Took Dog to Vet - UPDATE PAGE 3 GRAPHIC PIC

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I cut off the air supply to the worm by applying pressure to the hole or covering it with salve or oil. Anything you can get on the air hole to cut off the supply of air. After a bit the worm will come to the top of the hole to stick its head out for air. You then quickly grab it with tweezers or small pliars...whatever you have. Pull it out. Make sure you clean out the wound and disinfect it. You can use betadine iodine, peroxide, and even antibacterial soaps will work if you don't have anything else. You can also use alcohol as well. I put the disinfectant in a syringe and flush out the wound. Then apply some antibiotic to the wound area. Most people have Neosporin in their homes and that works great on wounds for pets too. Clean and apply the neosporin daily until the wound has healed.

I have never had one that needed anestesia to have one removed either.

Next time you can do it yourself and save some $$

 

[Catstar68]

And yes, those bots just pull out with tweezers. Clean the hole up and it DOES heal fine. Surgery was probably unnecessary.

I have no idea why the vet would expose your dog to the risks of general anesthesia. Bad judgement on his part or something else? Hmmm......

 

[patandchickens]

The difficulty with warbles (the name I know those 'grubs' by - some call them bots too) is that if you should accidentally "pop" the grub's body while trying to remove it, the animal not infrequently dies of anaphylactic shock.

Thus they are a lot trickier to remove safely than they *look* like they should be.


Pat

 

[AkTomboy]

Its not just you who is having to pay more for things. The Vet is also. He/She has to pay for everything you do in your household plus the extra cost of owning the clinic, the cost of medicines, surgery supplies, insurance, payment of his workers, cost of keeping his certifications current, plus the cost of his time.

My local vet as far as I am concerned does not charge anything near what he should for everything. He also has the business cornered there is no vet for 100 miles north, 500 miles east and 300 miles south. So if he wanted to make a killing he could. But alas he had a kind heart and does not want to strain people even more even if it costs him.

As far as him having to see your dog for something before giving a suggestion for treatment or meds. It is illegal for him to not to see it first and then give treatment. I know some vets may do that within a 24 hour period but a couple of months is out of the question. Not only could things have changed, even if not seed by the naked eye he can have his licence taken from him if he is caught doing that. I'm sorry but I am sure his family would say that there isn't a client that is important enough for him to have that done to him.

I am sorry your dog is hurt and its a good thing you took him in to get fixed. It shows you love and care about your dog and sadly there are many who never feel that love or get that care. As another poster said look into pet insurance. I can tell you from my personal use of having a policy it can help out tremendously.

 

[vicki2x2]

Quote:
Hmmm, I haven't heard of that. Anyone have that happen?

The first time I happened across one of these grubs was in the feral kittens, years ago. We get a lot of strays and drops offs and mama wasn't much more than a kitten herself and had a litter in our barn. When the kittens started coming out, we tried to sweet talk them and put feed out to try to tame them a little in hopes of finding them homes. When they were about 5 weeks old, is when I noticed the problem with the one. I caught him with a big fishing net, kept him in a carrier and was cleaning it out with peroxide and a syringe and soap and water, then neosporin, daily for a week. I thought it was a wound. Then I saw another kitten with one, caught it started to do the same thing and saw the grub move, freaked me out! I took both kittens to the vet, he removed the grub from the second kitten with hemostats, the first kitten he couldn't find the grub, even snipped the opening bigger to find it. He thinks I killed it with my frequently flushing!! LOL All that was left was a nasty pussy goo. He put that one on antibiotics.

After that, when I have encountered them, I remove them with tweezers, clean them well, used neosporin if I can keep the animal clean, or blue kote, if I know I can reply easily.

 

[NancyDz]

Personally I think the dental stuff is crap... unless you are feeding your dog canned food all the time I have never in all the years we've had dogs.. had to have their teeth worked on. My dogs eat kibble and they get hard bones and sometimes rawhide and cow hoofs. Everytime i take them to the vet the vet mentions how nice their teeth are. I dont brush their teeth or have the vet do anything to the teeth. I've had 10 dogs.. all different breeds , some mutts, some pure, some big , some small... not a tooth problem in any of them in the last 35 years....

 

[BlackBart]

Ripped off, let me tell you about being ripped off.
Took my dog to the Vet, she ripped her lip, four stitches, had to be put under, spent 8 hours at the Vet, total bill $839.00
They are smart enough to ask for your payment method BEFORE they work on your dog. Then they give you a guesstimate that is always more. But hey, I love my dog.

Consensus is, emotional blackmail and legal theft

 

[BarkerChickens]

You're vet is rip-off!! The money-craze is getting out of control! My vet has increased prices and we pay for everything, but nowhere near what your vet charges! I think a dental cleaning at our vet is $80 or something....I haven't had it done to my dogs, so not positive. If I call, they answer my question or the Vet calls ME back! A visit is $25 or $30 and "exotic" doctor visits (ie, the chickens, etc) are $40 or $45. I had a chicken that had her pecking injury to her eye that resulted in the vet having to cut out part of the torn inner eyelid. With the visit, minor procedure and eye drops, I paid about $60.

Can you call around to find a cheaper vet? Even if it is a little longer drive, the cheaper vet will save you money.

 

[LarryPQ]

I have a $8,000 stray. Maybe more.

No kidding.


The dog was an excape artist, but the ONE TIME it was my fault he got out, he gets hit by a car (3rd time-he's not a good learner) and shatters his hips. Never did the vet discuss "other options" just went straight into "he needs a FHL(?)". Didn't give me prices until the dog was already drugged up and in the back room.

But it was my fault, and I love him. I couldn't justify putting him down if:

1. The proceedure "fixed" the problem.
2. He wouldn't be in pain later in life.
3. It was my fault he got hurt.

I just worked extra hours to pay it off. Lots and lots of hours. He's good now, but doesn't do any escaping.


EDIT:
BTW- I know him EVER getting out is technically my fault, but the dog was quite literally climbing an 8-foot block fence. He would run up the wall, hang there, and watch the neighbors. I had dirty spots on all my block walls.

 

[ChickenFanaticAB]

A note about wolf worms...My cat got one in his neck, and not knowing what it was at the time, I insisted on picking at the scab because I noticed a white speck that seemed suspicious. Needless to say, I totally grossed myself out, looked it up and totally freaked myself out thinking he would go into shock (he didn't), and we ended up having to take him to the vet. I insisted upon it because he clearly had an infection and I had bought a coupon book that had a free office visit (coupon book $20, office visit about $60-Good Buy!) He ended up needing to go on antibiotics, and it took the thing weeks to heal. If that happens again, i'm sure it wouldn't be so bad because I would be able to recognize it and prevent the infection.

We usually try to avoid taking our pets to the vet as much as possible, because yes, they charge outrageous fees. It really stinks when it can't be avoided and they slap you with hundreds of dollars of charges...I always wanted to be a vet, but I would go broke doing it because I wouldn't be able to bear charging such high prices...

Edited to add: And yes, once I spent about $200 on a pet duck after something ripped his chest open...I don't regret it, but still...