the Vet $$$$$$
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
the Vet $$$$$$
Has anyone ever had trouble getting the vet to see your dog in an emergency if you give the dog shots and medication yourself? I have been taking all of my dogs to the vet for their checkups and shots and spend hundreds of dollars a year and a lot of the reason for this is so my vet will be there if I have an emergency. Should I need to do this? What does everyone else think.
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Aaron Bartlett
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my vet helps me by giving advice and knowledge in reference to my vaccinating and worming and doing general maintenance for my dogs. of course, my vet also is ridiculously inexpensive, and speaking with him about it he said it is a choice that he made in order to offer professional veteranary services to people and animals who might otherwise not be able to access it. he is also a beagle and lab owner who hunts. maybe it runs in the blood.
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Aaron Bartlett
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Dosgris,
The Vet that I use the most sounds alot like yours.
I have always found it amazing the difference in Vets. For instance, I am lucky to have a good number of Vets in the immediate area and last week it was time to take my wifes kitten to the Vet to have him cut and declawed. She demanded it be done that week because she didnt want it to ruin our furniture. I started calling around to see where I could get it in the quickest. To my amazement the cost of getting this done ranged from $45 to $95! I found it hard to believe that the very same thing could vary this much expecially when all the Vets were within 30 miles of each other.
The Vet that I use the most sounds alot like yours.
I have always found it amazing the difference in Vets. For instance, I am lucky to have a good number of Vets in the immediate area and last week it was time to take my wifes kitten to the Vet to have him cut and declawed. She demanded it be done that week because she didnt want it to ruin our furniture. I started calling around to see where I could get it in the quickest. To my amazement the cost of getting this done ranged from $45 to $95! I found it hard to believe that the very same thing could vary this much expecially when all the Vets were within 30 miles of each other.
Crane Creek Kennels
vetss
I do all of my shots and worming myself, and I only go to a vet if I have to. Nothing against vets but most of them grossly over charge you. When my pup had Cherry eye I called 10 vets all within a 20 mile radius. I got prices for the surgery that ranged between $75 and $250 that is utterly ridiculous. I wanted to put my dogs on interceptor but the vet wanted me to bring them in for an office visit every 6 months even if they were on interceptor. I can't afford that so I in turn order my interceptor from the pet megastore in Australia and they don't require a prescription for drontal, droncit, interceptor or heartgard and they only take 4 days to get it to me. It is not cost effective for most of us to utilize a vet for everything especially if you have a bunch of dogs.
Big Dog
Big Dog
Black and Tans, Blue Ticks, and a few others bringing smoke
I do all my own "doctoring" of my dogs too, such as annual shots, worming, etc. If they get something wrong that i feel I cannot handle, I dont hesitate to go to my vet. He is a nice guy and not a tree-hugger type, grew up hunting bird dogs and still occasionally does. He does not charge me more than anyone else he sees.
I also called several different vets' offices not long ago to check prices of a brucellosis test. I got prices that ranged from $52 to $150!!!
One particular vets office, i spoke with the secretary and one of the vets assistants and they did not know what brucellosis was!!!!!!!!!! 
I also called several different vets' offices not long ago to check prices of a brucellosis test. I got prices that ranged from $52 to $150!!!
One particular vets office, i spoke with the secretary and one of the vets assistants and they did not know what brucellosis was!!!!!!!!!! +++
He's coming....are you ready?
He's coming....are you ready?
Sorry, but this post will be all over the place!
Cherry eye surgery has three different forms that I know of. In one form, the tear gland is simply removed (cheapest, not recommended because it will cause dry eye problems). And their are two forms of repair, one more costly than the other. I don't remember all of the technicalities. But the method the vet uses to treat the cherry eye has a major impact on costs. Additionally, the procedure requires general anaesthesia, and different anaesthetics have different costs. I saved a lot of money on a surgery once because the clinic I went to was part of a clinical study on a new anaesthetic, so I got the anaesthesia for free.
I deal with contractor bids for construction contracts all of the time. Huge cost variations are typical when it comes to a lot of things, not just vets.
Compare the cost of having surgery performed on a dog compared to the cost a similar surgery would cost on yourself. Vets have to perform the same surgeries that medical doctors do, and it's often more difficult with dogs because of their size. There's obviously not the same amount of liability insurance involved, of course, but it's still an interesting comparison.
The reason a vet wants you to come back 6 months later is to make sure the dog isn't heartworm positive. Taking interceptor or other preventatives while heartworm positive can be fatal. If your dog is just beginning to take heartworm preventative, they want to do a 6 month follow-up from the initial test. This is because your dog can test negative the first time but still be infected. It can take up to 6 months to get the positive result. After that follow-up, they generally only require an annual test.
The reason you have to go to the vet to get those drugs is because they are essentially prescription drugs. The vet is just following the law and the ethics he/she swore to uphold when he/she became licensed. There are mail-order companies who pay vets to do the "prescribing" for them (our vet gets faxes all of the time from these places), and you can obviously order them from overseas. The government would care if these were drugs used on people, but since they are just for animals, they don't really care.
Vet assistants are often nothing more than receptionists, dog-walkers, and clean-up. Some vets have their technicians do a lot of hands-on help, but that's not always how it is. Just because an assistant didn't know what brucellosis is doesn't mean anything about the vet who does the work.
Blasto is tough. We had to treat one of ours. Expensive drugs. The brown hair on ours turned white (but returned to brown after the drugs stopped).
Cherry eye surgery has three different forms that I know of. In one form, the tear gland is simply removed (cheapest, not recommended because it will cause dry eye problems). And their are two forms of repair, one more costly than the other. I don't remember all of the technicalities. But the method the vet uses to treat the cherry eye has a major impact on costs. Additionally, the procedure requires general anaesthesia, and different anaesthetics have different costs. I saved a lot of money on a surgery once because the clinic I went to was part of a clinical study on a new anaesthetic, so I got the anaesthesia for free.
I deal with contractor bids for construction contracts all of the time. Huge cost variations are typical when it comes to a lot of things, not just vets.
Compare the cost of having surgery performed on a dog compared to the cost a similar surgery would cost on yourself. Vets have to perform the same surgeries that medical doctors do, and it's often more difficult with dogs because of their size. There's obviously not the same amount of liability insurance involved, of course, but it's still an interesting comparison.
The reason a vet wants you to come back 6 months later is to make sure the dog isn't heartworm positive. Taking interceptor or other preventatives while heartworm positive can be fatal. If your dog is just beginning to take heartworm preventative, they want to do a 6 month follow-up from the initial test. This is because your dog can test negative the first time but still be infected. It can take up to 6 months to get the positive result. After that follow-up, they generally only require an annual test.
The reason you have to go to the vet to get those drugs is because they are essentially prescription drugs. The vet is just following the law and the ethics he/she swore to uphold when he/she became licensed. There are mail-order companies who pay vets to do the "prescribing" for them (our vet gets faxes all of the time from these places), and you can obviously order them from overseas. The government would care if these were drugs used on people, but since they are just for animals, they don't really care.
Vet assistants are often nothing more than receptionists, dog-walkers, and clean-up. Some vets have their technicians do a lot of hands-on help, but that's not always how it is. Just because an assistant didn't know what brucellosis is doesn't mean anything about the vet who does the work.
Blasto is tough. We had to treat one of ours. Expensive drugs. The brown hair on ours turned white (but returned to brown after the drugs stopped).
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Little Dog
- Posts: 123
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- Location: Georgetown, IN
vets
Randy posted the link above. I know that he uses them and have heard that he has had good experiences with them also. I normally get my order in 4 working days.
Big Dog
Big Dog
Black and Tans, Blue Ticks, and a few others bringing smoke