TAKE TO VET or TAKE OUT PET INSURANCE!

[rparrny]

Having researched and purchasing what I felt was the best pet insurance available...my advice is don't bother. When it came to a sizable claim for my dog (~$5000.00) they covered about $300. Now I'm a medical professional and know about medical billing so I fought the amount and got another grand out of them but when I added up what I pay for premiums vs what I got reimbursed...it was definitely not worth it. Take a few dollars each week, but it in a dedicated account and use that for emergency medical treatment...if you don't need it...you have a little nest egg of your own...(lol did I say nest egg...no pun was intended but I'll take it anyway)

Rivka

 

[7L Farm]

I have an avian vet near my farm but the price you pay him to treat your chicken is out of sight. I think you can get all the help in the world right here. You could probably search most of your needs. I've read some incredible step by step operations on this sight with great successes. I even read one thread where the person hatched twins it was unreal. There are some really talented individuals here.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

You all have a lot of valid points. And yes, Humble, I know about chickens. But when little things are wrong - like mite infestation, sore feet, no energy then yes - posts do work. When I read about chickens legs being fused together, harsh infections, prolapses - then what else can one do other than take them to a vet or kill them?

Bottom line is yes you all care about chickens as otherwise you wouldn't be here. But seriously, when a chicken has a serious health problem then they need professional help. If you can't get pet insurance for chickens then I suggest you put a couple of dollars or pounds or euros away a month in order to cater for any eventuality.

Danindiana said " I'd be really surprised if one can purchase chicken insurance, but who knows. The economics just don't make it very realistic in my opinion. Say, a $75 vet bill for a $5 chicken, that would also be delicious. Maybe if it were an issue related to a large flock"

His comment says it all! I have 50 chickens, most of which are all backyard mixes. There is no way I can afford to take each one to the vet every time a small problem comes up, and honestly they aren't like your normal house pet, people and expectually vets don't even compare them to say a cat or dog. If they can be treated from home most people will do that, but in most cases kill...it's all part of raising chickens. I raise chickens to help feed my family, we eat the eggs and eat chickens too.

 

[Erica]

That's fine if they're treasured pets, but what if we want to eat? There's simply no point having a vet pump chemicals into an animal destined for the table.

I'm in a halfway position I guess, because my chickens are pets, yet I process males for the table, and will put down a suffering hen if there's an unfixable problem. I think most people in history have taken this approach, which is a balance between kindness and human survival. Vets can add little to this equation except by taking away the edible part.

There are other sides to the issue even if only looked at in humanitarian terms. Putting a chicken in a crate and then into a car, then waiting at a vet, then being handled by strangers are very stressful for the bird (much more so than for most other pets). It's not a deal-breaker but it's something to add to the equation when weighing up whether to vet or not vet.

Lastly, injection for birds is not necessarily a merciful death. I read of one case where a rooster took 20 minutes to die. This may have been just vet error or something unusual to do with the individual bird, but clearly a humane outcome isn't guaranteed just because it costs a fortune.

Hope this adds to the points of view you might consider.

 

[bobbi-j]

Even if there were experienced "chicken vets' in every town, I doubt that people would take their chickens in because it's just not economically feasible. As many others have said, it doesn't make sense to spend hundreds of dollars on a $5 chicken. It's not for lack of caring about their birds. Of course we care about their health and well-being. But you can replace that chicken with many more chickens for what you'd pay the vet.

 

[Indigosands]

I wish we could! I called around the day after I lost one chick and there isn't a single vet within 100 miles that will treat a chicken where I live. I gave up calling. It's not that we don't want to, it's that we can't. They are considered livestock here.

 

[mixitup]

Even 'lifestock' (farm) vets are in short supply. We even have a hard time finding a farrier that will come out for a single house.

As for Dogs, many vets still don't understand certain breeds and are very resistant to listening to the owner. We have to interview vets to make sure they will listen to us and take our opinion into account. For a hip x-ray (offa-orthopedic foundation for animals) in Canada, most (almost all) are insistant that they need to sedate the animal. I certainly refuse that and train my dogs to lay down and relax for the x-ray. I had a parrot once and couldn't even find a vet near me to look at it. So chickens would be darn near impossible to find a vet for.

Our veterinary system is certainly lacking for the amount of school they go through! Seven years in school and then they have to intern after that. That is certainly more than an MD has to go through! And then they won't even treat certain animals! Doesn't make any sense over here.

In the US, in certain states, it's a little easier finding a vet to do certain things. I don't mean all states, but California and Florida come to mind.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

It's not easy finding a Vet, and to top it all off...most people can't afford the high vet bills!

 

[NYREDS]

Hi, I am increasingly worried about the amount of posts that I am seeing and commenting on whereby the owner refuses to take the chicken to the vet as the costs are too high.

If you can't afford to look after chickens properly - i.e take them to a vet when ill... - then don't have chickens.

I understand in America you don't have organisations like PDSA where a family on low income can get a pet treated for free, but still, you lot have pet insurance don't you?

Not being rude or horrible. But please, if you have animals then you have to realise they'll need medical attention sometimes! Common sense people!

Ahh, common sense. I love that phrase. It always seems to mean "do as I would do". To my way of thinking spending hundreds of dollars in Vet bills [as some do] on a chicken that's worth $5 is the opposite of "common sense".

 

[kellysmall87]

Again, not talking about minor illnesses. I wish some of you would actually read my first post...

I'm talking about serious problems in chickens kept as pets, whose owners say "I would take them to a vet but haven't got enough money."

What I'm saying is...

1. Save money each month in order to treat your chicken if that's what you want, and i repeat WANT to do.
2. Use vets to treat illnesses like prolapses and fused bones etc if it is viable to do so. Don't seek to do them oneself and don't tell me that a vet doesn't know how to do this stuff.
3. If you keep chickens as PETS and not as anything else, then save to treat them properly. If they are replaceable or if you run a business, then do it your way. If you do run a business and they are replaceable then you wouldn't be moaning about taking them to a vet anyway thus the thread doesn't concern you.

I'm not saying take your chicken to a vet for a cough or a sneeze or a bout of the runs.

But for serious problems concerning a treasured family pet, I think if you have a pet you should be able to treat that pet if it gets ill.

No point getting on your high horses about this, I do know all of you here love your chickens or else you wouldn't be here.

I also know now, thanks to the comments, that vets aren't readily available in the US like they are over here.

Kelly.