My vet drives a Porsche

[k9Karen]

i used to charge ten when done separate or 5 with an office visit..

You wouldn't consider going back into practice here, would you?

Then he wouldn't have time to go to all those great places or spend time with us here! It would be nice if those prices would come back, though, wouldn't it? I don't think my vet charges that much for a fecal, but I do that myself, so I'm not sure.

I know vets deserve to make a good living, but there is going to come a point where people won't get the exams that their animals need if the prices keep getting so high. When I look at each individual item on any of my vet bills, all the prices seem reasonable, but added up, they are pretty high. With Leah (my first shelite), an annual exam ran less then $40 - all shots and fecal included plus heartworm preventive. The last one I took in for 'everything' cost me almost $200. Of course, I got Leah in 1975 - so that's almost 30 years of inflation, but it seems a bit much. They appear to be charging for things that used to be included in the annual exam fee, so with all the break-out charges, it can really add up.

[davet]

i,m sure if i did the fee would go up with the increase in the price of drugs and equiptment..i still have my original Olsen Hager forceps that i paied $12.50 for and they now run over $100 each...

[JMM]

One thing we do is keep info around on low cost spays, neuters, and vaccines. I'd much rather have a dog current on its rabies and spayed than come to us and not be able to afford everything. We have clients who use us only for major health problems and do routine stuff where it is cheaper. I really don't blame them. Where we are, it is simply going to be more expensive than 40 miles away because of our location and facilities.

[ShelbysMom]

The reason I've stayed with these vets (they are two brothers who have taken over their Dad's practice) is mostly because of their staff. They are full service....they have most of their own diagnostic equipment and do many of the lab tests in house. They both do surgery as well. The staff is wonderful and they're all familiar with my dog. If she's boarded there, I can call and get updates on how she's doing.
My complaints are that they obviously rack up the bills. They upsell me at every appointment......they have peddled everything from Noni Juice to flea spray. For an annual exam with shots and 6 months of heartworm, my bill is about $280.

[Marty]

I like my Vet and have used him for almost 25 yrs also...guess you could call him a neighborhood Vet.....but he is pretty expensive as I found out when taking my foster to a different place, per request. At one time, the fecal was free as part of the exam...then they stopped doing them when everyone started using heartworm meds. Vetman occasionally takes in a new graduate, whom we saw this time, and she talked me into doing a fecal, and I think the charge was about $30. (bangs head) What got to me was that for the first time in 10 yrs, we have fleas, so I got some Advantage at a whopping cost of $80. Came home and checked online and found I could get it for just under $40. With 4 dogs, he could be driving a Porsche paid for by me alone! But he doesn't (at least not to the office!). I do like him, though.....we still banter about the time Winnie needed bladderstone surgery on a SAT afternoon (all his fault.....she was in on Tues, and he sent her home). Yes, the last annual was over $200.

[Traci]

My complaints are that they obviously rack up the bills. They upsell me at every appointment......they have peddled everything from Noni Juice to flea spray. For an annual exam with shots and 6 months of heartworm, my bill is about $280.

What do you mean by they 'upsell' you?

If a vet tries to push Noni juice on you, I would be looking for a new vet altogether, period

Try spending some time looking around for a new vet, even though you've been seeing this clinic for years, you are obviously unhappy, so next time you need to schedule a routine exam, be observant to the staff, prices, what is or is not discussed with you during the exam, the overall impression you get. First impressions can last a lifetime. If you've never utilized another clinic in the area, you might not know if you'll get better service, comparable prices, and the same or better level of experience.

[davet]

saw an interesting place in LA...big sign about the front saying "animal birth control" which meant it was a low cost spay and neuter place...which i think is fine but the vets that work these places get paid, probably not much but their surgery, equptment, sterilizers, cages, help etc are all paid for separatly by other people or groups...i got a Vet of the Year plaque for doing the most cat spays for a certain group...i got $15.00 for each one which meant i had to pay out an extra $10.00 or so bucks for each one it did so it was not a profit making nor client getting thing...I may have had a few people come in after wards as clients and such but for doing this i had to charge my reagular clients a little more than usual cause loosing that amount of money for each spay was not coneducive to raising 7 kids...But when you see a vet owing a porsche you have to consider how long it took him to become a vet, how much money he owed, how much his practice cost per day. i how much did he have to take in per day just to keep the place running....Lots of other people have Porches whic is no indication of anything but if you think your vet is too high, there is always another on down the street that can be cheaper...if tha vet who owns the big car can afford the big car than some clients must like him cause they are paying for that big car....lousy sermon.....and not corrected for davetisms

[Tambrey]

In reference to davet's post on low cost spays, I fould this site once and thought it a good/effective way to spay feral cats in the San Diego area...

http://www.feralcat.com/

There is alot of other info on this website, but mainly they have humane traps to catch ferals, and once a month have clinics hosted by local vets and vet students...the cats are captured, anesthesized, treated for any wounds, given shots, spay/neutered, set in a recovery area, then sent home with the same person who captured the cat, with release and care instructions...


***I know this is the canine forum..but his post reminded me of that site, so I went ahead and replied here...I am posting on the cat forum too

[davet]

my "humaine capturer" was a girl that ran the kennels, she would cruise the city and piclk up any cat she could find, br4ing it up and then i would spay or neuter....could always tell the males that were neutered but severaltime i opened up females and found that they had already been spayed so when ever i did a femal, even prevu=iously spayed i would tatoo an S on the abdomine so she wouldn't be done a third time....and an aqbdominal incision scar tell you only that something was done...not what..

[Traci]

I'm getting a mental picture of a harley biker picking up a kitty with a cool snake tattoo...

Actually, ingenious thinking, Davet