Vets

[Guest fatesrelease]

No. My vet is amazzzzzing. I love her. Vets have to go through a lot of schooling to become vets, and I feel like they deserve it. It's a hard job. Well, if they are like my vet they deserve it.

[Guest ChasesMum]

my vet is awesome, but one of the vets I worked for way overcharged, and nickel and dimed clients for every little thing. THe office manager (the vet's wife) was brutal to the owners and would have lost many clients if not for the great vets in the clinic.

[Guest suzye]

It really bugged me that when I brought Jazz in for rear-end paralysis, they charged me EIGHT DOLLARS for her blood pressure pill. ONE PILL! I can get a 30 day supply from Wal-Mart for $4! I would have brought in my own bottle had I known this would happen. Some of the prescription prices are absurd (routine meds I always fill elsewhere). Normally I would protest something like that (bring them 1 of my own pills for reimbursement later), but we had to put her down 2 days later and it seemed stupid to squabble over that.

 

Other than Rx prices, my current vet is pretty fair. The vet I fired last year had very high prices and that's part of why I left.

 

The last estimate I got for a dental was $450. That was in 2004 or 2005. That seems ridiculous. If my current vet charges that much, I guess my next dog is never getting a dental!

 

What bugs me is the unnecessary stuff they don't even ask you about in advance. When Jazz hurt her foot, they needed to take an x-ray. They took 2 views instead of 1 (which would have been perfectly sufficient), costing me about $75 more! When they did a follow-up x-ray a few weeks later I made sure to tell them I was only paying for 1 view. Those people didn't think about cost at all.

 

Overall I think my current vet has fair prices, espeically after looking at my last bloodwork bill (for me)!

[feemandvm]

It really bugged me that when I brought Jazz in for rear-end paralysis, they charged me EIGHT DOLLARS for her blood pressure pill. ONE PILL! I can get a 30 day supply from Wal-Mart for $4! I would have brought in my own bottle had I known this would happen. Some of the prescription prices are absurd (routine meds I always fill elsewhere). Normally I would protest something like that (bring them 1 of my own pills for reimbursement later), but we had to put her down 2 days later and it seemed stupid to squabble over that.

 

Other than Rx prices, my current vet is pretty fair. The vet I fired last year had very high prices and that's part of why I left.

 

The last estimate I got for a dental was $450. That was in 2004 or 2005. That seems ridiculous. If my current vet charges that much, I guess my next dog is never getting a dental!

 

What bugs me is the unnecessary stuff they don't even ask you about in advance. When Jazz hurt her foot, they needed to take an x-ray. They took 2 views instead of 1 (which would have been perfectly sufficient), costing me about $75 more! When they did a follow-up x-ray a few weeks later I made sure to tell them I was only paying for 1 view. Those people didn't think about cost at all.

 

Overall I think my current vet has fair prices, espeically after looking at my last bloodwork bill (for me)!

How human pharmacies decide to charge for medications is beyond me. They lose money on the $4 prescriptions b/c by the time they pay for the drug, pay someone to fill it, stock it, etc. they are already in for more than $4. However, they have some prescriptions like Ciprofloxacin that is one of the cheapest antibiotics on the market that cost over $100 for a short prescription. ???? Most veterinary pharmacies have flat mark-up rate above the cost of the drug to pay for expenses and generate a profit. Human pharmacies clearly no longer apply a similar formula but why they decide to lose money on one prescription and then turn around and mark another up from $5 cost to $120 charge is beyond me.

 

As for the comments above... what did the $450 estimate include? Preanesthetic bloodwork? IV catheter? Extractions? Dental x-rays? Propofol anesthesia? Simply looking at a dollar sign to decide whether or not to pursue a teeth cleaning is a HUGE mistake. Not all dentals are created equal. Just because one is more expensive doesn't mean it is better either... but you need to find out what is incorporated into each estimate.

 

This is going to sound harsh but I think it needs to be said. If your attitude of "If that is how much my current vet charges, then I guess my dogs are never getting a dental" is real then you should consider owning a breed other than a Greyhound (or maybe not owning a pet). Greys have notoriously bad teeth and not taking care of them with appropriate cleanings if needed is unfair to the animal.

 

 

[tbhounds]

Just wanted to make a point what suzye had last posted. You always need to take 2 radiograph views. My dog had broke her metacarpal bone and off to the E-vet we went. They made the mistake and only took one view and told me it was a sprain. I knew it wasn't so radiographs were retaken at my reg. vet the next day--guess what it showed? She went home with a splint---money wasted at the E-vet!

I wish I could get the care my pets do--human medicine is horrible--one hand never knows what the other is doing--horrible front desk staff--never, ever a follow up call....... Do I think my vets are over paid--gezz, can you guess what their overhead is--what their schooling had cost them?? Vets overpaid--a simple answer-NO. JMHO

[GreyKarma]

I wish I could get the care my pets do--human medicine is horrible--one hand never knows what the other is doing--horrible front desk staff--never, ever a follow up call....... Do I think my vets are over paid--gezz, can you guess what their overhead is--what their schooling had cost them?? Vets overpaid--a simple answer-NO. JMHO

 

Thank you for saying that. Believe me in our hearts we would do it for free but that is not practical.

Yesterday afternoon one of our Greyhound patients came in with a severe laceration that required surgery and a drain. I had a Dr., an LVT, two assistants and myself making sure she had the best care,

none of us left at our scheduled time.

 

Those of us in the business not only worry about our own pets but the pets of our clients. Most have no idea how many of us cry when one goes to the bridge. My young assistants have had a rough week with a lot of tears, but we pull ourselves together to help the next one.

 

It does cost a lot to run a fully equipped hospital and have a caring staff, again thank you for your statement.

 

P.S. February is National Dental Month,a lot of us run special pricing, check with your vet.

[RobinM]

I've posted on this thread a few years back.

 

What I wanted to add to those who feel they are not real drs. Try diagnosing without the subject being able to communicate in telling the doctor what is wrong.

 

Does this hurt. nothing. does that hurt. blank stare. We all know how frustrating it is trying to figure out what is wrong when we know our dogs/cats/ whatever are off, and they belong to us.

 

imagine trying to diagnose and getting it right the first time which they usually do.

Kudos to all the vets.

[Beautybabe]

I just voted that the fees aren't high for the services provided. That having been said, the services available far exceed anything I ever imagined before becoming a greyhound owner.

[Guest tennesseegrey]

Compare the price of vet care to medical care. It only seems expensive because most of us don't have insurance on our pets. I had my dog's leg amputated for 1200.00. That's cheap compared to the amputation of a human leg.

[Guest JustLiverTreats]

i had a vet that i had always used for my cats and so continued on when i got puppy fever...HOWEVER when it came time for the puppy's neuter i decided to call around after getting a quote from her of $275....i eventually settled on a vet who is about an hour away but it was $98...i was a little concerned that maybe they were a 'chop shop'....lol....it turned out to be the best decision i ever made....i never realized what service i WASN'T getting at my old vet....she charged me double what they charge for basic meds such as flea and heartworm....the vet spent more time with my grey just listening to his insides than she ever had for a complete exam...tests that she told me i should have (like heartworm) he explained were a waste of time at this point in the year and suggested i wait until february for those....i was beyond impressed with this guy....when i went in i was so nervous that they were gonna try to lift the grey up on the table b/c i pretty much thought they would lose an arm but to my surprise he sat down on the floor and did the full exam from there....it was a great experience....i won't be going back to my old vet unless it's a real emergency - i didn't pull their files just in case....

[Guest greyvettech]

I work for a Vet so I see what the income is after all the overhead-Some, don't make as much as you may think they make-Of course, it all depends on if it's a small animal or large animal practice, how many doctors, etc.

[Guest greyscot]

Where I live I don't have much of a choice of what vet practice to go to. I can go to the small animal vet hospital or a part time practice. The small animal hospital are, in my opinion expensive, but I am confident my animals get the best care available with the most up to date equipment. Is it worth the extra money - you bet it is. I don't skip on my health and I'm not going to skimp on my animals as long as I can afford to do so. I have never had pet insurance - don't believe in it - but I would mortgage my soul to pay for my animals care. So is my vet worth the money - yes.

[Guest redtweet]

I agree with several others - it depends on the vet. The one I've used the most for my cats is very reasonable, and when we were going through a horrible bout with one of our cats, she even 'back-doored' us to the specialists office to get head-of-the-line privilege AND got us an employee rate for the ultrasounds. Once we realized the cat was beyond saving, she sent two technicians to the house so Thunder could be put to sleep in her own home where she was comfortable and with the ones she loved (she HATED the vet trips). They sent us a sympathy card signed by all the staff, and now send us Christmas cards each year. She and her staff are wonderful. They give discounts for stray/rescue care too (such as spay/neuter for semi-feral cats we've had come up in our yard).

 

Then on the other hand, my best friend has been raked over the coals financially with her vet in Gainesville, FL. It cost her over $300 to have the cat's teeth cleaned! Not to mention the antibiotics they had the cat on before hand. When she went through some emergency-type stuff for her border collie a couple of years ago, that bill racked up to over $4,000 and she ended up losing the dog anyway. It was absolutely awful. No mention of working with them on the fees either. Every time she walks into that place it's a minimum of $100 it seems.

[Guest team_weasel]

I believe my vet is providing an excellent service. She has high overhead costs as well -- has to pay her staff, pay for very expensive equipment, utilities, etc..etc..

[Guest greyhound1]

I like my vet. She takes time and great care. With all the school they go through it is amazing that they can do what they do for the price. I took my small sheltie in for shots and took Brenda for the ride. She checked Brenda while I was there and never charged me.

[Guest l_davison]

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.

 

I live in London Ontario and my grey has had 3 dentals in 8 years. No overnight stays, but the cost including take home meds was $1,000 each time. Her annual checkup and shots $400.00. For the Tramadol 50 mg tabs she is on now $70.30 (bottle of 50), so yes, here in Canada vet bills are expensive.