Took Dog to Vet - UPDATE PAGE 3 GRAPHIC PIC

[TipsyDog]

I took my mini poodle to the vet this morning because he's got a large lump on his side with a perfect tiny round hole in it. It's gotten larger over the last 2 days and obviously is painful so I made the appointment. It seemed to me that it needed to be cut open, cleaned and drained.

The vet confirmed what I thought - called it a grub hole. Insect stings the animal, deposits it's eggs and leaves a hole so the larve can exit. Pretty disgusting and I didn't even think we had those in this area!

Anyway, I had to leave him there to go under general anesthesia and have that cut and cleaned.

They are going to charge me $315 for that!!!!

I am so sick of the outrageous prices anymore that I've decided not to keep any more animals. I don't mind paying for a service, but in the 25 years I've been going to the vet, the last 7 have been crazy. He used to be a real old fashioned "farm vet". He has some new young partners that came in and the prices tripled. For example, I can no longer get a good teeth cleaning. Now, it's a day in clinic with anesthesia, scraping and pulling. THEN they file down the jaw bone so the tooth is smooth under the gums! That's what MY dentist surgeon did to ME - not a dog! A cleaning now is in the $275 range - just for starters. My friend paid $425 because they had to pull a few teeth! Another neighbor just paid $250 for the yearly check up and shots!!!

If I call for something I'm always told "You need to bring them in for the Dr. to see them." Even if I just had the dog there a couple of months before. Then they slap you with a $65 office visit! My family doctor charges $45 for an office visit.

I've had dogs my whole life and can't imagine living without one, but I've just about had it with this new breed of vets anymore. Is it this bad in other parts of the country? Am I just being cheap? I can afford it, but everytime I go I just feel like I got ripped off!

 

[Whispering Winds]

No, its a sign of the times. I had a friend who had a pregnant horse she had the vet come out and check. This was the young lady Vet and she charged her over $140 and didn't do a thing except LOOK at the horse and feel around on her. My friend called her friend who works at the clinic and she said it didn't sound right, so went in a researched exactly what she was charged for, and found out over half of it wasn't even done. My cousin is a vet tech, and works in a small animal clinic in a larger metropolitan area and said they have $15,000 mondays. But, she did say it has dropped off with the economy also. I hear you loud and clear~~you can get animal insurance and its about $10 a month for just basic coverage, but might be something to think about.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

You can rack up a vet bill in a hurry! We do most all of our vetting on our animals ourselves. We keep meds and instruments on hand at all times, we geild horses, and it works out alot cheaper. We even do it for other people in the area. It is a good thing to learn to do for yourself.

We call those "wolves/wolf worm" down here. Lots of animals get them and I have removed hundreds from animals.

Hope your dog feels better soon

 

[TipsyDog]

Quote:
How do you remove them? I probably could have done it the first couple of hours he got that thing, but I'd never seen one before. The vet just called - I can pick him up later and he saved the grub for me to see. Guess he has to have something to show for $315!

 

[wombat]

Luckily, I have an old-fashioned vet, and have not been hit with this. My doctor, on the other hand, started charging me a few hundred when I already knew what was wrong and only needed a referal.

I told him that I'll either go without medical care, or see if my vet can treat me so long as I bark in the office.

We called our pediatrician because my daughter needed a couple of stitches in her finger. He said bring her in. We spent 5 mins unbandaging a terrified child, only to have the pediatrician say "yeah, that needs stitches, take her to the emergency room." $240 for that, and close to 45 mins wasted between bs paperwork, waiting in the waiting room, waiting in his exam room, unbandaging, rebandaging ... I asked the pediatrician why he didn't just tell us he didn't do stitches when we called his office ... but not in those exact words.

On top of that, the same office screwed up, and a couple months ago referred an unpaid bill of ours to collections ... except that a) it was from 2004 and b) we'd paid it when we got it 5 years ago. Now I'm screwing around with credit bureaus to get this mistaken past due amount for a piddly $43 off my credit report. I've told that doc to get it straightened out, or I'll spend thousands on a lawyer just on general principle.

 

[keesmom]

It's like that here in eastern MA. My dog is getting old and at the last visit I opted to get a complete blood panel on him to make sure everything was okay. I figured it would be around $75. It was $250 just for the blood work!!! Plus another $75 for the office visit, not to mention the $30 for a fecal. They also suggested having his teeth cleaned and that was going to be $450!

I just gave him a bone to chew on. That took care of the teeth. But he is getting old and I'm sure some old man problems are going to start popping up. Sigh.

-Cindy in MA

 

[vicki2x2]

Sounds like what we call bot fly's around here. We reach in with a pair of tweezers and pull the grub out, pour perioxide in it to clean, then spray blue kote on it. Heals up just fine. I first seen them on a half feral kitten, but one of my 4-H kids got a couple of his rabbit and I have seen them on other animals too.

 

[coopgirl]

I too take care of most of my dogs health care myself. Giving shots, taking care of skin conditions and minor tears and lacerations, even heart worm prevention, are all easily down with the supplies easily obtained form your local feed store. I rescue a lot of big breed dogs and pay for everything out of my own pocket. If I had to pay a vet for these services I would only be able to take in one or two a year.

 

[Skyesrocket]

Sounds like it's time to find a new vet. I would ask very specific questions about what the vet did to get the worm out and why that would cost so much.
It shouldn't be necessary to put the dog under for that easy of a procedure. And if the vet did he wasn't using good judgement.
We haven't had a farm call vet for years out here. So, many of us have learned how to treat our own animals.
I miss the days of my old vet that I could call and he would tell me if I could treat the animal on my own and how to do it or if an office call was necessary. This same vet would euthanize your animal for free if he was a regular patient at the office.

 

[Catstar68]

Tipsy,
I feel for you.
As a vet tech for over 20 years I've seen things change over the last 5 years or so.
It's gotten so high tech and competitive out there for the vets. They are getting taught how to 'maximize' their income in college. The new buzz word in the clinic these days is ' charge capture' - meaning you charge for EVERYTHING. Day clinic fee and nursing level charge to cover the tech's time and the space and basic supplies your pet may require. Every shot has a cost - the injection fee (the tech's time), the medication fee (cost plus a larger profit percentage that is close to 300%), materials fee.....it's crazy. I was a surgical department supervisor and while we were a specialty hospital and the care was excellent, the charges were steep. I could do an epidural in 5 minutes and use $6 in supplies but it would cost the owner $60. Your pet would be more comfy after surgery but your wallet would hurt. Total hips, knee replacements...all cost thousands.
Nearly gone are the days of the simple country vet with an old beat-up pickup truck. These vets are driving Mercedes.
The sad thing is, the 'tech' is doing most of the work and many vets like to hire unlicensed college kids and call them 'techs', pay them $10 an hour and pocket the $$$ they save. Heck, I went to college, sat for and passed my national boards and have a continuing education requirement that I must meet every year and these kids waltz in and want to be called techs. I think I'll got to my local hospital and get a job, insisting I be called a nurse.

But sorry for the soapbox rant - yes, the fees vets charge these days are crazy. I do most vetting myself for my pets.

Needless to say, I'm out of it now because it's all about the money and less about the love and dedication to the animals. I miss it but went back to my interest in (non-embryonic) stem cell research. Currently working with researchers here to find a cure for pediatric cystic fibrosis.

Words of advice. If you need to bring your pet in for anything- discuss all the options and insist on costs up front. Know what they will charge for. You can insist they call you for anything not on the agreement if the situation arises. So many procedures can be done with a local anesthetic and a tranquilizer - ask if that can be an option.
When you call a vet, you will most likely get a secretary. They are not allowed to give out advice on the phone, even if they were qualified to. Hence, the 'would you like to make an appointment" line.

I know there are still great vets out there, doing the right thing. I know everyone is entitled to make a living doing what they do. I know vet school is expensive. Trust me, I've heard all sides. But IMHO, things are a little out of hand and like the rest of our bloated, overinflated economy, things need to take a few steps back and get real.