shop, cut their hair for $10 less, or what have you . . . . why's it always the dentists and the vets who aren't supposed to make a nice living?

Edited July 5, 2008 by Nahoa