Still think going to the DOCTOR is expensive?

[Amber St. Clare]

We took the cat to the vet for his wellness check up and it cost $500.00! Rabies shot and blood test. He a total indoor cat.

My son has a dog that goes outside {on a leash} twice a day. He's a Staff/bulldog mix {and I am terrified about him being with the baby} and they have health insurance for him--costs $60. a month. {I made sure they included him on their homeowners insurance}. So we figured that it would even out and decided not to bother with the policy. But really--my NEUROLOGIST DOESN'T CHARGE THAT MUCH.

Butchie better make sure he stays healthy!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

It's terrible. So many small vet practices have sold their clinics to large ones and there is a vet shortage. The vets who work at the large practices are overworked as the company tries to squeeze too many clients in, and expect the vets to provide what may be unneeded tests and treatments to tow the company line.

Long wait times to see your vet is the result and we have waited 8 hours to see an emergency vet. My sweet dog wracked up over 4k in tests, treatments, and visits in a short period of time and he had a vet plan. Specialty tests and vet visits need to be scheduled weeks or months in advance.

I told hubby no more dogs after our last pups are gone. But my friend told me the vet shortage is just something I need to deal with because dogs need homes. So I changed my mind, but I might need some time to recover from how disappointed and helpless I feel when I can't get timely vet care or adequate treatment plans.

 

[Amber St. Clare]

It's terrible. So many small vet practices have sold their clinics to large ones and there is a vet shortage. The vets who work at the large practices are overworked as the company tries to squeeze too many clients in, and expect the vets to provide what may be unneeded tests and treatments to tow the company line.

Long wait times to see your vet is the result and we have waited 8 hours to see an emergency vet. My sweet dog wracked up over 4k in tests, treatments, and visits in a short period of time and he had a vet plan. Specialty tests and vet visits need to be scheduled weeks or months in advance.

I told hubby no more dogs after our last pups are gone. But my friend told me the vet shortage is just something I need to deal with because dogs need homes. So I changed my mind, but I might need some time to recover from how disappointed and helpless I feel when I can't get timely vet care or adequate treatment plans.

I hope your little guy is OK. It's heart breaking to lose a member of the family, go to the shelter and see how many stays there are.

15 years ago when Butchie Senior had a stroke the vet bills came to a total of $700. He survived another two years and we had to put him down. This hospital has been taken over to a larger clinic as well. We had to book a month in advance.
My friend works in a vet's office which is in the process of being taken over and she's starting to worry about her job security.

 

[Karl_K]

Petco is often the cheapest place to get a basic checkup and shots.
$102 for basics and $162 with blood tests.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/s/veterinary-services

edit: Prices may vary by location but you can look it up for your area.

 

[ShinyPink]

My daughter rescued a stray kitten. That "free" girl ended up with an infected uterus requiring emergency surgery to a tune of ........... $5000!!!!! She and her boyfriend paid for it over a year.
One of our dogs had cushing's. Those tests (every 4ish months) were not cheap, nor was the medicine. We didn't get insurance because we could only afford it for one dog and we had three, plus three cats. They all had something at some point. I never told my husband the costs because he'd just b!tch and moan. If I knew he was picking them up from the vet, I'd pay ahead over the phone.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

i can remember paying Tinky's vet bill years ago and the vet saying this is what human medicine would cost without pharmac (the govt organization that buy our drugs which are then free to us)
sorry i know that does not apply to everyone here

 

[dk168]

I took out pet insurance for my tabby cat when I had her in 2007 at 2.5yo, and had diligently paid the premium every month since then.

Last year, she needed dental work done and proceeded to put in a claim, to be informed by the insurance company that dental work was excluded.

I discovered dental work was added as an exclusion about 6 years ago.

In addition, a lot more exclusions had been added to her policy as she aged while the premium steadily increased, to the point that hardly anything could be claimed, and she is 20yo!

My fault in not paying attention to the renewal documents.

I cancelled her insurance right away as I do not see a point in paying the premiums into a black hole never to see daylight again.

She had her dental work, and is now a happy kitty.

DK

 

[missy]

Yes, it totally costs us more to take our cats to the vet than when we go to the doctor. I was spoiled because my sister always took care of our pets but we are so far away since we moved so we bring them to a local vet for the most part now. I mean blood work alone costs us $250-450 depending what labs we are running. When my sister saw us she just put the labs under vet's cat. Now we pay. And pay and pay and pay lol. We do not have pet insurance.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Over the years we have paid SO much in vet bills

Tucker (dog) had a urinary blockage, emergency cost around 4k

Zoe (dog) infected uterus emergency cost around 5 or 6k (hard to remember)

Dexter (cat) Herpes outbreak ulcers in both eyes and required surgery because his eyelids turned in (I forget the term for this). 3-4k when all was said and done.

Those are just are current animals, I also tried to save our Sheltie, Fiona, spent thousands and still had to put her down. This also doesn’t include the other ten or so pets we’ve had over the years and their medical procedures.

It’s rather jarring when I started thinking about how much we’ve spent, we are pretty middle class so it’s no easy thing to come up with thousands at the drop of a hat. We have never had insurance either, I just feel like they will come up with any reason to deny a claim, but my view is skewed from working in the industry years ago.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I hope your little guy is OK. It's heart breaking to lose a member of the family, go to the shelter and see how many stays there are.

15 years ago when Butchie Senior had a stroke the vet bills came to a total of $700. He survived another two years and we had to put him down. This hospital has been taken over to a larger clinic as well. We had to book a month in advance.
My friend works in a vet's office which is in the process of being taken over and she's starting to worry about her job security.

Thank you. Trigger warning- this is sad.

Sorry to say he didn't make it. He was misdiagnosed by the emergency vet. I knew it from the start so I got the ball rolling to treat his cancer. The cancer was so aggressive that he survived a little over 2 weeks. He held out and made it to one oncologist visit that I scheduled before the correct diagnosis was made by his regular vet. If I hadn't scheduled it before the diagnosis he wouldn't have even had the chance to see the oncologist.

For at home euthanasia they were scheduling a week out. I called numerous places. I was able to talk a vet into coming by actual begging, and when he said sorry, he couldn't I offered him a great deal of money if he could find it in his heart to come. That actually moved him and he came to put my sweet fur baby to rest. He didn't take the extra money though. He was just kind and felt that someone willing to pay that much was desperate, and it touched his heart.

My dog with the torn CCL cannot tolerate anesthesia so the vet no longer will clean her teeth. Yet the only treatment we were offered was a 2 hour surgery that she would not survive. No other options according to the vet and her partner straight up lied about her X-ray results. I have evidence of this. If I had put our trust in them my dog would not be with us. So we searched a rehab vet to avoid surgery. Very expensive but worth it.

It's a landmine out there when it comes to our pets.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Having a pet is quickly becoming a luxury! I feel for families trying to raise kids and have a beloved pet or two. I looked into pet insurance but found that much was excluded; it is probably helpful with a broken bone or major surgery. Most vet visits are just routine stuff so you pay for the insurance and pay for the visits too.
My little Yorkie Tessa had heartworm and general blood tests, 2 vaccinations and dental cleaning (they removed almost all of her teeth this time!) and paid over $600. I know that is a drop in the bucket compared to what others have paid but still - this was just routine stuff.

 

[Amber St. Clare]

My friiend had a sweet little Yorkie who lived a good life and when she passed, my friend got another. Right from the start there were problems with many vet bills. He declined rapidly to the point where he was wearing doggie diapers. The vet told her surgery MAY correct the problem. but it was expensive with no guarantee.
All in all she took $10,000. from her IRA and went ahead with the procedure; the dog died within a week. She's devasted but not sorry she spent the money. Personally, I would never spend that much or keep the animal in such distress, but that was her very expensive choice.

 

[MissGotRocks]

My friiend had a sweet little Yorkie who lived a good life and when she passed, my friend got another. Right from the start there were problems with many vet bills. He declined rapidly to the point where he was wearing doggie diapers. The vet told her surgery MAY correct the problem. but it was expensive with no guarantee.
All in all she took $10,000. from her IRA and went ahead with the procedure; the dog died within a week. She's devasted but not sorry she spent the money. Personally, I would never spend that much or keep the animal in such distress, but that was her very expensive choice.

Wow - what a terrible shame! I think you do have to balance quality of life, expected life span, and medical prognosis with spending. Dogs suffer through procedures and surgeries and we have no way to let them know it is for their own good. My first Yorkie lived to be 17 although the last year of her life wasn't great. We immediately started looking for another as the heartbreak was so unbearable. I did a lot of research before deciding to get another Yorkie. I didn't want to feel as though I was replacing the one lost with the new one. Need not have worried; they all have different little personalities and traits that make each one unique. We love Tessa as much as we did little Chloe even though their personalities are somewhat different.

 

[ecf8503]

I am a veterinarian. I love my job. But I hate the "money talks" I have to have every damn day. We were sold to corporate a few years ago, and they've done nothing but raise prices and balk at our desire to have modern, functional, necessary equipment.

Insurance doesn't help much unless you have a true emergency (broken bone, etc). There are so many exclusions! So instead of paying an insurance company, that probably won't pay out, take that $x and put it in a savings account every month - because one day you will need that cushion for an unexpected event.

There is a shortage of vets, many are aging out and retiring, but many more than that are burning out and quitting. It's very difficult to know you CAN help a pet but owner finances won't allow it. "How much does THAT cost???" Like nails on a chalkboard. We do what we do because we love the animals and want to be there for them in times of need. The entire profession is underpaid and overworked. Veterinarians have one of the highest suicide rates, believe it or not. We're drowning in debt (it costs as much or more to go to vet med school than it does human med school), yet we don't have sky-high incomes like MD/DOs do to pay the debt back. Many vets are literally working paycheck to paycheck.

All I ask is that you as the client be nice. I can't change how much it costs, and I'm not "in it for the money" (there isn't any). We're there to help.

 

[Lookinagain]

My normal yearly vet check up usually runs in the $500 range and has for years, so honestly, its not much more now than in the past. It has always been high. I don't have pet insurance since, as @MissGotRocks says, so much is excluded. My current dog is a rescue. He had mild heartworm, that was treated, before I adopted him. But after the treatment he got at the rescue in Mississippi (two shots) when he was re-tested here 6 months later, he was positive again and we went through the treatment again (3 shots up here). So that was an extra expense, but it wasn't ridiculously expensive if I remember. But I would have paid if it were. That being said, it's not cheap to have a pet and take care of them properly. There are so many pets in rescue that have medical issues that have been ignored and then given up to rescues. Expect the expense and if you can't, or aren't willing to take that on, please don't bring a pet into your family (coming from a woman who volunteers for a rescue). And please encourage anyone you know to spay and neuter their pets unless they are breeding them purposefully to breed standards. Otherwise, adopt, don't shop! (off from soap box now)

 

[missy]

There is a shortage of vets, many are aging out and retiring, but many more than that are burning out and quitting.

Yup. My heart goes out to you ecf8503

My sister works in a practice that is very short staffed and she has been there for over 30 years. She has great clients (the humans) but some not so great. Helping the animals make it worthwhile for her despite the often annoying humans. And she is burned out. Her boss has checked out for the most part and probably will retire soon. She loves what she does but the aggravation factor is high. What other profession requires you to be an expert with many different species (complex doesn't begin to describe it) ?

I have observed it all over the years being in healthcare and it is not easy dealing with people. Especially those who think you are trying to take advantage. I see my sister in action and not only does she work hard she gives a damn about all her patients. The humans can be very trying however.

While it can be expensive (do not ask what we spent during RW!!) a good veterinarian is priceless IMO. My complaint is I have searched high and low in our local area and good veterinarians seem few and far between. My experience only. When we were in need of a local vet we had to go through half a dozen vets to find one I considered up to par. But then again using my sister as an example does make it harder because like @ecf8503 they are not only in the top of the field they are highly ethical individuals as well. A rare combo these days unfortunately

 

[rocks]

We are lucky to have found a remarkable practice on Long Island and have been with the ladies since they opened 17 years ago. I can’t say enough about them and the young doctors they have brought into the practice. WRT price, we understand how expensive it is to run any medical/dental/ veterinary practice and can’t complain. On the rare occasion that we need to get in, our boy is seen; Not necessarily by his primary vet….but he is seen.

We are fortunate.

 

[Amber St. Clare]

When Butchie was dropped off at the shelter he had deep puncture wounds and an undescended testicle, both of which was treated by the shelter before we were allowed to take him home. He was so doped up and traumatized it took him a while to feel safe and at home. The shelter didn't charge for the procedures, but we made a hefty contribution.

I can't imagine what the vet bill would have been if we had to take care of it. And I fell in love with him at the shelter, so we would have if we had to.

Thank you @ecf8503 for the work you do. I cannot even watch the ASPCA ads on the tv, they upset me too much.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

We are lucky to have found a remarkable practice on Long Island and have been with the ladies since they opened 17 years ago. I can’t say enough about them and the young doctors they have brought into the practice. WRT price, we understand how expensive it is to run any medical/dental/ veterinary practice and can’t complain. On the rare occasion that we need to get in, our boy is seen; Not necessarily by his primary vet….but he is seen.

We are fortunate.

Oh I'm on Long Island! What is the practice if you don't mind me asking? We're moving soon so are looking for something closer. We'll be on the South shore close to the Wantagh.

 

[LilAlex]

But really--my NEUROLOGIST DOESN'T CHARGE THAT MUCH.

OTOH, your employer and your family pay $10 - 20K a year to mostly cover the expensive one-offs. Routine follow-up visits are relatively inexpensive.

 

[rocks]

Oh I'm on Long Island! What is the practice if you don't mind me asking? We're moving soon so are looking for something closer. We'll be on the South shore close to the Wantagh.

Companions in Merrick. Drs marghoob and klemenger.